Thread: Hard steel

This razor has the hardest steel that I've come across so far. I believe i am the first to hone it and setting the bevel took some time. At first I thought it might be stainless but the magnet sticks very strong. This is a C V Hellingstrand Sweden. My spelling may be a little off. I've got one other Swedish razor and it shave good i hope this one does the same.

Mine was a bear to hone but the edges lasted a very long time.

A magnet will stick strongly to any stainless that would be used for a razor. Martensetic Stainless

Had a couple Swedish razors in the past but lost my mind and sold them. If I ever get my hands on another decent one I'll keep it for sure.

Swedish razors, at least the two I had, are made from very hard, top quality steel that can be a real pain to hone but take a very keen, smooth shaving edge that last a long time.

Originally Posted by DoughBoy68

Had a couple Swedish razors in the past but lost my mind and sold them. If I ever get my hands on another decent one I'll keep it for sure.

Swedish razors, at least the two I had, are made from very hard, top quality steel that can be a real pain to hone but take a very keen, smooth shaving edge that last a long time.

This one honed up after a long time. I used 3M 88 electric tape which is .085 thick. I may have that wrong but it's 8 1/2 thousands thick. the edge is very small. with out my glasses i can't see it but i did get to use it today and it does shave well. how long the edge will last i don't know. so far i haven't had to re hone any of my blades. Of course i have a few razors and I've bought and sold a few. I enjoy cleaning them up and honing and shaving with them then doing it all over again.

Yes, they are hard, but take a great edge.

Put on 2 layers of tape and set the bevel with some pressure. Once the bevel is set remove on layer, ink the bevel and re-set and hone with one layer.

They take a super edge with film, once the bevel is set.

Super shavers, have several and never honed one that was not a great shaver.

American steel is also some pretty hard stuff judging from the Kinfolks and Thistle blades I have honed.

I read a really interesting blog article yesterday about the rise of Swedish steel and the various Swedish razor makers. Apparently other countries would import the superior Swedish billets to use in their own razors at various times.

If I'm not mistaken Dovo razors are made from Swedish steel, someone please check and correct me if I'm wrong. I have a few Sheffield razors (John Williams) that are very hard steel, felt real close to Swedish steel when I honed them. Another razor made from very hard steel and are hard to hone are Frederick Reynolds. The up side to hard steel as mentioned above is the edges stay sharp for a very long time.

From what I have seen Heljie razors that are stainless steel are marked so. A razor being stainless steel was a selling point and likely would be marked that way regardless of who the maker was. I think you can pretty well rule out the razor in question being stainless steel.

Bob