Custom made razor thoughts

Hello -

I was reading some posts about custom made razors from Robert Williams. I found his site (customstraightrazors.com) and started to think about what options I would want.

I am not at the level of a straight razor user, that I should consider a custom made blade, but I was just thinking....

Here are some questions I have:

A. blade steel: what is the difference between HCS high carbon, damascus steel, CPM-S30V stainless steel? Which is better?

B. blade size: what do you messure, just the blade itself or from the point to the tang? what does "4/8" represent?

C. Scale options: For the scales I just want a plastic (nothing special) scale. I already have a black one, so I would want a different color. If you take a look at my Avatar, you will see exactly what I am talking about. Is there a place online that I can order this type of scale in different colors?

Thanks!

Hi, Robert makes truly beautiful razors.

He describes the characteristics & attributes of each steel on his site. I suggest you read it there as he is the expert & it's a waste of time to type it again.

Blade size is measured from the blade edge to the spine, so across the blade. 4/8" means that the blade is exactly that. 4/8" across.

Not sure where to buy them ready made, but sheets of coloured plastics are available very cheaply.

You are lucky. Plastic is cheap!

Classic Shaving has some DOVO replacement scales here.

As for blade steel choice, it's up to personal preferences and as Ben says, Robert has a good description of them on his site. Just ask Robert about it, he is a cool artist, I'm sure he will explain it to you.

Robert uses micarta for razors too. You may want to research that material (in its different grades) as a choice for your custom.

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Originally Posted by mikedelo

A. blade steel: what is the difference between HCS high carbon, damascus steel, CPM-S30V stainless steel? Which is better?

B. blade size: what do you messure, just the blade itself or from the point to the tang? what does "4/8" represent?

C. Scale options: For the scales I just want a plastic (nothing special) scale. I already have a black one, so I would want a different color. If you take a look at my Avatar, you will see exactly what I am talking about. Is there a place online that I can order this type of scale in different colors?

Thanks!

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A) high carbon is the classical material. takes a wicked edge and is a pleasure to use. But it can rust if you leave it wet. If you don't leave it wet, it won't be a problem. damascus is pattern welded made from 2 different steels, and etched. It shows pretty patterns in the steel. It is quite beautiful, but from a honing / sharpness perspective, not different from high carbon. ATS34 is stainless, and S30V is a stainless supersteel, developed specifically for cutlery use. it is extremely durable and tough. But it is difficult to hone.
Talkt to Robert about the best choice for you.
Afaik there is no 'better', just different. High carbon is great, damascus is great but prettier (not better or worse) and S30V is more durable, but apparently a b*tch to hone.

b) blade size is the width of the blade, measured from edge to spine. 4/8 means that the blade is half an inch wide from edge to spine. Length of the blade is 2,75 - 3" by default, and usually not expressly specified.

c) ask Robert (if you wanted to get custom from him). He can get you scale material in lots of varieties and colors.

I usually ask a smith what works best for him- from which can he coax the highest performance- and then discuss which are the most important aspects to you.

Personally I would not consider nickel alloyed damascus to be high performance so it'd be off my list.

There a zillions of vintage simple steel razors and we all know how much knifemaker's etc love to tout the stailess_es:w so if I were getting my first custom razor-and I would be- then I'd probably try to get one that was as difficult to sharpen as possible:rolleyes: really. some kind of abrasion resistant really hard stainless

I'm not sure that mike's saying he's ready for a custom. From what i read, just interested generally. I may be wrong though!

Thanks, guys. I have somewhere around 500 vintage razors and new old stock razors and just all sorts of pretty cool razor stuff, most of which is going to end up being sold because the only thing I like to shave with these days are a couple of HCS razors I made for myself. In fact, I had to make them so damned ugly that I wouldn't be tempted to sell them when someone called and asked. In my opinion, there is nothing that will shave better than really well forged heat treated and tempered HCS steel. I've got a CPM-S30v that was one of my experimental blades and it takes a wickedly sharp edge and is one of my backup shavers but the HCS is a more comfortable shave, in my opinion. After months of shaving daily with just a couple of HCS razors, they'll still pass every imaginable shaving test from the hanging hair test to shaving off the tips of your arm hairs without even touching your skin - the hair will just cut and fall onto the blade.

Unless someone really wants to pay extra for the beauty of Damascus or the stain resistance of CPM-S30v, I always, always ALWAYS recommend HCS steel and I've got more than a few customers that agree that nothing else shaves as well.

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Originally Posted by ben.mid

I'm not sure that mike's saying he's ready for a custom. From what i read, just interested generally. I may be wrong though!

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yeah i know. I'm daydreaming too.

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Originally Posted by PapaBull

Unless someone really wants to pay extra for the beauty of Damascus or the stain resistance of CPM-S30v, I always, always ALWAYS recommend HCS steel and I've got more than a few customers that agree that nothing else shaves as well.

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As you know Robert, I have examples of all of the above in your razors and they all shave GREAT ! :rock:

from my thoughts
if doing stainless steel
the ABEL and cpm154 would be my first picks
i have used
1080
1084
1084FG
1095
W1
52100
O1
cpm3v (not cpmS30v)
and cpm154
and there are more i would like to try (hope i didnt miss any)

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Originally Posted by kevint

I usually ask a smith what works best for him- from which can he coax the highest performance- and then discuss which are the most important aspects to you.

Personally I would not consider nickel alloyed damascus to be high performance so it'd be off my list. ...

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I think your first comment is well taken. The secret to gaining the best performance from any steel will lie in the heat treatment.

When you say nickel alloyed, what kind of stuff are you talking about? The steel du jour for making pattern welded steel is most commonly 15N20. That is a nickel alloy of 1075 that contains about 2% nickel, otherwise there isn't much contrast and the pattern doesn't look good to most folks. Pure nickel will never harden...makes for a very pretty contrast, but the non-hardening part is risky if not done well. Hmm, I see a PW experiment in the near future.

15n20 will take an edge that you can shave with but 100% N will never get hard and take a fine edge

L6 is used for the same (bright but holds an edge)

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Originally Posted by L R Harner

L6 is used for the same (bright but holds an edge)

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I think Tim Zowada uses L6 and O1 for his damascus