Thread: Why are Damascus steel razors so expensive?

Originally Posted by Deckard

But how functional is patern welded steel for razors?
Surely some compromise on heat treatment must occur for one of the tool steels?
If you have to much pearlite structure on the edge, will your face feel it?

These are good questions Deckard. Re-read my earlier comment about comparing monosteels to PW steels. For similar carbon content, using similar heat treatment methods, and the same edge geometry, a monosteel will function the same as a PW steel or vice versa. The only difference is aesthetic.

My most common recipe is 1095 and 15N20. The 15N20 is the same as 1075 with 2% nickel. Once welded I have a steel that is about 0.85% carbon, right near the eutectic point. Once carbon diffusion has completed, for all intents and purposes, by the time the billet has been at welding heat four times, it is essentially a monosteel with stripes of nickel running through it. I don't have to compromise anything with this combination.

As to feeling pearlite vs. martensite with your face...well, it's tough enough figuring those differences with a microscope. If the edge geometry is the same on a monosteel blade and PW blade, even though un-hardened, they will probably cut hair to the same degree. They will not cut for as long a period of time before requiring a trip to the hones as a hardened blade will.

I remember Spazola making a visit with some nice frameback blades and, if my memory serves me well, he reported them cutting quite well. Maybe they weren't perfect, but they were shavers. He can correct me if I got it wrong. When we Rockwell'd the blades they were only Rc50, far below what is typically accepted as a hardened blade.

That's the problem, there is a range of acceptable variables. In the end, it depends on the person using it to determine if a blade is superior or not. It remains highly subjective. There would not be so many different kinds of razors and steels if "the One" really was the best.