Thread: Damascus vs stainless vs carbon

Ah... but the KEY part is, if you don't KNOW... ASSUME it's not safe to use smokeless and you'll be fine.

As for rusting in welds... the damn barrels are so thin and you cannot inspect the welds from the inside without fancy equipment, best to err on the side of caution. And of course, proof testing is the ultimate test.

As for companies like Purdy and Boss.... yeah, I'd suspect they would stand behind their products.... Me... I'll stand WAAAY behind during a proof test!

Funny thing though, living in the middle of the frozen bit of Canada, I met a fellow who used to work for Boss and did stock fitting for them. It was a very enjoyable evening chatting with this fellow. Unfortunately, I have lost touch and do not have his address or email address and my fuzzy brain cannot remember his name either, so the phone book is out. <sigh>

I'll stand behind my original statement... if you run across some ol' shotgun with damascus barrels, best not fire it with smokeless cartridges.... It *might* survive, but it's likely not a Purdy or other modern manufactured gun, but rather something less durable.

There are exceptions to every rule, but blindly assuming that an exception applies to YOUR particular case, is not a good idea.


Regards

Christian

I agree and would not attempt.

We have derailed the post...

As for razors, I love stainless and have one Dovo and several 8/8 Heinkels that I use regularly.

All razor will shave well, the main thing is to choose the right metal for a razor blade if they are self-made. Razor with Damascus to do more complicated, you need to choose wisely package of steel.

I have a friend who works with just about all the different types of steel out there. He personally does not like to use Damascus because it uses two different types of steel with different properties. He tells me that the differences in Rockwell causes the blade to forum a serrated edge, He just gives his knives a 1095 insert to fix this. Now in razor with how often you strop them you'll never feel this effect. Personally I've never felt it in a knife as well but it makes sense to me.

Tim Zowada puts a strip cutting edge of the harder steel in the composition on his Damascus razors.

Damascus stainless or Carbon, if they are quality steels and honed correctly then they will all deliver quality shaves, I own razors with all those steels and find them to be all good shavers and also equally as good to hone with little or no difference IMO.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Damascus stainless or Carbon, if they are quality steels and honed correctly then they will all deliver quality shaves, I own razors with all those steels and find them to be all good shavers and also equally as good to hone with little or no difference IMO.

I have shaved with stainless and carbon and noticed no difference, my interest about the Damascus blades (I've never used) has been answered along with the other posters here, appreciate it guys.


Scott

I know the Damascus shotgun barrel is easier to hone than the stainless :<0)