Thread: Sheffield Steele

I have two razors in my collection that give superior shaves to all the others. There are two obvious differences between these and all the others. One is that they're square points. The other is that they are Seffields, a Wade & Butcher and a Torrey. The Torrey is slightly better than the W&B but both are far, far better than my Solingens and my Wapi. Is the English steele really that much better than the German or is it just the luck of the draw, in my small sample? Or could there by other variables that I haven't picked out?

Torrey is a USA made razor if it is a J.R. Torrey out of Worcester, Mass. I've gotten good razors from Sheffield, Sweden, USA, Solingen. An interesting aside regarding the marketing of straights is that German and French companies would mark their blades as being made with Sheffield steel while for a time it was popular for Sheffield makers to mark their blades as German Ground. Even today at least one of the high end Dovos is marketed as being made with Swedish Steel.

ok i got no idea if this is relevant
But there seems to be rumors that different steel require different aproaches (and different mediums) to get the best out of them
Just a thought from a noob

You're right, Jimmy. I knew Torrey was USA made but somehow in my mind, I associated it with Sheffield. I guess that leaves the square point as the only common denominator.

Contrary to what many think; there are multiple factors involved in the "holy grail" of straight razors. Steel quality is one important factor; however, the hardening and tempering is an even more important factor. As popular as W&B razors are, the steel they used was nothing special. It is the equal of todays 1095 plain Jane carbon steel; however, they hardened and tempered it very well. An additional factor is how well the blade is honed and fine tuned to your particular beard type. One persons holy grail of shaving may pull or even be too agressive for the next person.

Sheffield got there bars of iron from Sweden best avail during the time 1800-late 1800's England dominated the market and Steel making, English Razor makers valued the craftsmenship of there product and indvidual makers name and even as they modernized and worked in larger facilities,so that probably contributes to the Sheffield reputation as fine razors and they are. iGermany got allot of iron and still does from Sweden.

Originally Posted by leadduck

or is it just the luck of the draw, in my small sample?

that's what i'd put my money on, esp. since it's w&b (one of the most inconsistent brands in my experience).
i've had and continue to have fantastic razors from anywhere in the world and sometimes completely unknown brands.

I've read that the Swedish steel was used to make Sheffield blades. Here is an interesting page I just googled and here is another with even more data on the Swedish steel.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've read that the Swedish steel was used to make Sheffield blades. Here is an interesting page I just googled and here is another with even more data on the Swedish steel.

You don't think getting the foundry down the road to supply Sheffield steel would have been cheaper? It certainly wasn't any poorer quality steel. After all that is where crucible steel and the Bessemer process were invented - Sheffield. A company like W&B importing Swedish steel to make razors is like Microsoft importing software. They probably did import a lot of Swedish iron ore though.

Originally Posted by John Crowley

You don't think getting the foundry down the road to supply Sheffield steel would have been cheaper? It certainly wasn't any poorer quality steel. After all that is where crucible steel and the Bessemer process were invented - Sheffield. A company like W&B importing Swedish steel to make razors is like Microsoft importing software. They probably did import a lot of Swedish iron ore though.

Dunno John, I would love to find out though. I have been curious since someone else posted that the Sheffields of the 1800s were largely made with Swedish steel. I wonder how much iron ore was native to the UK at the time ? I know that companies such as Kayser-Ellison were big in the twentieth century and some German razors are marked as being made with them. Was it a small world back then too ?