Thread: Stainless Steel vs Carbon Steel

Not an expert honer by any means but I do have between 4 and 6 stainless razors among 40 odd razors. Personally, I can achieve equally mediocre results with equal effort regardless of the type of steel. I am equally sure that an expert honer would see little tangible/practical difference in honing up either type of steel.

My full hollow stainless steel blades sing as loudly as my carbon steel ones and shave equally well. I feel no real practical difference while shaving or in the end result. I do like the stainless steel razors for their ability to resist rusting better than carbon steel razors. Even that id a moot point if you do proper maintenance for your particular environment.

Bob

I went with total myth.
Yes stainless may take an extra travel or two versus soft carbon steel, but hard carbon steel may take an extra travel or two versus stainless.
Throw in the human factor of me not paying attention during one travel and that may add in another travel or two.
Add it all together and they cancel each other out.

One other thing, I try blades on different hones to try and get the best edge as easily as possibly. Choose the right tool for the job, or in this case the right hone for the job. Stainless on a black arkie for finishing will take forever, but will be fast on high grit diamond paste. Carbon on a black arkie is fast and smooth, but on diamond can be a bit chippy.

Myth. The stainless they are using in razors is nothing like the powdered steels used in other fields nor the hardness obtained. I find them similar from setting the the bevel to frequency of touch ups

I touched up two carbon and one stainless (Sears Roebuck) yesterday. Could not tell any difference on the stones and all three test shaved the same.

Please elaborate upon the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel as termed here.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Please elaborate upon the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel as termed here.

Stainless steel contains chromium.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Please elaborate upon the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel as termed here.

Honestly it is rather hard to elaborate on

We don't have access to the Vintage maker's recipes and the current production makers consider their process's propitiatory

So we have to simply go with the stamps on the blades/razors.. (SS, Inox, Rustless, Etc: Etc: ) We also know that they all shave, regardless of how they are to hone...

Okay, so a razor that is marked stainless or inox is as such, otherwise it is carbon steel by default. Reason I bring this up is that in my relatively limited experience with honing, I've found razors marked "magnetic" to be a bear to hone and the whole Worcester Razor Co. line to be fairly resistant to oxidation. Yet neither is marked "stainless." And following the various Japanese knife steel compounds, various Thiers and Solingen blends as described in detail, etc., I would think that the distinction between carbon and stainless could be somewhat blurred.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

I would think that the distinction between carbon and stainless could be somewhat blurred.

Stainless steel as could be defined today What Is Stainless Steel? . There is a base minimum chromium content to qualify as stainless steel but that still leaves room for a lot of varieties of stainless steel alloys.

Bob

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

And following the various Japanese knife steel compounds, various Thiers and Solingen blends as described in detail, etc.,I would think that the distinction between carbon and stainless could be somewhat blurred.

So what you are saying is that is more depends on the Grind and Temper then the "Type" of steel