I gifted you that! :D
Printable View
Yes, stainless steel was invented in 1913 but I believe one of the first straight razors with a stainless steel blade was made post WWI by George Ibberson and marked Firth Stainless on the blade. Go to post #87 and 88 for info on that https://sharprazorpalace.com/razors/...-razors-9.html . No idea when stainless steel was first used as scales for straight razors.
Bob
Many thanks!
This accords with my hunch and what I wanted to confirm, which is that very few or no razors with stainless scales were originally intended for shaving outside a surgical context. There do seem to be limited (recent?) exceptions, eg Dovo 'Metallschale'; https://www.dovo.com/wp-content/uplo...compressed.pdf p12.
I find that quite interesting, and am glad to learn something.
As we are talking about razors in a surgical context, it is reasonable to assume that stainless (or surgical) steel scales were first used on razors at the same time that other surgical instruments began to be be manufactured in stainless steel. It seems that this took place in the 1920s:
"The thermal sterilisation of instruments, established between 1885 and 1910, proved destructive to equipment handled in ebony, ivory, and tortoiseshell and necessitated the manufacture of all-metal instruments which initially were nickel- or chrome-plated. After 1925 stainless steel gradually superseded all other metals except silver for tracheostomy tubes and various alloys and titanium for prostheses retained in the body."
(J R Kirkup FRCS, “The history and evolution of surgical instruments,” Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Vol. 63 (1981): 279-285, 284. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art...01507-0048.pdf)
So it seems that surgical razors with stainless steel scales will essentially be post-1925.
Clearly that one has been long established Tom.
42
I suppose it keeps the old gears turning, eh? :beer1:
I find stainless cleans easier after wacking someone’s jugular Just my observations