Need some Ti advice (finish, grade, location)

^^ I use a straight razor regularly...Not sure Ti is a good choice for shaving, they have a somewhat toothy edge, not the best for shaving. Im pretty sure the link you shared still uses a steel razor, just Ti handles.
 
^^ I use a straight razor regularly...Not sure Ti is a good choice for shaving, they have a somewhat toothy edge, not the best for shaving. Im pretty sure the link you shared still uses a steel razor, just Ti handles.

Really... that's fantastic. I feel like Seymour from that musical. What was it called again... you know, with the giant toothy plant voiced by the Jazz singer? "FEED MEH SEY-MOAR!" ("Feed meh awl ni-hight-lo-hong!")

What steel would be best for a straight razor? What do you use? I was thinking of having one either with G10 handles or something a little warmer, like Red Elder Burl. My what a gorgeous wood.
 
Ya, the razor you linked says the blade is Z-Finit steel, not titanium alloy.

Grade 4 is unalloyed, "pure" titanium, it's not an alloy like grade 5. Alloyed titanium has way different properties than CP (commercially pure) titanium. It's like comparing pure iron with steel. Just a little tiny bit of carbon completely alters the properties of the iron and makes it heat-treatable steel.

Grade 5 is roughly 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium, with the remaining 90% being the titanium base metal, hence the alloy is called 6al4v. The 4% of vanadium is a "beta stabilizer" that lets the metal take on different crystalline structures (beta phase) other than the natural close-packed hexagonal of pure ti, so it can be heat-treated and work-hardened to some degree, and it's mechanical properties are altered. The 6% aluminum is an "alpha stabilizer" that makes the alloy tend to skew back towards natural HCP, and protecting it from taking on too much beta phase effect.

If a titanium blade was to be improved by cryo treatment, it would most likely be seen in beta titanium, the fully heat-treatable types that can take on a slew of different crystal grain structures. Not sure how good it would be as a straight razor.

Grade 5 titanium would make a great hatchet or 'hawk, and would improve with use as it work-hardens. Even better if the blade edge is forged.
 
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Movie Musical I'm thinking of is Little Shop Of Horrors. Yeah, Grade 5. Red Elder Burl or G10 handle. My initials on it. Work of art. However, time will tell for cost-readiness...

For a razor I'm thinking then 1084 or 52100 ~ I would think the latter would have more in the way or edge retention (+25%?), but I'm not sure how that would translate into that kind of tool.
 
Thanks man! That's a great spare to have!

I'm surprised nobody snarked on it yet...I waited a few days. I wonder if it's duplicating elsewhere... Who knows!?
 
I could have sworn this was in General yesterday.

Yeah, that's... where I posted it(!?)

37900128.jpg
 
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