Thread: New Steel vs Vintage Steel

Originally Posted by SuperSpeedRacer

I agree with Wade. I have primarily vintage razors and they differ substantially between manufacturer and country of origin. I think the only way you could fairly test whether older razors have steel different from modern razors is with a much bigger sample size of razors than most of us own. Phrank, from what I gather, may have enough razors but I suspect the rest of us probably don't.

P.S. I didn't see that Phrank was the OP. That being the case you probably can't tell from comparisons between different manufactures on one to one tests. You'd have to average across a lot of razors to make sure that it isn't just differences in manufacturers that's accounting for what you're noticing. Better yet if you have a bunch of razors of different age from the same manufacturer - compare those but that would just allow you to make a claim that in the case of that manufacturer age matters. If you're doing a large sample with numerous manufacturers you may be able to draw a more general conclusion but with much less certainty.

Hahaha - I have 23 blades, a nice mix of sizes, ages and grinds, no two are alike, you'd have to look to other members if you're looking for a substantial amount of razors of similar manufacture and grind to test.

Guess my question was a tad more of a sweeping generalization than I meant it. I like the idea that for a razor to have lasted 100+ years, it was obviously a keeper, and some blades made today may be around as well 100 years from now(thanks niftyshaving). Also, the idea of the steel mellowing with age made some sense.

And of course personal preference, the psychological factor of favoring one over another.

So, to be clearer, it seems with the blades I have, for instance, the vintage TI frameback gave me a much better shave than a new TI Eagle, both 5/8th and both hollow ground. Granted, that's totally subjective, someone else could feel the opposite. So, can there be two camps? An actual preference for old steel vs new, or new vs old, or is it simply a mixed bag, and across the board some are good and some are not so good, regardless of age? There physically is little measurable difference?

Cheers!

edited to add: thanks Wolfpack34 ^ - that kinda sums it up perfectly! '-)