Thread: Carbon or Stainless Steel

I have ordered my first straight razor, a Dovo Best quality Black 5/8" professionally sharpened from SRD as well as Mr. Abrams DVD.

I have used a Dovo Shavette in the past and found it "scary" sharp and have had the minor bloody results to show for it. In any case a straight razor friend of mine told me that a real straight razor gives a much smoother shave. I am looking forward to it.

I have a lot of experience wet shaving with a DE razor and a little with a Shavette and am looking forwards to shaving like my Grandfather did.

The question I have is what type of second razor to purchase after I have some experience with my new Dovo. Is carbon steel better or should I buy a stainless steel razor. I am looking forward to some feed back and advice from the seasoned pro's out there. Best regards and thanks in advance.

If the razor is coming from an established maker, not one on the 'don't buy list in the SRP Wiki', one is probably going to be as good as the other. Some guys prefer high carbon to stainless but IME stainless is fine. Read my sig below to avoid 'bloody' results.

It doesn't matter really. Both shave well and both will rust if you don't look after them. It's just the SS takes longer!

As jimmy says, as longs as it's a good make you should be fine.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Stainless is far more rust resistant, but takes a bit more work to put an edge on it (Not a concern for you until you start honing). On the other hand, it will keep that edge longer.

Carbon steel is easier to sharpen and costs less, stainless has better corrosion protection. If you like shiny blades, stainless is what you want. If you're really cheap and don't care about shiny, then carbon may be for you. I have a lot of carbon steel kitchen knives.

Originally Posted by infamous

Carbon steel is easier to sharpen and costs less, stainless has better corrosion protection. If you like shiny blades, stainless is what you want. If you're really cheap and don't care about shiny, then carbon may be for you. I have a lot of carbon steel kitchen knives.

I'm not quite sure about your claims here.
In my experience, carbon steel is not cheaper at all.
I believe you can find both Stainless and Carbon in most ranges when it comes to price.
The brand and the more or less ellaborate work on a given razor is what makes the price.

For comparison, just check out a Damascus (folded)steel razor, usually pretty pricey stuff

And to the OP.
Both work very well as razor material.

Originally Posted by infamous

Carbon steel is easier to sharpen and costs less, stainless has better corrosion protection. If you like shiny blades, stainless is what you want. If you're really cheap and don't care about shiny, then carbon may be for you. I have a lot of carbon steel kitchen knives.

Typically, there is virtually no difference in honing a carbon vs. stainless straight razor. Carbon blades are also capable if taking a nice mirror finish. More times than not, this issue boils down to personal preference.

Have fun,

Lynn

So what you guys are saying that steel which has vandium and molybedium added to provide better corrosion protection does not cost more than steel which doesn't have these elements added? Because in my experience vg-10 costs more per ounce than regular high carbon steel. Maybe the difference isn't that big, but theres a difference. One of the main reasons I own so many high carbon steel kitchen knives is that they are considerably cheaper than their stainless steel equivalents. Maybe it's less important for razors, but there's still a difference.

And while you can polish high carbon steel to be shiny, it quickly develops a patina, so in order to keep it polished it would need to be coated or you would have to polish it daily. I'm starting to think you guys don't really know what your talking about.

This is my last post goodbye.

Originally Posted by infamous

So what you guys are saying that steel which has vandium and molybedium added to provide better corrosion protection does not cost more than steel which doesn't have these elements added? Because in my experience vg-10 costs more per ounce than regular high carbon steel. Maybe the difference isn't that big, but theres a difference. One of the main reasons I own so many high carbon steel kitchen knives is that they are considerably cheaper than their stainless steel equivalents. Maybe it's less important for razors, but there's still a difference.

And while you can polish high carbon steel to be shiny, it quickly develops a patina, so in order to keep it polished it would need to be coated or you would have to polish it daily. I'm starting to think you guys don't really know what your talking about.

This is my last post goodbye.

The stainless steel used for razors is not vg-10 or some exotic kind. Carbon vs stainless is moot point as far as I am concerned, both sharpen very similarly, take good edges and keep them long enough. As far as shiny, if you do not take care of the razor even stainless will rust eventually. Just keep in mind this is not knives we are talking about it is razors.

Originally Posted by infamous

So what you guys are saying that steel which has vandium and molybedium added to provide better corrosion protection does not cost more than steel which doesn't have these elements added? Because in my experience vg-10 costs more per ounce than regular high carbon steel. Maybe the difference isn't that big, but theres a difference. One of the main reasons I own so many high carbon steel kitchen knives is that they are considerably cheaper than their stainless steel equivalents. Maybe it's less important for razors, but there's still a difference.

And while you can polish high carbon steel to be shiny, it quickly develops a patina, so in order to keep it polished it would need to be coated or you would have to polish it daily. I'm starting to think you guys don't really know what your talking about.

I am saying that the difference in price between carbon and stainless steel is irrelevant for razors. The only thing that I can offer to back this up is the price difference between the exact same razor design in both steels. Incidentally that is the only thing that matters as well.

Originally Posted by infamous

This is my last post goodbye.

Good luck to you too.