Thread: rigarazor

Originally Posted by Kees

He sells carbon steel and tungsten steel razors, the latter at a huge premium. Is tungsten steel worth the money?

I have an opinion that "tungsten" can produce carbides that are great for slicers
but an open blade razor should not slice. If the steel is correctly heated, cooled and
shaped the carbides do not form in bad ways and there is a very abrasive resistant
and tough tool steel that will hold a nice push cut edge for shaving.

I see Tungsten steels with tungsten content from 0.5% to 17% so it is unclear
what steel is involved. As tool steel goes tungsten rich tool steels are difficult
to machine, enough so that the premium cost makes sense.

The difficulty of machining would reflect itself as difficulty honing.
With modern high end synthetic hones all should be all OK but old hones and
even some new hones are a question. Natural hones including j-nats and
coticules need to be evaluated.

My guess is the tungsten steel razors are top notch. No one would work steel
that tough and hard and not have pride in the result.
The key question is to ask what to hone the tungsten steel razor with for the best edge.