Thread: What's the history of SR metallurgy over the past 200 years?

I was sent here from r/wicked_edge. I hone SR's and I'm interested in the history of their steel. Specifically, what's changed in the way SR manufactures formulate and treat their metal? ie carbon content, tempering, etc

We have had that question - in a variety of forms and as you pose it - a number of times. It is far too tedious to write it all out afresh each time the question crops up, so I suggest you do a little googling of the archives - general googling of the web doesn't hurt much either, and visiting a library with a good section on steel is very good, but not done much these days.

Only take answers from those who know what they are talking about - mere opinions will not cut the mustard, and lots of people have some very odd ideas regarding steel and the various forms of it used in razors, such as:

double shear steel
cast steel (same as crucible steel);
warranted steel (not a type, just a guarantee that it was good);
acier fondu (same as cast steel, therefore just crucible steel);
silver steel (with real silver, not the bright tool steel it is nowadays);
india steel (from the indian form of steel known as wootz, made in a crucible, thereby the original cast steel as it predates the others which are a re-discovery of it);
silver steel - a form that does not contain silver, marginally harder than ordinary razor steel of the time,
low carbon steel - generic razor steel.

There are many other steels that were used. Some were called 'boutique' steels because they were pretty much small scale in production, like a small shop or boutique. Sheffield became the worlds centre for steel production and the creation of boutique steels.

There was also - supposedly - a particular form of iron that was considered to take and hold such a keen edge that it was used to make razors from. It sounds like heresy, but it happened.

You also need to know the alloys that went into it and the ways of making it - puddling furnace, blast-furnace, bessemer converter, siemens electric arc furnace and many more.

I have only given you a few generalities, so you can imagine the scope of the work that lays ahead of you, and the importance of not being swayed by personal opinions and beliefs but adhering to facts.

Good Luck!

Regards,
Neil

Thanks Neil, this is fascinating, and more than I expected. Looks like I have my work cut out for me...

You are a straight razor user and just found this place, blasphemy I say! Welcome aboard!

Wikipedia can give a star
History_of_steelmaking
Damascus_steel
Wootz_steel
~Richard

Welcome to SRP. Since you're already honing razors one of the coolest aspects, from my point of view, is honing razors from the different eras and observing whether there are differences in the way they respond to the rocks. More often than not we don't really know what the composition of the alloy is, but it is still an interesting aspect of the sport. Great info Neil as usual.

Take for account all the different steels that Neil mentioned, and all the different cutlers, with most having their own tempering methods. Take all of them plus you can also add stainless steel to the mix.

Your left with quite a few different steels, many manufacturer claimed in their advertisement that they had better steel better tempering then the other guy, that their razor will hold an edge longer then anything out there, some even claimed that they will never need honing...

Marketing existed then as it does now, and there is plenty common off the shelf steel with names like 'damascus' where it is just plain steel. Snake oil is of all times. And in that era, knowledge of chemical metallurgy was almost non existent, so what you got varied from batch per batch, depending on which alloys happened to be in the ore.

Originally Posted by Bruno

... in that era, knowledge of chemical metallurgy was almost non existent, so what you got varied from batch per batch, depending on which alloys happened to be in the ore.

I wouldn't be too sure about that...

As far as I am aware it was a golden era, a time when great strides forward were taken in this field. It would not be untoward to insist that it was a time of scientific revolution

Luminaries like Newton and Lavoisier (the father of modern chemistry) sparked it off and Francis Bacons analytical or empirical method provided a means of meaningful experimentation and comparison. Robert Boyle refined that method (Boyle's Law) and the list of names to which we owe much of our modern existence goes on and on: Tycho Brae, Gallileo, von Loevenhoek, Louis Pasteur, Lord Kelvin, Michael Faraday, Herscell, Priestly,

Most of the above innovators and pioneers represent inter-related fields, metallurgy being just one. To get more specific we must enter the realm of the iron and steel masters, men such as Abraham Darby, Wilkinson of iron coffin fame, Roebuck of the Carron Ironworks, Benjamin Huntsman, Matthew Boulton, David Mushet, Robert Forester Mushet, Henry Bessemer, Samuel Osbourne, etc, etc, etc.

So metallurgical knowledge was almost non existent? In a pigs eye, it was!

Regards,
Neil

I wonder if the "flaws" in the steels produced at the time actually helped when it comes to a shaving edge !

As has been discussed before the sharpest edge does not necessarily mean the best shaving edge. Maybe the imperfections in the steel produced at the time is the reason allot of people like the feel of vintage razors over the feel of new razors......just a thought