Thread: ATTENTION: Razors needed for the great razor analysis

Josh and I are organizing a project to perform metalurgical and chemical analysis of vintage straight razors.
We'd like to find out their mechanical properties (structure, hardness) and their chemical composition (what were they made of).

This way we hope to get some understanding about the differences between the various manufacturers and regions.
I.e. what is the differnece between solingen and sheffield razors, or 'what makes certain sheffield razors better than others'

For this project we need people to donate razors.
This is the perfect opportunity to find a purpose for that busted razor you still have lying around

If you have one or more razors that you'd like to donate to this project, please send me a PM with a description: manufacurer, size, and grind.
It does not have to be in good condition. As long as there is good steel left, chips etc don't matter.

Thicker grinds are better than extra hollows because some material needs to be ground away to give access to the untarnished steel.

I will compile a list with all possible candidates, from which Josh and I will them make a selection.
We have to limit the selection somewhat (we have room for about 50 razors) so not all razors will be tested, so we will only ask you to mail them when we are sure they will be tested.

I have a piece of the spine that I cut down to make a short razor from a broken blade. The piece is about 1"long and a 1/4' wide, would that be enough to be worthwhile?


Bob

I have an old Thiers Issard n° 69 medaille d'argent.
It's honed away to 7/16", and I used it to practice honing stroke and testing sanding techniques for restoration. If it's any good for your experiment, I'm fine to separate from it.

Bart.

Originally Posted by CactusBob

I have a piece of the spine that I cut down to make a short razor from a broken blade. The piece is about 1"long and a 1/4' wide, would that be enough to be worthwhile?


Bob

That is probably not going to do much good, since We need to examine the hardness near the edge, which could be different from the spine hardness because of thickness during heat treatment.