Thread: Preferred Steel

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

Sharp is sharp, no matter what the blade composition. However, durability is a different story. I have a Zero Tolerance knife with CTS-204p and a BenchMade with CPM-M4, and their edge-holding ability is astounding. They will eat a high carbon blade for breakfast and never even burp.

Yea, that is quite possible but then a knife and what it is expected to do is very much different from a straight razor and what it is expected to do. The bevel angle on a knife is different from a razor and has a lot more meat behind the edge making it less fragile than any razor's edge. Knives for general use are not sharpened/honed to the same levels as a razor because there is no need for that. Will the grain structure in those knife steels you mentioned stand to be ground as thinly as a razor, be honed to as high a level and still hold their edge the same as in knife use? I don't think too many/enough people have used razors made from those steels to get a definitive answer to that yet. You would think that on a forum this specialized you would have heard people raving about the edge holding ability of these steels by now. A razor is a knife but a knife is not a razor.

Bob

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

Sharp is sharp, no matter what the blade composition. However, durability is a different story. I have a Zero Tolerance knife with CTS-204p and a BenchMade with CPM-M4, and their edge-holding ability is astounding. They will eat a high carbon blade for breakfast and never even burp.

That's not true I've owned the Zero Tolerance knife with the CTS - 204 steel and many of the other super steels and none of them will match the performance of the Japanese Rockstead knives some of them are not made of stainless steel and performance wise they will not be matched.

Interesting thread. So I don't know much about steel really. My experience with a few of my razors. TI Carbon Song by far the hardest to hone and is a carbon steel 1.35% I believe. Henckels not as hard to hone but somewhat more work than most of the others that are carbon and is a stainless steel, supposedly ice hardened. Both those razors will hone very keen and smooth as any of my others that dare I say more vanilla carbon steel. I do notice a difference that the 135 and Stainless have a noticeable durability and longevity between honing sessions. The others all being some type of carbon vary also but not as much Dovo steel is noticeably the least durable in my experience. All with proper treatment can be made to shave keen and smooth. I imagine durability and ease of care is the aim in a Stainless blade and in carbon blades its supposed to be ease of honing but its not always the case. I'm sure hardness and carbide volume and all that other stuff I don't really understand must play a part. Surely any company that makes a razor has to work with a set of parameters and make compromises to make their product stand out in world of similarity. But all the ones I got shave fine and for me there is very little difference except for the ones I mentioned.

I won't to see a razor in REX 121.... There's nothing like a razor that can dish stones and eat shops.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by aaron1234

I won't to see a razor in REX 121.... There's nothing like a razor that can dish stones and eat shops.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Why not? I am sure a custom maker could attempt that if they have not already done so.

Bob

I find that it is harder to get a nice patina on a stainless blade....

As a general rule I think that most/many of us here think of straight shaving as an old way of doing things, not cutting edge technology...... [Sorry for that!]

We are using or recreating a thing from the past. Stainless steel is a relatively late development let alone all these other alloys. Even the customs recreate the past as a general rule.

I think that if we took a poll here not many would be interested if a latest and greatest alloy would cut 10 more hairs a second.

Bob mentioned soap and brushes as being a latest and greatest interest on this site but what I find interesting as far as straights go is the modification and the use of modern material for scales. How many other items 150 years old and done in modern materials would be liked as much?

Random thoughts on a Friday night!

Originally Posted by 32t

I find that it is harder to get a nice patina on a stainless blade....

As a general rule I think that most/many of us here think of straight shaving as an old way of doing things, not cutting edge technology...... [Sorry for that!]

We are using or recreating a thing from the past. Stainless steel is a relatively late development let alone all these other alloys. Even the customs recreate the past as a general rule.

I think that if we took a poll here not many would be interested if a latest and greatest alloy would cut 10 more hairs a second.

Bob mentioned soap and brushes as being a latest and greatest interest on this site but what I find interesting as far as straights go is the modification and the use of modern material for scales. How many other items 150 years old and done in modern materials would be liked as much?

Random thoughts on a Friday night!

I think those are some good random thoughts especially about the scale materials used now and much admired. I too enjoy scales made of modern materials with the personal caveat that their shape/design be reminiscent of vintage designs.

Stainless steel in a form we know today was first produced around 103 years ago. So, late relative to how long razors have been made. Not exactly as new a material as I would have thought it to be before I got interested in razor and did some research.

The Discovery of Stainless Steel

Bob

I am 54 and born in the last century so to me 103 isn't that long ago!

This got me thinking about aluminium.

At one time aluminium was worth more than gold.

Originally Posted by 32t

I am 54 and born in the last century so to me 103 isn't that long ago!

Hehe i'm 38 and still 103 not that long ago for me ... i bet you are not 1/3 as old as mist of your blades...

I also think tht this is mostly a culture of makind the OLD the new NEW.... and for sure i like the omd steel and the old scales... but when an old scales can't be turned back to life, you take a couple of new ones and extend the usage of the blade in a new/old razor.... unless of course you find a piece of nice goog old 200 yrs ebony or so... then its old new scales in an old/old/new very noce razor.... whar i mean is that mixing old wihth new is nature... i've been thinking of giving a chance to kne of those inox new blades...maybe a jpn vg-10 steal? Or somethin like that....

The factis... one could not be certainuntil trying... and for sure it would be at least a nice to have low maintenance blade

Enviado desde mi SM-G903M mediante Tapatalk

Originally Posted by TreeBrand

I've just watched video of a "razor expert" who claimed that stainless steel was better than carbon steel.

Define the use of the words "Razor Expert"