Thread: Soft Steel Razors

Coil springs are often 5160 which is .6% carbon, but importantly the added chromium lowers the eutectoid of that alloy to .6 %. In plain carbon steels the eutectoid is closer to .8 %. At the eutectoid, most of the carbon can be in the martensite leaving little to form, hard to abrade, carbides.

Originally Posted by DVW

It may very well be ground down past the temper. The grind is not symmetrical at all from side to side and it does have a lot of wear to it. I re-honed it and will give it another try next week. Right now I have another blade that I need to try out first.

I re-honed it and gave it another try, same results. It got dull at the exact same point in the shave. A few licks on the strop and it was shaving again. The steel is simply not at the correct hardness anymore. Either it was overheated at some point in time, or it was "case hardened" and has been worn/ground down past the proper temper. I'll still keep it and use it from time to time though.

I once had a vintage razor that would not hold a 16° edge, but it would hold a 17° edge. Have you measured the bevel angle?

Interesting thought. It is so worn and uneven that it is a bit of a challenge to get a good measurement. Depending on where I measure, I get anywhere from 19.3 - 22.5. This to me indicates that it used to be considerably wider. It is honed with two layers of tape (as per the instructions that it came with). Now, I could re-hone it with no tape.

Some people don't mind those obtuse angles, but I've never had a shave from a >19° edge that was better than meh.


Are you saying that those are the angles without tape, and then you're adding two layers?????

Those angles are with the tape. If I removed the tape, I my barely be within the "normal" range. You are correct about the shave quality. Meh is a good description.

Well the smoke has cleared out of the air. So I fired off the forge and turned a coil spring into a flat tapered piece of steel. Here it is after being pounded out and rough ground. There is still a ways to go yet.

I have the basic shape done as well as the pivot hole. Now to take some measurements and figure out the edge grind.

Not a very good picture, but it is ground enough to heat treat it. Hopefully I don't mess that part up, because so for it is turning out fairly well. Has anybody seen a replica 1700's razor recently? I can't think of any.

Looking pretty good, so far.




Notice the smile to the entire bottom if the blade