Thread: New Razors vs. Old

I believe that the old razors difference could be due to the way the material was treated. My brother recently had a conversation with Ron Middleton. He and his brother are the last working members of a Sheffield Meister dynasty. You'll recognise their work if you have seen the film The League of Gentlemen with Sean Connery. They made all the bowie knives etc and film props. He told my brother that they couldn't get the steel as hard as they used to because they used to quench in whale oil, which is no longer available; hence their modern made bowies are a lot softer. Maybe this is the same for the razors as well. Paul

I don't buy this whale oil or molten lead bit about quenching. Cryo-hardening in Liquid Nitrogen is all the rage now in custom knife work. they are producing steels that test out to as high 65 Rc. Somehow I don't think these old vintage methodologies are producing steel that hard. I'm no metalurgist, but I think grind and steel qualities will have a lot more to do with it.

Originally Posted by Sharp&Shiny

I believe that the old razors difference could be due to the way the material was treated. My brother recently had a conversation with Ron Middleton. He and his brother are the last working members of a Sheffield Meister dynasty. You'll recognise their work if you have seen the film The League of Gentlemen with Sean Connery. They made all the bowie knives etc and film props. He told my brother that they couldn't get the steel as hard as they used to because they used to quench in whale oil, which is no longer available; hence their modern made bowies are a lot softer. Maybe this is the same for the razors as well. Paul

Originally Posted by BertMor

I don't buy this whale oil or molten lead bit about quenching. Cryo-hardening in Liquid Nitrogen is all the rage now in custom knife work. they are producing steels that test out to as high 65 Rc. Somehow I don't think these old vintage methodologies are producing steel that hard. I'm no metalurgist, but I think grind and steel qualities will have a lot more to do with it.

There are a few guys in the custom knife making arena that test blade steels of all kinds, and are finding that the blade alloy may have very little to do with sharpness and edge retention. As tests are done with as many different new "super steels" as possible with as few variables as possible they are finding that it is a combination of blade angle with the correct hardness for the steel used (I'm talking about the steel in each individual blade, as variation from batch to batch of even simple steel alloys is proving to be inconsistent).

Some alloys chip (microscopically) if they are heat treated too hard, while other are still malleable at the same hardness, but don't hold an edge any better.

That being said, daily shaving is a test of whether all of the factors are working well together, and old razors have been tested through and through, while new ones have not.

just my two cents, for what it's worth.

my 'newest' blade is a solingen blade from the 70's? my father in law gave it to me. very pretty. would be up there if i displayed them. don't like the shave with it. my usual shaves come from the older blades. vintage W&B, Genco, Duck #1.

my justification is that if i am going to spend on the low end $100, i would rather have 2-10 str8s instead of just 1. but that is just my thought on things. i am a cheapo. but i know it.

it is all subjective. i am sure a new dovo or TI shave terrific, but i don't care. i would hate to spend the money to buy them.

vgod

I haven't bought a new razor yet, as my vintage DD, C-Mon, and Genco seem to be plenty good enough for me.

With that said, I can see a Dovo Tortoise Special and Bergischer Lowe in my near future... I look forward to comparing them.