Thread: I Need Help Choosing Steel for Chandler Custom

I'm having Mr. Chandler create me a custom razor and I need some advice choosing a steel. I have one chandler that I picked up gently used from SRD. It's mirrored stainless and shaves fantastic so I'm kinda leaning toward that. I do love the Damascus though but I'd like an edge that will get scary sharp and hold a nice edge for a while. Any advice is appreciated. Maybe I just need one of each.

I would go for a mirror polished HCS blade just to have something different. After all you already have a SS.

Most time I read about Damascus steel and razors I read between the lines about dissatisfied customers. Pretty but not practical is what they say.

Carbon steel is softer and easier to hone than a stainless (Carbon) steel but does not hold an edge for quite so long. Some feel stainless is smoother. I don't. I think that carbon steel is way way smoother but you need to buy top quality.

For me, I don't pretend to understand it but.........I get the best shave from a metal edge that looks smooth.

Wade and Butcher blades have a steel that looks smooth as do PUMA. They talk about a fine powdery steel. I don't pretend to understand what the alchemist are talking about but a smooth powdery edge is visually clear to see and always makes a fine razor to use.

One other thing. there are blades that are tempered to make a brittle steel.
These razors....often made by Boker and various US makers. They also seem to give a close comfortable shave.

But bottom line, ask Mr Chandler to make your razor using PUMA quality steel. I have seen Mr Chandlers work and he is a wizard for sure and a very talented artisan. But I don't know yet if even the best wizards fully understand steel well enough to make you a PUMA steel quality razor.

I hope I'm wrong and I mean no disrespect to anybody but when this side of straight razor steel is understood, I truly believe that the art of straight razor manufacture will have been advanced.

In the interim, I'm sure if Mr Chandler say its good, it will be.

I'm sure whatever steel you get, it will be good. I can't imagine JC would use materials that would yield anything other than an outstanding shave. If you have a choice of materials, I would ask him what he thinks (which would serve as a starting point) and then go for something that will look good and add some verity to the rotation.

If you like the feel of his stainless, I think you will be equally happy with his HCS. Don't be afraid of Damascus, when properly done, it is every bit as smooth as HCs, the difference is most often just a little bit of nickel in the shiney layers. Otherwise it is just a fancy HCS.
A good damascus (and I'm sure Joe wouldn't use a cheap one)might be made from 1095 which is HCS, and 15N20 which if I understand correctly is essentially 1075HCS with some nickel in it. When welded and polished, the steel easily meets all the requirements for a great razor. The edge is not etched, so the shave quality will be exceptional.

The bottom line, is any steel you chose will shave well, Joe wouldn't send it to you if it didn't, pick what you want, and have confidence in it.

Based on my own experience the only damascus that is really a bear to hone are the TI damascus razors. I have Zowada and Livi and they are no trouble to hone at all. I would say just get what you want and don't worry about it. If you can't make up your mind let Joe do it for you.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I never really though about damascus as simply being a HCS. I think the answer may be to get one each eventually as I love the finish of both! Maybe I will go with the damascus since I do have other stainless and HCS shavers.

I hate making decisions!

I still have to make decisions about scales and file work too. Maybe I should just let him surprise me.

I'm thinking that if you have hard time deciding, you should reconsider if you really want a custom razor.
The point of having razor made to order is that you get a razor that you like, so knowing that is a prerequisite. Of course we all like many things and picking one versus the alternatives is not always easy, but you surely must have some idea.

The pattern wielded damascus is just that - two different carbon steels hammered together and at the end the surface is acid treated to create the contrast between the two components in a pattern. If you like the look go for it. As far as I know Joe purchases his steel and most of the time he sends it out for heat treatment. What he does is the grind the shape and decorations of the razor. Ah and he hones them too

In any case I'm very happy with the razor he made me. I told him various elements that I like and few basic things in the razor, and left to him to decide what else to include and what not. My razor is stainless as that's what Joe uses mostly and it's much cheaper than the other alternative I was considering.

Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

If you like the feel of his stainless, I think you will be equally happy with his HCS. Don't be afraid of Damascus, when properly done, it is every bit as smooth as HCs, the difference is most often just a little bit of nickel in the shiney layers. Otherwise it is just a fancy HCS.
A good damascus (and I'm sure Joe wouldn't use a cheap one)might be made from 1095 which is HCS, and 15N20 which if I understand correctly is essentially 1075HCS with some nickel in it. When welded and polished, the steel easily meets all the requirements for a great razor. The edge is not etched, so the shave quality will be exceptional.

The bottom line, is any steel you chose will shave well, Joe wouldn't send it to you if it didn't, pick what you want, and have confidence in it.

I have a burchtree kiradashi(japanese style knife) made of 1095 and that is nice steel and hard. I am not sure about how it works for razors but it must be great too.

Originally Posted by English

Most time I read about Damascus steel and razors I read between the lines about dissatisfied customers. Pretty but not practical is what they say.

Carbon steel is softer and easier to hone than a stainless (Carbon) steel but does not hold an edge for quite so long. Some feel stainless is smoother. I don't. I think that carbon steel is way way smoother but you need to buy top quality.

For me, I don't pretend to understand it but.........I get the best shave from a metal edge that looks smooth.

Wade and Butcher blades have a steel that looks smooth as do PUMA. They talk about a fine powdery steel. I don't pretend to understand what the alchemist are talking about but a smooth powdery edge is visually clear to see and always makes a fine razor to use.

One other thing. there are blades that are tempered to make a brittle steel.
These razors....often made by Boker and various US makers. They also seem to give a close comfortable shave.

But bottom line, ask Mr Chandler to make your razor using PUMA quality steel. I have seen Mr Chandlers work and he is a wizard for sure and a very talented artisan. But I don't know yet if even the best wizards fully understand steel well enough to make you a PUMA steel quality razor.

I hope I'm wrong and I mean no disrespect to anybody but when this side of straight razor steel is understood, I truly believe that the art of straight razor manufacture will have been advanced.

In the interim, I'm sure if Mr Chandler say its good, it will be.

Carbon steel is NOT softer than stainless, especially the typical 440 stainless used for edged blades. There are a few specialty stainless alloys that can match the hardness of high carbon steel, most made using advanced powder alloying technologies.