Thread: Damascus Steel, is it really worth it?

Originally Posted by RichZ

True my 93 Mercury Villager is basic transportation that is paid for. I am not trying to impress anyone.

ya my truck is basic transportation....so I can afford more razors

JL I think a couple of days ago you have 1000 posts. I bet you never meet a stranger in person huh ? hehe

Originally Posted by JLStorm

It has a higher rockwell hardness which I believe allows it to obtain a finer (read: sharper) edge, but also means its more brittle as well.

I don't think anyone buys them for the sharpness or the shave. It's strictly for the esoteric value.

It's the same reason I use str8s, for the historical and artistic value of the razor and for the connection to the past.

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I don't think anyone buys them for the sharpness or the shave. It's strictly for the esoteric value.

It's the same reason I use str8s, for the historical and artistic value of the razor and for the connection to the past.

Exactly my reasons as well. Well put joe.

Gary

Originally Posted by pitbulls20

JL I think a couple of days ago you have 1000 posts. I bet you never meet a stranger in person huh ? hehe

Lol ahh I travel all around I meet a new group of people almost every week...if only I could remember names better

I wouldn't buy a knife that wouldn't cut well no matter how pretty it was or how fine the workmanship. To me, that's like buying a Volkswagon motor and putting a Ferrari Chassis on it. It's not the "real thing".

Damascus.. actually patern welded steel. The real pattern welded steel makes good knives, but no better than and probably not as good as knives made of other modern high-tech steels. As some knife afficiandos like to say about Damascus, it's beautiful steel with thousands of microscopic stress cracks built right into it.

Then you've got the Damascene Stainless pseudo-Damasus. It's pretty but again... I don't think it's got any advantage over other good steels aside from the looks.

As much as I like fine cutlery, I'll most likely never buy a Damascus steel razor. I don't think it's the best choice of blade material for a razor, although I do think it can be made into a very good knife, depending on who made the damascus and how well it was made.... and that can be all over the place. It's pot luck unless you know the cutler or metallurgist that forged it, ground it and heat treated it. I see no reason to pay a premium price for anything but top notch blades and I don't think Damscus is it. Not for razors. But that's just me. They're expensive. They're beautiful and they will shave, so there will be a market for Damascus.

So what is the best steel/material for a razor blade other than Damascus. Any new materials better than Damascus, silver steel, carbon steel?

Regards,
Tom Tong

A number of materials hold tremendous promise. ATS-34, as used in Maestro Levi's other razors is very good. There are also a number of expensive but outstanding blade steels now available that are hard to work, but very fine grained and capable of achieving a very high level of working hardness, such as CPM-S30V and CPM-S90v. Bg-42 is worth a good look and CPM 10 carbon steel would be excellent. There are many fine steels that don't have the problems with very fine consistency at a micro level that one would expect from pattern welded steel. Hammering 700 to 2000 layers of alternating types of steel with different hardnesses is great for slicing knives because it will quickly develop a very toothy edge wear as the different steels wear at different rates. What's good for slicing isn't necessarily good for shaving.

That's just my personal opinion and and a bit of an explanation.

Originally Posted by PapaBull

That's just my personal opinion and and a bit of an explanation.

Thanks I appreciate the time you took to explain it.

It always seems that there is something better or a better way to do just about anything.

It is beatiful stuff though.

Of all the current Damascus blades, the Blue Tonge that the Maestro uses is actually an awesome shaver and fairly easy to hone and maintain. I put it in best of class territory. Agree that the ATS and CPMs are superior as well. With these razors I really believe you get super custom looks as well as quality. One gentleman even had one inscribed with "For Father and Son". Great message.

Lynn