Thread: Getting Steel Heat treated

Hello. I was wondering what I should pay to have a piece of steel, like 52100 high carbon steel? N.J. Steel Baron has a great selection of steels to choose from. I'm going to buy from them. Should the razor be shaped after or before it is treated? After, right? Thanks.

Btw, where is the best place(s) to buy scale material? I already know about the Duke of Pearl; what a great site.

Moved to "The Forge" where it will get real help

Originally Posted by WILDMAN1

Hello. I was wondering what I should pay to have a piece of steel, like 52100 high carbon steel? N.J. Steel Baron has a great selection of steels to choose from. I'm going to buy from them. Should the razor be shaped after or before it is treated? After, right? Thanks.

Btw, where is the best place(s) to buy scale material? I already know about the Duke of Pearl; what a great site.

Are you asking what you should pay for the steel? Or for heat treament?

I'm curious as to the choice of alloy. Azom lists the application for 52100 as "AISI 52100 alloy steel is used in bearings in rotating machinery." Is this for a razor? If it is, I'd suggest perhaps investigating alloys more commonly used in the manufacture of razors. I mean, ultimately use whatever you want. Just struck me as an unusual choice. https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6704

Realized I forgot your other question: *final* shaping is after heat treatment.

What you want by the time you're heat treating is a razor-shaped object. I.e. your hole for the pin is drilled, your hollows are (mostly) ground, the tang and tail are in their final shape, if you're putting on a maker's mark, it's there, the toe and heel are in their final shape, etc. *But* you don't grind your final bevel. Leave the edge thicker than it will eventually be (I think 1mm thickness is normal, but absolutely defer to the razor makers out there) as it will likely warp badly during the heat treating process. Then, once it has been hardened, tempered, etc., you go back and put the final bevel on, polish it up, etc.

Check out Charlie's vid below. He has a couple that take you right through the process. Here's one:

bearing steel is actually pretty common for manufacturing of razors..
as for scale material, check out masecraft supply. they have some good stuff, decent prices, and a good reputation for customer service

great to hear your looking to make your first razor! i actually wouldn't mind giving you some material for a set of scales...

i do exactly what charlie does in the video and works very well for me!

I thought this thread was about me.

No, I'm asking what is a reasonable price to pay for getting the blade treated so I can turn it into a razor. The 52100 steel, which is a high carbon steel, was suggested to me by the owner of N.J. Steel Baron FOR MAKING a razor. I asked him which steel he believed would be one of the very best choices for making a razor blade.

I watched the 1 hr video done by Mr. Lewis (he was making a different razor). I watched it after I posted this thread. I feel forced to make my own meat chopper because prices for them have sky-rocketed! I haven't looked through feebay in a while; are they still really high or have they come down to a more reasonable price level? Is the feeding frenzy of 2014-2015 over?

Originally Posted by Dafonz6987

great to hear your looking to make your first razor! i actually wouldn't mind giving you some material for a set of scales...

i do exactly what charlie does in the video and works very well for me!

I appreciate it. I would like to first check around on the 'net to see what is out there. I'll keep your nice offer in mind. Thanks.