Are all Sheffield and Solingen steel created equal?
Hi:
Can one generalize about the quality of vintage Sheffield and Solingen razors? For example, are most Sheffield razors made between 1850 and 1900 mostly great? Or all Solingen pre 1950s? The question arises as there is a ton of brands out there that don't command the prices that the big boys do, but they look like awesome razors. For example, are Wade and Butchers better shavers than their contemporaries or just more beautiful and thus collectible? And then I have heard comments about 1920s to 1930s Solingen being scary sharp--or is that more their pre-World War II cache??
A related question, did the types of steel change from one era to another and how does that affect the shave and also the sharpening?