Thread: Is it the Stainless Steel, the Sharpness or Me?

Originally Posted by jleeg

My honing routine, for blades that are already bevel-set, is to spend some time on a coticul beginning with a modest amount of slurry and diluting to just water, followed by 30 or more passes on a very slow Japanes natural (Asagi). Can't recall what I last did to the Wacker that was biting me this morning....it may be that I did the above or maybe I last took it over a barbers hone and followed by 6 or so strokes on a diamond sprayed felt strop (guessing this may be a culprit). A lot of "maybes" here.

Send me one of your stainless razors to hone on me of course and let's see if it makes a difference. I won't tell you what I did to hone it until after you shave test it. It may end up the same, but you never know.

Lynn

I'll take you up on that Lynn. I'll get a good feel for it now so I can make the comparison. May take a few days. As the Susquehanna River spills its banks I've got to keep an eye on things. I should have about 3 feet flow under the house. The house was bult up for this purpose...but as this is my first flood, I'm a bit nervous.

Note the hammock!!

Now thats an offer you cant refuse..!

I got a Boker Edelweisse from Lynn and in the end I lent it to CERN so they could split atoms with it.

The issue some folks have with stainless for it being stainless really makes no sense. The only possible explanation would be a nickel allergy affecting the skin and the razor simply isn't in contact with the skin long enough to cause that. If the razor is truly shave ready and someone swears they can't get a good shave from any stainless razor I wonder if they haven't made up their minds about this and it's more a psychological thing. I guess the proof would be shave them with a few razors and switch off and see if they can tell the difference without them knowing which razor is which. That would be an interesting experiment.

A few weeks ago, when I started researching shaving with a straight, I read something interesting about carbon steel and stainless steel razors. Carbon steel blades are easier to hone up but the stainless steel ones when hone stay sharper longer. Most of the stainless cutlery use a process known as Ice Tempering, where they immerse the SS into liquid nitrogen. Changes the composition into marsenite. With carbon blades it's kind of the opposite. They are heat treated and then heat tempered. The right temper to hold without becoming too brittle or chippy. Stainless cannot be heat treated. But if they are Nitrogen treated, they become very tough, and you may very well have not gone far enough in the honing to get to the same place as the carbon steel blades. Lynn will get it sharp for you, no doubt. With 30,000 some honed razors under his belt (he must have large pants..LOL) it's a sure bet he knows that stainless will need that extra touch. SS should shave exactly like any other blade when it's the same sharpness. One thing about it in what I had read. Once sharp, it stays that way for quite a while. I have noticed on better Stainless Steel knives I have sharpened, the Henckels, Tridents, etc that they are a tough critter to get an edge, and that's because of the special "Ice Hardening" they go through.

That's a nice offer from Lynn. You could send it off to me too, of course, but that would solve nothing edgewise; however, then at least you would have options for comparison from both ends of the honing spectrum.

Thanks all.
I am ready to accept that my experience is serendipity. It may be that I've not done the job sharpening them as I thought. I only use 3 stainless in my rotation and becasue my stainless blades are biting I've developed this pre-conceived notion....a sort of classical conditioning ala Pavlov. Just wondered if anyone had a similar experience.

It's not a stainless thing, but when offered food I have been known to drool.

Originally Posted by jleeg

Thanks all.
I am ready to accept that my experience is serendipity. It may be that I've not done the job sharpening them as I thought. I only use 3 stainless in my rotation and becasue my stainless blades are biting I've developed this pre-conceived notion....a sort of classical conditioning ala Pavlov. Just wondered if anyone had a similar experience.

They are typically harder, right? Maybe more time on the finishing end? I know a guy.. a mentor.. he doesn't like shaving with 'em either.

Typically high carbon steel can be hardened to a higher degree than stainless of any type. It is also less ductile. This makes for a finer edge off the hone all things being equal. SS will typically roll over or bend on the microscopic level because of the chrome/nickel that makes it "stainless", whereas high carbon steel will break off that microscopic wire edge and sharpen up better. Think of an infinitely thin edge that is of relatively brittle HC steel. Bend it back and forth (hone it). It breaks off on the microscopic level whereas the SS being more ductile (able to bend without breaking) would just get pushed back and forth.