Thread: Damascus razor on ebay

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

I looked at the ad. Strike One: it's not twisted pattern as the ad states. Strike Two: despite listing two very good, common steels used in pattern welding, they admit it's Rockwell 52-53.

Strike Three: the person who buys this...

... doesn't know what Rockwell 52-53 means?

Damascus or twist shotgun barrels are delightful enough to make my toes curl up, for they really did have a lot of point in their day, before near-liquid steel billets were hydraulically pressed to remove any seams or gaps. Even the best modern Damascus billets described as twist mostly don't show anything like their tight knotted pattern, although raindrop pattern may. The term Damascus in barrels was used only for the better grades in the English Midlands, and the quality descended through twist and Wednesbury skelp to such awful things as sham damn, for sale to ignorant savages who would mop up the blood and reflect that it was fine until a devil got into it.

Actually I don't think a technical tour de force with no practical purpose does look good, and few of the original users of laminated steel, in barrels or blades, used steels of different textures and etched it to make it piebald, with a texture you can feel. It had a far more subtle appearance. If it is a technical tour de force by whoever the maker bought his billet from (and clearly they have made the process a lot easier than cheaper than it used to be), it loses all point in my view.

I never understood why guys are taking the time to make some very unique looking blades, but fail to make them into actual razors. Why not go the extra mile to make it ready to take the edge. Is it a matter of just heat treating the blade and grinding it properly or is there something else in the construction that prevents them from being shaving tools?

Originally Posted by jcsixx

I never understood why guys are taking the time to make some very unique looking blades, but fail to make them into actual razors. Why not go the extra mile to make it ready to take the edge. Is it a matter of just heat treating the blade and grinding it properly or is there something else in the construction that prevents them from being shaving tools?

I would assume that someone who makes blades that cannot be shaved with is more interested in the money than the sport. As a result, they will attempt maximize their profits. That means taking the cheapest route, which, typically, will not lead to a good product. It probably doesn't actually take them that much time to make the razors, given that they don't have to do so many of the things an actual razor-maker has to do in order to ensure the razor will shave. I am assuming, of course, that it is the making the razor shave well part that takes more time/effort/skill than the making a razor shaped object part.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I would assume that someone who makes blades that cannot be shaved with is more interested in the money than the sport. As a result, they will attempt maximize their profits. That means taking the cheapest route, which, typically, will not lead to a good product. It probably doesn't actually take them that much time to make the razors, given that they don't have to do so many of the things an actual razor-maker has to do in order to ensure the razor will shave. I am assuming, of course, that it is the making the razor shave well part that takes more time/effort/skill than the making a razor shaped object part.

Generally, I'd agree with that, but in this case it doesn't seem to be true. A shaver that looks like that intial picture would be 1k or more from Livi or some of the other big boys. I understand this isn't an easy thing to do.

These "razors" are made to appeal to knife buyers . They are made more like a knife than a razor . They are probably made in China , and are being sold from Germany . One thing you can be sure of is , that they're not being made by some guy pounding on an anvil , at his forge . These "razors" were not made to be used as razors , and I'm sure the people selling them never thought that there are people around that still shave with straight razors .

I wouldn't buy it, but I sure like the way that looks!!!

m

If beauty doesn't depend on functionality with a razor, when does it? If you want to see what damascus steel actually does to the cost and difficulty of making a razor nowadays, just go to eBay and do a search for "damascus billet". They can buy it and treat it like any other piece of steel - except that 52-53 Rockwell can't make a good razor, and they have probably never seen or handled one.