Thread: Another good wedge material

anyone try using stainless steel as a wedge material? i have some scrap pieces from a buddy's shop but i havent tried messing around with it yet.

I have used aluminum, its nice, but too light. I want my razors to be balanced,
Lead is your best bet for the old heavy wedge and thick spined blades, for balance.

Originally Posted by Pete123

Butzy, In my comment about the hardness scale I was agreeing with you. It was harder to work with than lead.

Yep i know I was just commenting further to clarify for anyone else reading who may be interested in using the material and seeing conflicting info elsewhere

I've thought about aluminum. Does it look good over time?

Regarding stainless steel, I have no doubt that it would work well. The question would be how hard it is to work with.

Also, as someone mentioned, lead is the perfect balancer

I got some more information on the hardness scale. In short, I made an error. Lead is 1.5 and silver is 2.5. Sterling silver would be harder.

I've gotten to the age where I have to outsmart problems rather than man handle them. I use bolt cutters on 2mm pure silver to avoid injury, which wouldn't be needed on lead.

The Mohs Scale of Hardness for Metals

Here is a list of the hardness grades for some of the metals that you are most likely to come across in your everyday life, especially when dealing with jewelry:

Lead: 1.5
Tin: 1.5
Zinc: 2.5
Gold: 2.5-3
Silver: 2.5-3
Aluminum: 2.5-3
Copper: 3
Brass: 3
Bronze: 3
Nickel: 4
Platinum: 4-4.5
Steel: 4-4.5
Iron: 4.5
Palladium: 4.75
Rhodium: 6
Titanium: 6
Hardened steel: 7-8
Tungsten: 7.5
Tungsten carbide: 8.5-9

Pete-Since you asked, yes, the aluminum stays nice and shiny, and a quick buff restores it if it ever dulls.

For you guys who prefer lead for the balance on a bigger, beefier Sheffield or similar, I get that. People use horn, wood, synthetics and many things lighter than lead, but I never thought of its function being to balance those big WB's and other choppers. Makes sense, though.