Thread: Discussions on various steels?

There are alot of helpful discussions on skales, honing, shaving kits etc...have there been discussions on the various steels used for razors? Im vary fond of carbon steel, due to it being easy to get an edge on, but do you guys have some feedback on the pros and cons of it, stainless, damascus etc...?

Thanks,
Mac

lol, there's more discussions than you ever want. try the search button.

the steel composition is just the begining, there are so many other steps that are just as important before the edge touches your face, that there's no point of generalizing based on a very rough categorization among steels.

the obvious things would be
carbon - cheap, widely accessible and easy to work with
stainless - stains less
(pattern welded) damascus - a lot of people find it aesthetically pleasing

Well, the high carbon/stainless debate is an old one.

High carbon is more traditional, and generally considered easier to hone and easier to touch up with a barber hone or pasted strop.

Stainless is of course, stainless. So, you don't need to worry about rust as much, but it's generally considered to be a little harder to hone or touch-up. How much harder depends on who you ask. Some people hate trying to hone them, some say they can hardly tell the difference.

Damascus in razors I'm not really familiar with. I know how a damascus blade is made, I know what they look like, and I know they tend to be some of the most expensive blades, but I really can't tell you anything beyond that.

Damascus is two steels welded together to create a nice pattern when etched. It should be called pattern welded steel, but I suppose Damascus sounds cooler. You get a weld of two steels with damascus and get all the advantages and disadvantages that come with it.

Originally Posted by Leighton

You get a weld of two steels with damascus and get all the advantages and disadvantages that come with it.

Yeah, but what exactly are those advantages and disadvantages?

Seriously. I'm asking because I don't know.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

Yeah, but what exactly are those advantages and disadvantages?

Seriously. I'm asking because I don't know.

I wish I could say that Damascus was a supersteel that held an edge forever and the only disadvantage was the cost. But...

Pattern welded steel is basically an average of the two steels welded together. The carbon content is averaged out as are all the other materials. The only real advantage is the aesthetics.

Disadvantages are cost and if done improperly the weld could break. The edge could also have different layers of welding in the bevel and that could cause problems with honing too. Theres more that I can't even think of. Basically if its done improperly you have an art piece. But if done well, you have a beautiful piece of functional art.

Ah, so it's really just cosmetic. Good to know. It will keep me from ever buying one because while I appreciate the workmanship, the look doesn't really do that much for me.

And the price will never ever be cheap either. Theres a lot of labor involved, so if you see cheap damascus, there were corners cut and cutting corners when welding steels is very bad.

As with most things re: materials to make a razor, it does still seem to come down to personal preference then?
Any steel making countries, i should avoid? I tend to shy away from chinese steel, but i admit i dont have alot of facts behind that personal bias.

Here is an overview of knife making steel that is applicable to straight razors.