Thread: stainless steel straight razors

Most straight razors that I have come across are made from carbon steel but surfing the net I found a site that sells razors called Vintage Blades LLC and noticed that they also sell some stainless steel razors made by Dovo and over all them seem to be more expensive that the carbon still ones.

Does any body know if there are any advantages in getting a razor made from stainless steel rather than carbon steel?

Thank you for reading

All the best

Carlos

I have both Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel Razors, they feel and shave exactly the same and in my very limited honing experience, they have honed exactly the same, though I am sure some more experienced honers would notice a difference.

The stainless blades are less likely to be a problem with regards rust, that is not to say that you shouldn't be careful with your care and maintenance of them.

the only advantage is easier maintenance as they do not rust so easily. Other than that no difference between stainless and carbon IME

Jim at Vintage Blades is a well known vendor of high quality shaving gear and an excellent person to boot!

Stainless razors are common.

Stainless steels tend to be harder and more brittle--more likely to chip than roll (therefore less suitable for larger blades like swords) but this is a huge generalization. The number of varieties of stainless steels and carbon steels is astounding, and each variety has its own unique set of characteristics. Look at zknives.com for a good description. However, all that said, the heat treat is even more important than the steel, and most of the other differences will only become apparent with the ht held equal. The biggest difference I can promise you will see will really just be one takes a little longer to rust. The rest depends on the ht and the subtype.

If you're interested, stainless just means 13%+ chromium. 12% is not noticeably different, and other alloying inclusions that are extremely important are
Vanadium
Manganese
Molebdynum
Nickel
Silicon
Carbon
And many, many more

I have razors from a particular "top-shelf" maker that are stainless and high carbon & other than it taking a little longer to hone up (just a couple more minutes...say 3), the stainless ones behave like the high carbon ones. On my particular razors, it seems as though the stainless ones are a bit more abrasion resistant...meaning that the edge will last a bit longer than the high carbon.

It would make sense that the stainless razors would be more "rust and stain resistant" (notice I didn't say rust or stain - proof) in a more damp environment due to the alloy content/make-up of the razor, but I haven't put that to the test & doubt I ever will. With a quality razor maker like Dovo, I'm sure that a stainless razor by them would be a good investment and you would get a lifetime of use out of it & I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one.
Scott

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I have razors from a particular "top-shelf" maker that are stainless and high carbon & other than it taking a little longer to hone up (just a couple more minutes...say 3), the stainless ones behave like the high carbon ones. On my particular razors, it seems as though the stainless ones are a bit more abrasion resistant...meaning that the edge will last a bit longer than the high carbon.

It would make sense that the stainless razors would be more "rust and stain resistant" (notice I didn't say rust or stain - proof) in a more damp environment due to the alloy content/make-up of the razor, but I haven't put that to the test & doubt I ever will. With a quality razor maker like Dovo, I'm sure that a stainless razor by them would be a good investment and you would get a lifetime of use out of it & I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one.
Scott

This makes sense given the higher hardness of a stainless. One would expect that its resistance to deformation would be useful in cutting the relative soft hair, which is unlikely to chip the edge. Personally, I would tend to lean towards stainless, if you can be sure its from a reputable maker or if you know what its designation is.

I will be making some out of m390 and cpm154 shortly, as I like their particular set of characteristics on paper best for use as a razor, and am curious about how they will perform, especially m390. As a rule I would avoid anything this high in vanadium (4%) as if forms large carbides which would be rougher and toothier, worse on your face, but the particle metallurgy ensures their even distribution and smaller size, so the vanadium may simply mean more wear resistance. Vanadium carbides are the hardest; it is common to see very high vanadium steels as high as 68rc. A typical razor is around 62-64 if new and from a very good maker. Older ones are more likely 58-62