But we are not talking about high carbon steel - we are primarily concerned with steel used to make razors, which is low carbon steel.

Stainless, which existed in some primitive forms in the 'surgical steels' of the the late 1800s, was a term coined by the Firth-Brown labs in Sheffield where the product was discovered after intensive research by Harry Brearley.

The goal was not to make a non-rusting steel - it was to solve a problem that plagued weapons barrels - the problem of abrasion and erosion caused by high temperatures and it was the looming shadow of WW1 that provoked the research.

It was called stainless because it also had a side effect of corroding less or staining-less than ordinary steels, but it did corrode. Molecules of steel landing on it with water caused it to corrode much like other steels, and because most water mains to homes were cased at one point or another in enormous steel pipes that were drilled and tapped into, there was always a nucleus of mild steel to land on a stainless blade and kill its passive resistance to corrosion.

Brearley's original steel samples were produced with 6 - 15 % by weight of chromium added to low carbon steel, but there are very many types of stainless steel, with different alloying agents and combinations of alloying agents available today - some have been available for quite some time since the hiatus into research caused by WW1 was finished and research got underway again.

I do find stainless steel a trifle more of a chore to hone due to high abrasion resistance than simple, sensible Rockwell C low carbon steel blades. Some take superlative edges (low carbon steel) relatively easily, especially around the 59 Rockwell C area which includes early Wade & Butcher's, etc, and more modern low carbon steels like that made for Puma (by Sheffield's Kaiser Ellison) and Bartmann which is around 60-61 Rockwell are both easy to hone despite being harder than the earlier steels and have good edge retention properties. Higher rockwell values than this I do not find enjoyable - at all - to hone, they are simply too hard. TIs carbonsong, around 62-63 rockwell, falls into this category - no wonder TI microbevel the edge.

Regards,
Neil