Thread: Does steel have a correctable memory?

Sure many metals and steels can be forcibly bent into another shape, but really my question of course relates to razors. Specifically, finished razors rather than razors in the process of being fashioned.

Your typical vintage blade. We've all experienced "warped" blades. I was thinking, if a clamp was made using a few small straight edges sandwiching the edge lengthwise and two more straight edges clamped the spine lengthwise and finally.....some straight edges clamped down both the spine and the edge crossway, would this or a similar concept correct the warp and bring the blade into trueness? Orthodontia for razors with problems.

Or...after removing the clamps, would the steel revert back to its pre-clampning shape?

Chris L

I do not claim to be an expert, so my opinion really means nothing,BUT seeing that razors are made of very hard steel I would think the stress would crack/break the blade entirely no matter how you wrapped it. It might be done if you annealed it first. Dont take any of this to heart, its just my 2c, wait for someone who knows before making a decision.

If the blade was differentially hardened, meaning the back was softer than the edge, your method might work. But if the blade is through hardened, I'd agree with Nun2, it's more likely to completely separate. If the blade is full hard, it likely happened during the original heat treatment. It's amazing that so many blades made it out into the public domain for use in that condition.

When making a new razor, that's why it's recommended to leave things a little thick at the edge before heat treatment. That way if there is a little warpage, at least you can grind the edge straight and compensate.

The real trouble with reheating and annealing "old" razors is that they are already ground down to thin. The heating process can cause scale loss on the surface which will require regrinding and the whole blade will be different than what was started. It could be done, but it's risky even with the right equipment like salt or lead baths and still have something left that looks like the original. But changing the heat treatment means its likely to be a whole different razor even if it looks the same.

Thoughts to ponder.

Agreed, any stress needed to deform hardened steel would be great enough to risk serious breakage. You would need to stress the steel beyond the elastic limit to reverse a warped edge which would require more of a concave clamping mechanism than the flat bars. And to make matters worse, it would be fairly imprecise if it could be made to work since the edge is so thin and could easily be warped into the other direction rather than straight, where you want it.

Stupid warped vintage blades!

I figured as much. Thanks for the info, guys. In a perfect world, all blades that I shave with would lie perfectly flat (on both the front and back side of the blades mind you) on wide hones and be a pleasure and a breeze to hone and maintain. I guess that would take half the fun out of it too, though (substitute "fun" for the word frustration or any four letter word you may choose depending on your mood).

I guess that's that. I will have to eventually make my own shaving implements in which case then my goal WOULD be to have the end result lay beautifully flat on the flat honing surface. Now THAT'S worth daydreaming about!

Chris L

Chris,

I believe steel does have a memory, but it's possible the warp actually represents the steel returning to the shape it was "remembering." I've heard of blades made of straightened coil springs developing a curve when quenched. Not sure if it's true.

One other option for straightening blades would be to soften the back of the blade while keeping the edge cool. You might be able to keep the edge submerged in water and heat the spine with a torch. That would partially anneal the spine and allow you to straighten it.

Probably more trouble than it's worth, but it might be fun to try sometime.

Josh

I think there's only one kind of steel that can morph back into its original state. Don't remember what it was called, but I saw a video of it once. Basically you can warp it into any shape, but once you apply heat, it will morph back into its original state. But it's not something you would use as a razor since it's so flexible. In the demo video, the guy used a spring, he twisted it in all sorts of ways, and then heated it with a hairdryer. He said he thought it could be used to erect buildings quickly. The buildings would be made at a hardware store modularly, then they could bend it into a compactable shape and move it to the site, and then heat it and have it erect itself. Making a whole building would take only a day!

I'm certainly no blacksmith, but I believe the only way to bring the steel back into shape is if you reheat it and reforge it. Simply applying a force could break it.

There are several alloys of stuff called memory metal. Here's one link: kinda cool really.

NiTi Memory Metal

But mostly small applications, and not blade steels.