Thread: Manganese Steel?

Hello all,
Does anyone have any information as to whether or not manganese steel razors from Wester & Butz, Solingen are any good?

Thanks

I would guess its a typical solingen made razor which means its a quality razor.

Thanks big spendur,
Well, I just bought this it on the bay.
ANTIQUE STRAIGHT RAZOR WESTER BUTZ MANGANESE BONE KNIFE - eBay (item 330253863509 end time Jul-24-08 18:20:00 PDT)

For that price it won't be a great loss if the razor turns out to be crap. I'll let you guys know if it finds a place in rotation as a good shaver. I will still welcome anyones experience with manganese steel.

Cheers

They are good razors and you got yours at a good price.

I have a Wester Bros. Manganese Steel and it's a fine razor! I often search for "Wester Bros. Manganese Steel" on the Bay. I missed this one. You got yourself a good one! The hone wear isn't bad and the blade looks pretty good.
Congratulations. I paid more for mine and it has more hone wear. BUT, I like the Bone Scales it wears.

Regards,

Jeeter

Ye Gawds! I just looked again and yours has bone scales too. It's a keeper!
You done good!


Jeeter

Originally Posted by Brother Jeeter

Ye Gawds! I just looked again and yours has bone scales too. It's a keeper!

I've got two Mang Westers and even thought I've sworn off buying anymore razors (part of the RAD 12-step program), I would have been tempted if I'd seen it.

BTW, both of mine have blued tangs, anybody know if that was standard or some kind of option?

I'm no alloy expert (let's hope one chimes in on this thread), but I read somewhere (Alloying of Steels) that manganese steel is really a different type of steel.
I have a Bartmann razor that has "manganese steel" stamped in the tang. It's a very hard steel, taking more work to hone than most other razors, and keeps a good edge for a long time. In fact, I've honed it only once, so far and I estimate it has about 20 shaves on the counter now without any sign of edge deterioration. (Of course the hardening and tempering process defines a lot of the final hardness, so a Manganese steel razor from another brand might tell a different story) Based on the condition of most of those Manganese steel Bartmanns I saw on Ebay so far, I'd say it has some stainless qualities as well, but I'm not sure about that.

Best regards,
Bart.

Wester Bros. were sole importers for Wester & Butz, Solingen. The term Manganese steel is used on several razors. Nearly 90% of all of the manganese produced each year is used in the production of steel. Manganese is added to molten steel to remove oxygen and sulphur and is alloyed with steel to make it easier to form and work with and to increase steel's strength and resistance to impact. I would say therefore that the term 'Manganese Steel' is just a marketing ploy. I have seen similar with thing like 'magnetic steel', 'austenitic steel' and 'chrome steel'. That's not to say it's not good steel - it is, just a bit of lily-gilding going on!

Originally Posted by Bart

I'm no alloy expert (let's hope one chimes in on this thread), but I read somewhere (Alloying of Steels) that manganese steel is really a different type of steel.
I have a Bartmann razor that has "manganese steel" stamped in the tang. It's a very hard steel, taking more work to hone than most other razors, and keeps a good edge for a long time. In fact, I've honed it only once, so far and I estimate it has about 20 shaves on the counter now without any sign of edge deterioration. (Of course the hardening and tempering process defines a lot of the final hardness, so a Manganese steel razor from another brand might tell a different story) Based on the condition of most of those Manganese steel Bartmanns I saw on Ebay so far, I'd say it has some stainless qualities as well, but I'm not sure about that.

Best regards,
Bart.

Sorry to be the rainman here but manganese steel is just an advertising gimmick. In the old days before consumer protection people could sell anything and call products anything they wanted so people came up with creative titles so make their stuff seem special. You see razors termed manganese, carbon, magnetic, carbo-magnetic, tungsten steel, moly steel, vanadium steel etc etc and on and on and they are all right because carbon steel contains all these alloys and more. So basically carbon steel is carbon steel. Most of these Solingen makers bought their blanks from a handful of suppliers so its all the same stuff.