Thread: What are the main difference between Vintage and modern steels?

My personal opinion is the feel while honing of different grinds comes from different makers. Thinking its in the hardening or if a portion of the blade has been removed and made smaller then the steel is not as hard as its from closer to the inside of the blade at that point.

A hollow ground or near wedge with the same amount of bevel should hone the same. But if one is warped it can act differently.

I used to feel wedge was harder to hone. But after years i feel its from more of the shape, grind and condition that makes it more work to hone.
Grinds nowadays are done better than i. The old days. That has to have something to do with it.

I believe that in the past there were many different makers doing their own forging and certainly more heat treating than nowadays.
Most of the modern steel came from the same place. Many less makers in recent years (30-40 years).
More variables back then.

Originally Posted by RezDog

My thought on why vintage razors commonly take more effort to hone. Bevel set. Typically with vintage razors there is no original bevel remaining and it must be created. The exception to this will be NOS razors which still sport their factory bevel. Restoration honing is much more extensive and requires a lot more effort than a touch or refresh.I have done a fair bit of all of the above and I think this answers what I think you are asking.

I was thinking this too. Some very well preserved vintage razors are very easy to set a bevel. I was also wondering if tempering was more carefully done in the 1950s-70s...

Originally Posted by Gasman

My personal opinion is the feel while honing of different grinds comes from different makers. Thinking its in the hardening or if a portion of the blade has been removed and made smaller then the steel is not as hard as its from closer to the inside of the blade at that point.

A hollow ground or near wedge with the same amount of bevel should hone the same. But if one is warped it can act differently.

I used to feel wedge was harder to hone. But after years i feel its from more of the shape, grind and condition that makes it more work to hone.
Grinds nowadays are done better than i. The old days. That has to have something to do with it.

I've found vintage Solingen blades to be more flexible than modern day Dovos and Bokers.
Thanks for your reply.

Originally Posted by stoneandstrop

I believe that in the past there were many different makers doing their own forging and certainly more heat treating than nowadays.
Most of the modern steel came from the same place. Many less makers in recent years (30-40 years).
More variables back then.

I'd like to know if it's the tempering or what but a lot of vintage Solingen blades make a really high sound when flexed. Modern day Dovos and Bokers generally don't make such sound.

Thanks for your reply.

I think that in the hay day in Solingen that there were actually very few doing their own heat temper and heat treat and a lot of the cottage industries were grinding blades and making or fitting scales. It seems that there were only a few drop forges making the blanks.

Didn't Solingen have a certain quality standard that had to be met/followed in order for it to be called Solingen?

Originally Posted by tintin

Didn't Solingen have a certain quality standard that had to be met/followed in order for it to be called Solingen?

I would assume that to be the case with Solingen, Sheffield, Eskilstuna but I don't have any historical evidence

Originally Posted by CoffeeAddict24

I'd like to know if it's the tempering or what but a lot of vintage Solingen blades make a really high sound when flexed. Modern day Dovos and Bokers generally don't make such sound.

Thanks for your reply.

The old time grinders were the best there was.
To get a razor ground within a few thou across a three inch blade is not easy I'm sure.
I have only ever seen an old sheffield hollow ground that was too thin in one spot and split, the rest of it was well ground.
It looked great visually (no grind marks that would indicate such a thing) but when flexed it was ridiculous in difference to other places on the blade.
Now I check a blades flex at the antique markets quickly against my nail like the grinders used to! No soft spot - all good.

I don't know the answer to this but I wonder how much has to do with the amount of recycled steel used now compared to a century ago. I don't even know but I imagine it is vastly more today.