Karve Shaving Co. A new DE Brass razor to market.

I think he sees how wolfman functions and says “hey, who needs social media if the product speaks for itself”. I never did see the value Jack provided as customers expectations or concerns were never well managed.

Either way, it should be interesting to see where they go.

Exactly. The social media never produced a product. 

Chris may fail at razor making going forward and go back to other projects. He created a great product. If he delivers in the future great. If not no worries.

holy Hanna , but he is still producing great proucts  yes or no

holy Hanna , but he is still producing great proucts  yes or no

They claim to have a large inventory of Al parts but are figuring out how to do the anodising in-house so could be a while. Ti razors are progressing slowly as the machining is tough going.

I find the comment that machining the Ti is" tough going" interesting.  I'm not a machinist but what do you mean by that?  Its not like its done by hand or on a foot-pedal powered lathe. He has a CNC machine(s) and I figure they either work or they don't.  Maybe you need special cutters installed for Ti and obviously there's the hand finishing/polishing but if the machine works properly, you've got the right cutters installed and you have the Ti stock then isn't it just a matter of clamping the stock into the machine, closing it up and hitting run?  Maybe the program needs to be modified due to the hardness of the material but still, that's just a few lines of program isn't it?

Ive watched this thread for a while and I think its too bad that Karve is having problems but even the best of ideas/products can fail if the business model is bad and poor execution is always fatal.  I bought a Wolfman razor from James back in 2015 and at that time he wouldn't even communicate with you (once you were on the ail list) until he was ready to build your razor and wouldn't take money from you until it was finished and ready to ship.  The time from discussion to build / pay / ship was a matter of a couple of weeks.  Of course that was then and this is now but the bottom line is still managing expectations.  Some understand this and some don't.

They claim to have a large inventory of Al parts but are figuring out how to do the anodising in-house so could be a while. Ti razors are progressing slowly as the machining is tough going.

I find the comment that machining the Ti is" tough going" interesting.  I'm not a machinist but what do you mean by that?  

Like you I have zero knowledge of the machining process but I caught some of the Instagram video and the part of the machine that does the cutting is wearing out parts really fast, like only doing a handful of razors before needing to be replaced. There was some talk of changing to a different/softer grade of titanium. Take a look at the video for a much better explanation.

They claim to have a large inventory of Al parts but are figuring out how to do the anodising in-house so could be a while. Ti razors are progressing slowly as the machining is tough going.

I find the comment that machining the Ti is" tough going" interesting.  I'm not a machinist but what do you mean by that?  

Like you I have zero knowledge of the machining process but I caught some of the Instagram video and the part of the machine that does the cutting is wearing out parts really fast, like only doing a handful of razors before needing to be replaced. There was some talk of changing to a different/softer grade of titanium. Take a look at the video for a much better explanation.

Thanks, I'll have a look - is it on instagram?  I still figure if he's wearing out parts too fast he's not using the right parts for the job.  I'm sure the parts for Ti are expensive so he might be trying to make the general duty cutter parts work with accelerated wear being the result.

Yes, they did a live video on instagram which I think is still available.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEX5lednvi_/

They claim to have a large inventory of Al parts but are figuring out how to do the anodising in-house so could be a while. Ti razors are progressing slowly as the machining is tough going.

I find the comment that machining the Ti is" tough going" interesting.  I'm not a machinist but what do you mean by that?  Its not like its done by hand or on a foot-pedal powered lathe. He has a CNC machine(s) and I figure they either work or they don't.  Maybe you need special cutters installed for Ti and obviously there's the hand finishing/polishing but if the machine works properly, you've got the right cutters installed and you have the Ti stock then isn't it just a matter of clamping the stock into the machine, closing it up and hitting run?  Maybe the program needs to be modified due to the hardness of the material but still, that's just a few lines of program isn't it?

Ive watched this thread for a while and I think its too bad that Karve is having problems but even the best of ideas/products can fail if the business model is bad and poor execution is always fatal.  I bought a Wolfman razor from James back in 2015 and at that time he wouldn't even communicate with you (once you were on the ail list) until he was ready to build your razor and wouldn't take money from you until it was finished and ready to ship.  The time from discussion to build / pay / ship was a matter of a couple of weeks.  Of course that was then and this is now but the bottom line is still managing expectations.  Some understand this and some don't.

They claim to have a large inventory of Al parts but are figuring out how to do the anodising in-house so could be a while. Ti razors are progressing slowly as the machining is tough going.

I find the comment that machining the Ti is" tough going" interesting.  I'm not a machinist but what do you mean by that?  

Like you I have zero knowledge of the machining process but I caught some of the Instagram video and the part of the machine that does the cutting is wearing out parts really fast, like only doing a handful of razors before needing to be replaced. There was some talk of changing to a different/softer grade of titanium. Take a look at the video for a much better explanation.

Yes, this...
Chris said that one of the features of grade 5 Ti is “work hardening”, ie as you work on it and “it interacts with heat”, it gets harder, which has caused him a “tonne of problems”.... as it will “burn through cutters” to the point where they get through 2-3 handle bodies and “they’re done”.
Which is why moving beyond this wait list he’ll have to reassess whether grade 5 or grade 2 Ti is the right choice.

I completely agree with Marko, though....
He makes a great product, but it comes down to setting and managing expectations, and communicating accordingly... which unfortunately he has repeatedly failed to do, with or without Jack in his team....

I'm not a machinist, though I've been around machine shops, used to build tattoo machines, and worked for a tattooer who, along with his brother, grew up in a machine shop. I learned from them how to use a milling machine, a lathe, and what not.

Titanium is an abrasion resisant metal. I'm not a machinist but I know that. How does Karve not know that basic fact ? 

It is like the famous Black Friday polished razor sale. He overloaded his ass with his mouth so to speak.

He didn't have the skill to polish in advance of the project and complained about the difficulty once he got underway.

AFAIK, other than the one Jack displayed in the youtube vid no one has received a single copy of the polished razor they ordered in Nov 2019 and paid for in advance.

I find it bewildering that a professional machinist will announce projects that he apparently knows little about.

I wish him all the luck in the world, but he seems to shoot himself in the foot time after time.

I find the comment that machining the Ti is" tough going" interesting.  I'm not a machinist but what do you mean by that?  

Like you I have zero knowledge of the machining process but I caught some of the Instagram video and the part of the machine that does the cutting is wearing out parts really fast, like only doing a handful of razors before needing to be replaced. There was some talk of changing to a different/softer grade of titanium. Take a look at the video for a much better explanation.

Thanks, I'll have a look - is it on instagram?  I still figure if he's wearing out parts too fast he's not using the right parts for the job.  I'm sure the parts for Ti are expensive so he might be trying to make the general duty cutter parts work with accelerated wear being the result.

This might very well be the case, who knows...


I thought I’d have a quick look at other razor manufacturers, to see what grade Titanium they’re using...
Carbon Shaving and Haircut and Shave are both specifying grade 5 on their websites.
Timeless only seems to say Titanium, without specifying the grade/ type..... but I’m pretty sure it said grade 5 when I bought mine from them last year... they’ve redesigned their website since.
Seygus Zeppelin (sold via Bullgoose) is grade 2 Ti.