Thread: Turkish Twist Damascus razor

Aesthetics and education in the same thread - what more could you want.

I love the look of that steel Bruno.

Bruno,
I do have a question regarding your remark over preference of 02 over 01. I am not an expert in metallurgy and am always looking to expand my knowledge in this area. Why do you prefer 02 over 01?

Thanks,
Jared

Originally Posted by Jared13

.... Why do you prefer 02 over 01?

The carbon and insignificant minor alloys (Moly, Phos, Silicon, Sulf, Vanadium) are essentially identical. The Chromium is as low as it can be measured where O1 contains up to 0.5%. There is more manganese in the O2 making it very slightly easier to harden/heat treat. The time from fire/heat to quench is a little more forgiving. Those of us with controlled temperature systems can manipulate the internal structure in various ways that can be an advantage. For the majority it's a very nice easy to work with material that is not available in the US. It's merely another reason to be jealous of The Bruno.

Essentially it is what Mike said. O2 is more forgiving during HT than O1. It is also harder to anneal it, but that is a different problem
Additionally, the lack of tungsten in O2 makes it also easier to grind, sand and polish than O1.
The same would be true for 1095, but that again is more difficult to HT properly than O2.

That is also why I prefer O2 in my Damascus, which is why I ship O2 to the people making Damascus for me, even though shipping 10 or 15 pounds of O2 is quite costly. O2/L6 or O2/15N20 is imo the best Damascus there is. And I am lucky in the sense that people like Howard help me out, and that I use enough Damascus that I can ship / order large quantities making it economically feasible.

Thanks Bruno and Mike. I appreciate the info. I do make razors but typically use 1095,O1 and W2 as that is what I am used to using. Again thanks for the info, I love learning about steels (new to me) especially from guys that know more than I and work with it. By the way Bruno, I didn't say before and it goes without saying as with all of your work, beautiful job.

Thanks again,
Jared