Razor Blade Steel

W

White Rabbit

Joined
Jul 23, 2009
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155
I've had a bit of a lull in work so I was thinking of a relatively simple project I could do for myself. Upon thinking I decided I wanted to try making a straight razor because I've always thought they're kind of cool. However, I do not shave with a straight razor, I've never made one, and I've never read about making one.

So my question is, what are the desired attributes of a good razor, what is a good blade steel and target hardness, and what is a good blade angle


Thanks,
Tomas Casals
 
I'm sure Butch will pipe in here, but from what I've learned talking to him....

- There are different types of razor grinds. Wedge and hollow. Wedge isn't exactly as it sounds, it's slightly hollowed (on a 10" or so wheel) to allow for easier honing.
- Thin, thin, thin. Shoot for .002-.003" at the edge before you begin honing.
- Simple, hypereutectoid steels work well. 1095 will make a great razor, If you can properly HT it, 52100 is also a good choice.
- Go read some of the straight razor forums, you'll learn bunches :)

-d
 
I'm pretty sure Butch uses 52100 for his razors. They are awesome.:thumbup:
- Mitch
 
have used 1084 1095 deker damascus of both thoes steels but mixed with 15n20 52100 cpm3v cpm154cm O1
have seen D2 O1/L6 abel s30v

fine grain and hardness that while is not full hard but is harder then most knife makers make there blades (you do really hav eot hit you heat treat when making razors )
there is a wiki on straights that would be good for you to look into then ask a few more ?s and i ll see if i can help
 
thanks for the help guys. All I have right now is O1, D2 and CPM S30v, but I may pick up some 52100. I'm thinking about doing a french point wedge ground blade with amboyna burl scales. What would be a good blade angle?
 
remember wedge grind id not a flat grind
so far as angle its based on spine width vs blade hight shooting for around 16degrees total
like 6/8 needs a spine around 3/16
7/8 and 8/8 would be better ground from 1/4 thick stock

before you sharpen you should thin the edge to under .007 and better to be well under that even down to .003
 
Pretty much all steels I've tried work well for razors. S30V works very well, but will chip if you accidentally ding it. AEB-L should be better. AEB-L is very fine-grained, very stainless, can reach 63 rc and still be easy to sharpen and mirror polish. Actually, if you run AEB-L soft, it forms a nasty burr while sharpening.

My vintage straight razors are 14-18 degrees. I have some with 12 degrees but the edge didn't last as long.

You can use a full wedge grind too. I don't find them that hard to sharpen if you use a bit more pressure than usual.
 
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