Thread: Question About a Japanese Steel variety

Hello gents, I'm looking for some help identifying some steel, and I thought this would be the place to ask.

What I've got are some razors made in the 1960s, in Japan. The included explanation/warranty card says that they are made from a particular steel that no one I know here seems to know anything about.

The rough translation is this:

"these razors' steel is made from iron sand and is called "Low sulfur low conducting wire". (teiryuuteidousen). レーザ‐の鋼は低硫低導線と云いま して砂鉄より精選されたものなのです。

Does anyone have ANY IDEA what "low sulfur low conducting wire" might have to do with steel? That is a very direct translation of the kanji, but it could be something similar like low conductivity, low ductility...

The explanation goes on to explain how this steel has been in use for a long time, but it wasn't really in wide use until after the end of the war, and that these are the first razors to use this steel. This particular razor is dated 1966.

Any help, imagination included, would be greatly appreciated.

I remember reading about the ancient process of making steel (and swords) in Japan, in particular about how most of their iron came from sand harvested from river beds.

I went back and found a site describing this process: Japanese swordsmithing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So here is my own 'best guess' on what the words might mean.

The 'iron sand' part is fairly obvious, which would also indicate a steel made by the old process and not using any recycled material.

The 'Low Sulphur' part is also fairly obvious. Higher amounts of sulphur in a steel mix can cause weakness or even crumbling under the forge/hammer.

The 'Low Conductivity' part is the curious phrase. This may be a mis-translation. Or else a translation which although literal means something else. In this case, I'm guessing it actual indicates "low carbon content". But low carbon might only be indicative of a lesser amount relative to other unsuitable types of steel produced by this method.

The word 'wire' may actually be referring to a bar or ingot.

There, you now have my best guesses.

Thanks Ignatz.

Yes, the "Low Conducting Wire" is the weird part...but no one I've asked here seems able to parse it any other way. I there are some steel foundries around here...maybe I'll just go ask there. Someone is sure to know.

It has been my confirmed experience from someone in the sword business that Japanese has a very specific segment of the language devoted to metallurgy, and that most Japanese never learn it. All me to send this along to my friend and I'll see what pops from a different track.

But, in this moment, Ignatz has most of the bases pretty well covered.

Jim, I think you may have run across Chris on a Japanese blog site already.

The general consensus is marketing hype, as he says "The real meaning is hidden in the mind of the copy writer."

I guess this means that any label that sells a blade is acceptable. Just like razors with English labels huh?

Mike,

Thanks for the help.

Chris? Does he go by the name "Rino/Lino"? The page has been posted on a Japanese blog belonging to an acquaintance, I guess he saw it there.

I totally understand what you mean. It's just weird that they used words with no meaning at all; especially since the explanation is inside the razor box and not mentioned at all outside of the warranty card.

Only other thing that I could ad is that if they used coal for their forge, low sulfer coal is prefered. I haul 19000 tons of the stuff regularly to a local power plant. The metalurgy part is still over my head at this time.

Jim, I don't think that's his nom de net. But he was aware of the discussion through that blog. Chris gets around. The pictures he showed me were of a blade marked Coral.

In the 1960s, there wouldn't have been much concern about sulfur dioxides in the air, the green revolution was a few years off. But they would have known about sulfur messing with an alloy recipe.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

Jim, I think you may have run across Chris on a Japanese blog site already.

The general consensus is marketing hype, as he says "The real meaning is hidden in the mind of the copy writer."

I guess this means that any label that sells a blade is acceptable. Just like razors with English labels huh?

Like the 'fine india steel' or 'damascus steel' etc.

Knifeforums in the kitchen people might help. My best guess is it is some sort of white steel. White steel 1, 2, or 3. Most likely of all three is number 2. Wow that sounds weird... anyway, yellow steel (or white steel with sulfur in it) is common even today but hard to make function properly. White steel on the other hand is pure, no or very little sulfur, the conductivity part is probably referring to something about how it is forged, maybe it is less malleable or something.