Quote Originally Posted by markbignosekelly View Post
I know that steel made early 1900 and before 1900 was a softer steel I guess this would make for a kinder/smoother shave. The downside for me though is my stubble is like cheese wire so I seem to need to refresh vintage blades quicker!
As others noted generalizations are a bigish risk.

I have an opinion that regional vintage razors tend to match the available natural hones.

Old natural hones would be rare if great and variable by modern hone standards.

The other subtle difference is how an edge responds to the strop.

I mention this because steel can work harden and the thin cutting
edge and the bulk hardness of the steel are unlikely to be the same.

Most modern hones cut steel to shape while many old hones
tend to take advantage of the malleability of steel. The result
is an edge that has been worked more than abraded (think clay
being pushed into shape or cut into shape). The best slate (rare)
finishers excel at this.

After the hone there is strop technology. The strop interacts
with what the hone presents. Old and modern strop methods
are all over the map. Today we talk about pasted strops following
modern ultra fine hones which is "interesting" because old school
strops were often more abrasive than modern finishing hones.

So old steel, modern steel, hard or soft(er) steel all good when
honed and stropped in the right way.

At this point confusion should abound!
My only advice is to take advantage of modern ultra fine hones
(8k or finer what ever you have) and gently maintain your good edge.
Perhaps once or twice a month. Then strop with a clean strop and
use modern sub micron abrasive to lighten/ adjust the draw to make
a light hand on the strop easy.