Thread: O2/L6 Damascus Predator razor

Another Predator razor, this time in O2/L6 Damascus. The scales are Purple Haze Kirinite.

Stunning work Bruno. Love the pattern on the blade and the scale color is perfect for it.

Very nice!

<drool> OMG I friggin love rolled steel like damascus steel. That's beyond nice.

Very cool Bruno , and I mean that both ways ,,,as in hip, and it has a very cooling feeling about it ,, is the O2 steel what we're cutting with or does it mix all the way to the edge? From experience as you well know I've used a couple of your blades(a lot) and the O2 really gives a soft edge. Tc

What do you mean with soft edge? As in needs to sharpen more regularly?

Originally Posted by AndreGrobler

What do you mean with soft edge? As in needs to sharpen more regularly?

Not putting words in TC's mouth, but I think he means smooth, as in feeling soft on the skin.
Those are the reports I have gotten, along with great edge retention.

I have tried a number of steels, from plain 1095, O1, O2, SC145, old file, stainless Niolox to a couple of kinds of damascus.
So far, in my experience, O2 is the nicest steel to shave with, and it feels smooth on the skin, and silky on the hones.

The only thing that is on par with O2, in my opinion, is O2/L6 Damascus steel. The properties of that mix are very close to plain O2. In fact the only difference to me as a smith is that the Damascus is easier to anneal than plain O2 which is very easy to harden, and much less easy to fully anneal.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Very cool Bruno , and I mean that both ways ,,,as in hip, and it has a very cooling feeling about it ,, is the O2 steel what we're cutting with or does it mix all the way to the edge? From experience as you well know I've used a couple of your blades(a lot) and the O2 really gives a soft edge. Tc

It mixes all the way to the edge. That is why working with Damascus is a bit harder than workign with plain steel. Because if you are not careful, you can cause it to delaminate and if such a delamination crosses the edge, the razor is toast. And sometimes you don't find this out until the final grinding stage. It is possible to get pinpricks and artefacts in the blade hollow itself an inclusion or discoloration, but those will become invisible in the etching process, and have no influence on the razor.

I have a billet on order of san mai (triple layer steel) with sides of damascus, and a core of plain O2, but it will be a while before I get that.

Would not have expected softer as in less hard... just thought to clarify... i would expect a little more toughness which in fine edges is just as important as hardness... i believe. I doubt the nickel would allow the carbon to equalise between the two steels... not absolutely i agree. But L6 is not that soft either and it is very tough too.

Every time I look at razor with Damascus steel, and I think that is not so simple. Bruno - I see you achieve very good results and your experience useful to me.