Thread: Böhlerstahl

Hello,
I have been using and restoring razors for a couple of years with some success but now I need some advice.
I have a lovely razor from the 30's with horn grip from KC Seelbach, Solingen. My wife found it on a garage sale for 6 Euro and it looks like new. It is Böhlerstahl and I looked up Böhlerstahl and found out that it is extremly hard. (63-65) and mostly used for presision tools. The hones and technic that I use on my other razors does not work here. I can't put a scratch on it. ;My question, do I need special honing stuff or do I have to use excessive force? I here that the Thiers razors are also so hard. Anyone have a tip for me?
Billy

I doubt you need anything really special. The hones should be harder and will [eventually] do the job. With the steel being in the mid 60s Rc, though, it's gonna take much longer to get that keen edge. Diamonds, of course, would be the hardets material to use in honing.

What's the hones and techniques that you're using now?

I was doing what I do all the time with old razors. I start out with either 800 or 1000 depending on how badly chiped they are. Ofcourse I put some electrical tape over the back to protect it. I use a jewlers glass (20 magnification) to see if I got all the nicks. Then I go to 5000 because I don't have 3k and then 8k and finally 10k followed by a pasted strop and last but not least leather. I have gotten some old rusty razors sharper then most new ones using this method. I prefer to restor an old razor then buy a new one. Firstly because of the price, secondly because I think a lot of the new razors were actually made to shave with while the newer ones are for collecting.