Thread: Favourite steel?

My experience mainly with Sheffield, Thiers, Solingen, Japan and Eskilstuna: with quality steel from any country it's the honer's skill that counts most. But for me vintage Swedish and Japanese White Paper 1 seem to have a head start. Maybe it's my honing style, what do I know? Have never tried Tamagahane. The only American steel has been with two older Torrey's which produced amazing edges. So much to do and so little time

“But for me vintage Swedish (Eskilstuna) and Japanese White Paper 1 seem to have a head start (And Tamahagane)”

Add to that, the legendary Little Valley, NY makers of the early 1900, most all of them made with great steels & superb grinding, and Vintage Thiers.

Interesting how these little clumps of Cutlers, Eskilstuna, Little Valley, Solingen, Thiers, Sheffield and Japan had a synergistic effect on quality and production on the cutlery industry.

Vintage Thiers ?

Vintage Thiers has been considered subpar for most of the 19th century. Subpar compared to Sheffield, off course, but also subpar compared to Nogent or Langres, in the Haute Marne I was refering earlier.
I mean, they did have some respected brands like Dumas, but they had been making cutlery since the 16th century AFAIK and French cutlery in early 19th century was such crap that Napoleon had to simultaneously
- Ban importing foreign cutlery and severerly punish smuggling
- Invest massively in French cutlery
- At the same time smuggle his own cutlery from Sheffield.

I appreciate them all (edit: all that I have tried that is. There are so many variants that to imply I have tried "all" would be dishonest) but they have different characteristics. It seems to me they each work better with a specific grind...unless I've just been in the paint booth too long.
I'm another for the Sheffield though. My one razor to take into space or on a desert island would be a toss up between 3: 2 W&B's and a Westby.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

[I]Add to that, the legendary Little Valley, NY makers of the early 1900, most all of them made with great steels & superb grinding, and Vintage Thiers.

Re: Little Valley: oh no, not another rabbit hole (but thanks much! )

Originally Posted by Aggelos

Vintage Thiers ?

My Thiers razors come from first half/middle of the 20th century (Le Grelot, Le Jaguar, Thiers Issard, and others). Not sure if that time period qualifies them as vintage or not but they're a joy to hone and shave with. My 19th century French razors (Nogent, Laguiole etc) are equally delightful but mostly with softer steel and heavier grinds. There are great deals for French razors on eBay France (shouldn't have said that ).

Most of my razors are vintage Solingen carbon steel. I find them to have a nice middle ground hardness. Of course the grind is also a big factor, my preference being for hollower grinds.

Originally Posted by Badgister

Most of my razors are vintage Solingen carbon steel. I find them to have a nice middle ground hardness. Of course the grind is also a big factor, my preference being for hollower grinds.

I'm glad someone likes vintage Soligen the most. Your right, grinding is a big factor in the feel of a razor and no one does grinding quite like the Germans, every vintage Soligen razor Ive used the grinding has been impeccable. The fit and finish is wonderful too. Rezdog loves Henckles, and for good reason to, they are just great razors.
For me, Soligen razors just don't flick my switch and I don't know why. I have a Globusman that is perfect in every way but doesn't evoke the same feelings as a nice old Sheffield (which is absolutely ridiculous as they are just stupid bloody razors, but I'm bloody stupid so there we have it)

I can only describe it like a car. The Porsche 911 vs Aston Martin DB5. Yes the Porsche has it all but the Aston just oozes style.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

I can only describe it like a car. The Porsche 911 vs Aston Martin DB5. Yes the Porsche has it all but the Aston just oozes style.

Spitfire vs Me 109 comes to my mind. Beauty vs beast.

Bob

F6F Hellcat vs Supermarine Spitfire. The Hellcat flew the socks off the Spitfire but it was not at all a sexy plane like the Spitfire was.

Here's a thought: in the same way that a bat can't see squat but it has this crazy echo-location sense maybe the razors from different steel from different regions were ground a specific way, intentionally or organically according to the nature of the steel.