Thread: Steel for razors in the 1800s ?

Originally Posted by fdennis

The reason I asked is, I'm starting to restore older razors. For a reason not readily apparent to me, I selected Wade and Butcher. What I'm trying to learn is "what is the best 19th century Sheffield steel I can get"? Are there variations in quality of steel between brands? Are there variations in quality of steel within a brand? How do I learn without bothering everyone with posts probably of interest only to me?

IMHO your question is of interest to many of us. Certainly it is of interest to me. I've often wondered myself and barring some sort of metallurgical testing I don't guess we'll ever know. We can come up with our own assumptions after honing and shaving with various razors but nothing definite in a scientific sense. At least that is what I think.

IME Joseph Rodgers, W&B, Joseph Smith, F. Reynolds are all good razors. Other known and obscure Sheffield and Solingen makers are all good as a rule. At least with few exceptions AFAIC.

Steels from different locations are different. This is largely due to the differences in trace elements in the iron used to make the steel, and it is the source of the iron oar, not the location of the steel mill that counts. Steels from different mills can also differ in quality even if produced from the same iron, and even a single mill can and often does produce different quality steels. Modern steel manufacturing does, however, produce pretty much a uniform quality across a given batch and from batch to batch produced in the same way.

Soligen is more know as a producer of fine cutlery and the bladesmiths have used quality steels from various locations.

Silver steel does not contain silver, it is a type of high carbon steel. There is actually a UK specification for sliver steel. It gets its name from its bright appearance (it is also know as bright steel).

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

IMHO your question is of interest to many of us. Certainly it is of interest to me. I've often wondered myself and barring some sort of metallurgical testing I don't guess we'll ever know. We can come up with our own assumptions after honing and shaving with various razors but nothing definite in a scientific sense. At least that is what I think.

IME Joseph Rodgers, W&B, Joseph Smith, F. Reynolds are all good razors. Other known and obscure Sheffield and Solingen makers are all good as a rule. At least with few exceptions AFAIC.

Great thread! Makes me wonder why Lummus found Reynolds to be an inferior maker. Was it the quality of steel or the maker itself.

I read somewhere, sadly I can't find the reference, that Sheffield and Solingen both had town statutes specifying the minimum quality of their steel.
This could partly explain why they became pre-eminent in the manufacture of high quality steel products. Much of the ore for Sheffield steels was imported from Sweden.

Originally Posted by Bayamontate

Great thread! Makes me wonder why Lummus found Reynolds to be an inferior maker. Was it the quality of steel or the maker itself.

Probably because they are ROCK HARD!

This is a great thread, though, learning a lot and enjoying speculating. I think my W&B's are so great because Sheffied Steel is made with something called purplum unobtaniium unicornis... Jimbo was tellin' me about it, all scientific-like.

So the Brits, using Swedish steel, made from Swedish ore as early as the 1700 invent a new process where they remelt it in crucibles so there are no soft spots. This is "cast steel" This process probably set the steel world on fire and reflected the power of Britain.

In the mid 1800s blast furnaces do the same thing but better and by the ton, making cast steel much more expensive to produce.

Likely some of the razor makers in Britain held on to cast steel because of tradition and up comes the rest of the world razor makers with better steel, cheaper too.

Newer methods where carbon content can be varied. I think this is the main reason Sheffield steels are softer.

In that Jimmy mentioned about some of the Solingen razors with the sheffield steel was all about historic reputation.

Please don't forget the heat treating aspect of this. Steels with similar chemical and physical characteristics can end up with drastically different results based on the heat treating of the material.

Awesome thread!

Thanks guys