Just out of curiosity, how does a scalpel compare to a SR for sharpness or keen edge?
I also suppose scalpels are disposable, rather than re-honed.
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Just out of curiosity, how does a scalpel compare to a SR for sharpness or keen edge?
I also suppose scalpels are disposable, rather than re-honed.
Modern scalpels are disposable and are pretty much just razor blades like an X-acto knife.
Older scalpels that you have to sharpen are about the same as an SR. I honed some up last year for a middle school biology teacher and I ended up using the same honing pyramid as I do on carbon steel straights and ended up finishing them on .5 diamond. I tried a few on .1 diamond to really give them an edge, but the edges started rolling. Same thing happened with the .25 diamond. Maybe the human surgery ones are made with better metal and can go sharper than educational anatomy ones, but the ones I sharpened could slice a hotdog into tissue thin slices.
I remember a discussion on a knife forum about scalpels and more specifically “surgical steel”. It was pointed out that surgical steel isn’t actually that good ! What it does do is take a very fine edge that only has to stay a fine edge for 1 or 2 cuts before its sent to the bin (I’m no surgeon but from what I have seen on TV they don’t seem to be in the habit of making lots of cuts). My guess would be that they are probably sharper / more keen than a razor but would dull way before you would have chance to do a single shave pass !
Another thing that came out in that thread was that some surgeons apparently use obsidum blades which reportedly have an edge no steel could ever match !
This is a very interesting question. Modern scalpel blades are incredibly sharp, but although their sharpness is perhaps comparable to some razors (microtomes come to mind), they're probably more akin to knives in terms of how they're ground. Skin, fascia and other tissues are incredibly tough, and it's sometimes necessary to change blades during surgery; I'm not sure that a true razor edge would hold up very long.
That's pretty much on the mark, mike 1011!Quote:
Originally Posted by mike1011
Both obsidian and diamond blades have their uses. Eye surgeons are fond of diamond in particular because it cuts cleanly, with minimal trauma to delicate tissues. Obsidian glass has similar benefits.
Do you get diamond or obsidian razors? I've seen vidoes of people shaving with obsidian flakes, but never heard of diamond before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dzanda
I would think that older scalpels would be very similar. I had posted this razor and it was suggested it might have been used in a surgical setting due to the scales and spacer being all aluminum. I take it for face value though. Who knows the true history of it.
http://i.imgur.com/K8TpgsR.jpg
Most likely yes, it was a surgical prep razor. Used for cutting hair, though, not flesh. I've got a 1956 Soviet-made one that's quite similar.Quote:
Originally Posted by docatduq
Neither; my practice doesn't require anything so exotic. Plain surgical steel is all that I've ever used.Quote:
Originally Posted by Amenrab
I've witnessed surgeons changing blades from half of an incision to another. What is left out of the tale is that human tissue/serum will erode the fine edge of a knife blade. Disposable scalpel blades are made for single use so no one is tempted to reuse them on another patient, and as cheaply as possible, so they are not perfect, but good enough.
On the right are modern day Blades,the are Carbon steel,they are meant for one time use as they are so sharp they dull quickly.
They are ground with a triple bevel and are very thin at .015,due to being so thin they have a rib back.
On the left is an old time non-disposible, they are near wedge.
When I started working in medicine (early 60s) every hospital had their own lab to do the sharpeng, not only blades but scissors,osteotomes etc.
Attachment 168592
It looks like that non disposable could use a quick cleaning :shrug:
Not, thats my epoxy spreading blade.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steel
I'm not sure that is wholly acurate, Mike!Quote:
Originally Posted by mike1011
Many early (post 1775 mostly) edged tolmakers makers made both surgical implements and razors. Surgical steel arose as a more enduring form of steel because of the alloys used (nickel was discovered in 1751, moybdenum in 1778, chromium in 1797 and in 1821 Pierre Berthier published his experiments with chromium alloys of steel). If all these sound familiar it is because they are used in stainless steel.
Early stainless tableware got a bad press, as did the first batch or two of razors made from it after Harry Brearley working for Firth Brown labs discovered martensitic chromium stainless steel.
However, the early surgical steel can only be loosely defined as stainless - it was a precursor, if you like. I have been privileged to have had razors from 1850 - 1890 that were made from, and marked as being made from, surgical steel - these were superlative shavers that took and kept a very good edge indeed. I think it's raison d'etre at that time was that it was admirably suited to its task. I would think that nowadays 'surgical steel' is more strictly defined and is none other than true stainless steel.
Regards,
Neil
Correct,Surg steel is nothing more than 440 SS.
Yes probably best to clarify, the thread revolved around a vendor touting some Chinese made garbage which was marked "surgical steel". I stand to corrected but as I understand modern surgical steel is not very good when it comes to pocket or fixed blade hunting knives and the like :chapeauQuote:
Originally Posted by Neil Miller
As a anesthesiologist I sometimes use a surgical blade to shave some arm hair in order to more securely tape the i.v. to the patients arm. Therefore I know that those surgical blades arent nearly that sharp as a well honed straight razor and most certainly not as sharp as a DE blade.
Have never seen that done,why not use a standard prep razor?Quote:
Originally Posted by Noxa
It's not common practice but sometimes they don't have those disposable's or they only have clippers.Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
I've done the same when a disposable prep razor wasn't available. Works, but certainly not ideal...modern scalpels weren't made to cut hair.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noxa
