Thread: Old steel

Originally Posted by oldblades

Thought that it was interresting that some one would mention the Titanic when talking about old steel.
I got to touch a piece of the steel when it was MS&T (UMR).

UMR professor and Titanic researcher dies - Missouri S&T News and Events

Makes you wonder if it would of survied if it had better steel.

Tim

As I recall, the structural steel was fine and dandy, and never broke.
The manufacturer of the giant rivets, however, made them from the bottom of the furnace, and so there were large veins of slag running through them.... when she hit the iceberg, her panels flexed as they should have, but all the rivets broke.... which is a significant problem, in hindsight.

I think Zeepk is a similar story.

I have to believe that many old steel straights shave well when sharpened. The straight razor has been around a long time and used by millions and millions+ long before we got into it. They worked then and they work now.

I think the evolution has been to make a straight blade highly effective, yet require minimal effort to maintain it. Then there is the style, feel, and bells and whistles to choose from.

Pabster

I love old steel razors! I think it was a better product in many respects - within a certain timeframe, of course.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is how other people have treated the razor during it's life. If subjected to a certain amount of heat it could have lost it's tempering. That could be brought about by someone polishing it up on a fast spinning steel wheel, for instance. I've seen people using knives as tools in the flames of a fire, so even the less obvious things can't be ruled out, some of which won't leave much of a tell-tale trace after years of polishing or tarnishing.

Regards,
Neil.