Thread: Stainless Steel vs Carbon Steel

For me whether a carbon or a stainless takes longer to hone depends more on the amount of honing the little beasty needs. Kind of hard to remember really but I have had carbons that took longer but they just might have needed more work. Those new Thiers Issards always take longer for me. Friodurs like others have said feel pretty normal in the duration on the hones to get done. A lot of variables I guess are baked into the experience. Only the T.I's and probably heavy grinds stand out as taking noticeably longer.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

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.

I apologize for the mini-diversion. I am struggling with the "magnetic" issue. Why would a blade imprinted with the word "magnetic" be harder or easier to hone?

--james

Originally Posted by jgkeegan

I apologize for the mini-diversion. I am struggling with the "magnetic" issue. Why would a blade imprinted with the word "magnetic" be harder or easier to hone?

--james

Most stainless steels are not magnetic, but you can get those that are. I don't know for sure but perhaps it is marked "magnetic" because it is stainless. This is my conclusion because all carbon steels are all magnetic so there would be no need to mark it on the blade.

It appears almost impossible to produce a truly non magnetic stainless steel, close but no cigars type of thing.

Is stainless steel non-magnetic?

I do know that all my stainless steel kitchen knives live very nicely hanging vertically on a magnetic strip on my kitchen wall. I really should try one of my stainless steel razors on that magnetic strip but I would not be surprised if it hung there nicely also.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

It appears almost impossible to produce a truly non magnetic stainless steel, close but no cigars type of thing.

Is stainless steel non-magnetic?

I do know that all my stainless steel kitchen knives live very nicely hanging vertically on a magnetic strip on my kitchen wall. I really should try one of my stainless steel razors on that magnetic strip but I would not be surprised if it hung there nicely also.

Bob

Steel has iron it it, as long as that is the case it will be magnetic to some extent.
Friodurs are made from 440C stainless which is easily magnetized. In contrast 304 or 316 Stainless is very weakly attracted to magnets and for all intents and purposes are nonmagnetic.

Case in point, I had an ATS-34, and still have 2 S30V stainless razors. Without a diamond plate to set the bevels, and synthetics to proceed, I'd still be trying to get an edge on those. Now I've also got a couple of Benchmade pocket knives made with powdered steel. I forget the alloy designations, and I'm too lazy to go look them up. I haven't honed them, but I bet they will be a bear to hone. Speculating ........

Originally Posted by mainaman

Steel has iron it it, as long as that is the case it will be magnetic to some extent.
Friodurs are made from 440C stainless which is easily magnetized. In contrast 304 or 316 Stainless is very weakly attracted to magnets and for all intents and purposes are nonmagnetic.

Yes, I think that is what the article basically says. It is technically impossible to produce a stainless steel to meet the scientific definition of nonmagnetic but it is so close that in practical use it does not matter. I doubt very much that there is a overwhelming need to produce a straight razor blade that has next to no magnetic response.

Bob

Originally Posted by mainaman

In contrast 304 or 316 Stainless is very weakly attracted to magnets and for all intents and purposes are nonmagnetic.

OK then, that makes sense. My background is steel fabrication and one of the ways we checked whether or not something was stainless (at times it was not as obvious as you might think) was to use a magnet. We almost exclusively used 304 and 316. I guess those grades may not be the best for making knives and razors out of, although my stainless steel sink is not magnetic either (or at least it is very weakly so).

You learn something new every day.

Originally Posted by Porl

OK then, that makes sense. My background is steel fabrication and one of the ways we checked whether or not something was stainless (at times it was not as obvious as you might think) was to use a magnet. We almost exclusively used 304 and 316. I guess those grades may not be the best for making knives and razors out of, although my stainless steel sink is not magnetic either (or at least it is very weakly so).

You learn something new every day.

In the tattoo industry the tubes, tube grips, and needle bars we use are usually 304 or 316, and they are definitely non magnetic ( I just tried a strong magnet and not a thing) OTOH, a blade on a Queen Steel pocket knife, probably 440C stainless is super magnetic, as is the stainless magazine, and slide on my Kahr 380. Just a point of information.

Originally Posted by Porl

You learn something new every day.

Yes, that is especially true in a thread like this one for me. Having not really thought much about how stainless steels are made I had to do some searchers out of curiosity. It has been interesting but in the end I trust the manufacturers to select the right stainless steel alloy for the intended purpose. Seems to have worked for the most part except for a Stainless steel 45 ACP 1911 clone I bought 40 or so years ago. It had a jamming issue due to galling between the slide and barrel locking lugs. The solution was to use lithium grease in the affected area. Something I had never had to do with a carbon steel pistol.

Bob