Thread: Recycling DE Blades -> Straight?

You can weld stainless, you can forge weld stainless, and you can forge stainless...

Forging those blades into a bar is plausible, maybe not practical. Stainless needs to be forge welded in essentially a vacuum, or at least an oxygen free environment. If you were to get a piece of square steel tubing, weld a cap on the end, then stack the blades tightly, or crush them into little pieces, fill the can you created, weld on a lid, airtight. Bring it up to welding heat, let soak at temperature, then use a hydraulic press to compress the can and its contents, you could indeed press yourself a bar of steel. Would it be inclusion free? Maybe... Could you make a straight razor? Sure! Would it be cost effective? Nope!! Environmentally friendly? After forging?? Again probably not. Pride and self satisfaction, plus the bragging rights? Damn straight! (No pun intended! lol!)

OP's question was can it be done... Yes. Yes it can. Is it practical? Way cheaper to buy a nice straight.

Wouldn't it be dangerous to bring an hermetically clased metal container with air inside, to welding heat?

This is the principle. A little different with stainless, but it is can (canister) welding. Welding stainless successfully has many of its own problems though.

Canister welding certainly sounds like it might do the trick, but the requirement for vacuum and the fact I have no metal working experience whatsoever seems to make it implausible for me.
Still...I can't shake the desire to try.

How about using the crucible technique that was used for the Ulfberht sword?

Originally Posted by robellison01

How about using the crucible technique that was used for the Ulfberht sword?

Yes, but you'd need an awful lot of blades, and whatever goes into those stainless gilette blades is probably the wrong kind of steel to get dendrite growth. Of course you could probably produce a stinaless steel ingot that way. It would be expensive and impractical and definitely not 'eco'.

It could be fun though