Thread: Is cryo treatment of vintage razors worth doing?

Originally Posted by Bruno

Being able to sell the audio cables at 100$ per meter to audiophiles

I am guilty of being practical in this matter. I have access to LN at work. Have I tried this on blades of my own? Of course. There just wasn't enough benefit shown to be worth the money spent for the type of steels I use.

I'm heat treating the low alloy steels I use, optimally, and those blades are not likely to have any retained austenite to convert with LN. So it's money wasted on a process that adds nothing to the tool. It might even risk adding greater stresses.

For anyone really interested in making their own blades and doing their own heat treatment, stick to the simple methods. Really, before the 1940's or so, millions of very serviceable blades of all types have been manufactured without benefit of LN. In the end, it comes down to practicality.

I had a pre-WWII Inox blade treated by Texas Knifemaker's Supply on a recommendation from John Crowley. It was less then $10.00 if I remember right. It did improve the blades ability to take an edge. Texas Knifemaker's Supply will only cryo treat stainless. For me it paid off.

I asked a teacher about this.

Cryo treatment usually is done between the quench and the tempering, to release some stress from the quench, so cryo quench a blade that is already tempered won't change much.
(that or my teacher was an idiot... wich is also possible)


Also if you drop a blade that just got out from nitrogen, it will probably break.


EDIT: I read it again, I'm not sure what you mean: For razors you make, why not. For vintage, forget :S

My pickups and other bits of my Fender Strat are cryo treated by www.callahamguitars.com
They sound good
M

Originally Posted by cybrok

Also if you drop a blade that just got out from nitrogen, it will probably break.

If you drop a mouse that just got out from the nitrogen, it also will break. The students in my lab used to make me do this every time a new student joined the lab. The important thing is to pick up all the bits before they thaw!

Originally Posted by Utopian

If you drop a mouse that just got out from the nitrogen, it also will break. The students in my lab used to make me do this every time a new student joined the lab. The important thing is to pick up all the bits before they thaw!

One of these days your students will talk you into trouble...

My understanding is that cryo treatment (usually in LN) is used to remove retained Austinite. Unless you are using stainless or highly alloyed carbon steels, you are unlikely to have retained Ausitinite in the first place. That said, Tim Zowada is cryo treating his O1/L6 Damascus razors, so you might check with him to see what benefit he is obtaining from the process. (His website mentions "dimensional stability", but I'm not sure exactly what he means.)

Remember, if you do decide to cryo your blades, you need to temper them again when you are done. Otherwise, you will have untempered Marteniste in your blades, which can lead to failure.