Feather All Stainless: Warped safety bar?

Gentlemen,

I had my eye on the FAS for a while and with a little extra birthday cash, finally splurged on an overpriced piece of razor candy. I think I got exactly what I bargained for as well: something I wouldn't normally buy for myself, a step up from my previous razor, a smooth and comfortable shave.

Obviously I've already used it, like it, and have no intention of returning or trading it, but I am curious about the safety bar on my FAS. I'm vaguely aware that not every single one of these razors is an immaculately produced piece of hardware. However, I'm not sure if the slant of the safety bar is intentional because it is symmetrical on both sides. A slight downward bent in the safety bar appears about two thirds of the way through the bar from left to right (hopefully it's visible in the pictures).

Is this part of the design or a known flaw?

Thanks,

-Matt

I can see where it is warped in your picture so I went to take a look at my FAS and, indeed, it does have the same warped safety bar as yours and in the same general location. Also, on the other side of my part, there is a warp 2/3 of the way going from right to left. It's very slight but it's there. I confirmed it by running my finger along the edge and there is definitely an indent at the warped location.

I'm not sure if it's a known flaw but I doubt that it's part of the design.

It is possible that the slight radius is part of the machining process. I would lay a straight-edge across the part of the safety bar that comes in contact with your face and see if there is any daylight passing through it maybe.

Mine looks the same and it is symmetrical on both sides of the head. I have always wondered if it a flaw but my razor shaves so well that it does not appear to affect the quality of the shave. An email to Feather might be in order.

Yep under magnification there is a slight warp on mine too, probably just the effects of the machining as has already been mentioned.

Did this and it is most definitely not straight across the top surface (the edge in contact with your skin).

Tested against a known and trusted straight edge, mine shows a slight imperfection as well. That said, as of this morning's shave, it continues to be smooth, competent and elegant.

Well it appears to be the norm. Thanks for the responses. I also experienced a very good shave and won't be worrying myself about this, but like Chris said I might just send Feather an email. For the price I thought I would be getting "perfection".

Now on to drooling over brushes...

There is a thread here that talks about this and includes some great photos (post #17 & #26). It should help to clarify what is "normal" or a defect.

For those interested, the link to their email on the English site is broken. Navigating their regional site, I found the email address for inquiries is < [email protected] >

Intrigued said:

There is a thread here that talks about this and includes some great photos (post #17 & #26). It should help to clarify what is "normal" or a defect.

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Excellent, thank you, Intrigued.

I need to test mine....it's from Spring 2010, when they first started making it. But does this imperfection affect the shave? I understand people wanting perfection for the price but (no offense meant here) it just seems like nitpicking, since to my eyes the warp is hardly noticeable.

I don't think it's nitpicking. For me the unique selling point of the FAS is the precise engineering. I had assumed they were made on machines whose precision was orders of magnitude better than 1/1000". Such tolerances are crude by modern standards. They clearly are not made by such machines. It may not affect the shave, but it might affect the decision to buy.

Edit> The lack of straightness at the bottom of the guard worries me more than the top. It's purely cosmetic, has no effect on the shave at all. But it dispels the illusion that the razor is absolute perfection, an impression that is easy to get from reading reviews. It just isn't what I believed it was, and I'm saddened by that.

Precision is the essence of this razor. I would not hesitate to contact the vender about an issue like this.

Godan said:

Tested against a known and trusted straight edge, mine shows a slight imperfection as well. That said, as of this morning's shave, it continues to be smooth, competent and elegant.

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After re-reading this thread and the one referenced below and examining all of the photos, I took my Feather to a friend's shop where his skills and equipment are better than mine. My revised conclusion is that the top edges of both sides of my safety bar(s) are true and straight. Blade exposure on both sides is even and equal according to accurate calipers and a micrometer. However, the bottom edge of both sides of the safety bar(s) show very slight imperfections. My Feather was purchased about a month ago and may thus be of recent manufacture.

Copierguy said:

Precision is the essence of this razor. I would not hesitate to contact the vender about an issue like this.

Click to expand...

This would be the best way to resolve this issue, at least in your own mind. The vendor should have the correct answer, or at least they should be able to get an answer from the factory. Then you'll know for sure.

Well all I know is I can't see any imperfection with the naked eye, it is only possible to see it when blown up in a picture, and it certainly does not affect the quality of the shave in the slightest.

This thread has been supremely useful. I've been contemplating obtaining a FAS razor. With such imprecision manufacturing being the norm, I'm gonna pass.

I'll continue with my NEW.

I am really rather surprised at the reports of irregularities by others here. Mine appears to be symmetrical all the way around and has the smile seen in this photo between the straight edge of the blade and the plate. The smile is caused by the high spots that are used to clamp the blade at the corners.