Steel and hardness suitable for razors?

U

ultrafine

Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
32
I was just browsing Dovos site to check out what hardness their razors are.

Material C45 0.45% C, 0.30% Si, 0.55% Mn, 0.35% P and S
Hardening: 830° - 860°C,
chilled in oil Tempering: 180° - 250°C
Hardness after tempering: 52 HRC

Material 4034 R 0.48% C, 0.37% Si, 0.27% Mn, 13.73% Cr
Hardening: 1060°C,
chilled in air (partly in oil) Tempering: 160°C
Hardening after tempering: 52 HRC

Is it just me is that hardness way way low?
I think I know the philisophy behind it, its better if it bends than chips out, but their choice of material and final hardness seems very outdated considering all the knowledge thats floating around. Alos the carbon steel is full of non metallic material. I just can´t see the benefit.


So what would be the highend or modern approach to a really high performing steel here?

The stainless is a no brainer (AEB-L or its relatives), but the battle for carbon.. Thats another story.

The carbon steel needs to be tough, has some degree of stain resistance since you are meant to shave with it, and very fine grained.

What steels are suitable for this? What would be very good choices for a razor?

I guess the priorities would be: fine grained, some chromium for stain resistance, then toughness, then maximum attainable hardness since most carbon steels can be hardened much higher than 52hrc anyway, and maybe a priotity would be low carbon content, or just as high that it max out at 60hrc I don´t know.

All thoughts and ideas are welcome.
 
I use 52100 at about 61 hrc for mine. If I were to use stainless I would use AEBL at about the same hardness.
 
It was along those lines I was thinking, like W1,W2,O1,52100 and some of the higher alloyed but stll very basic series.

You have good experience with 52100 and corrosion resistance? Does it chip (I cant really imagine that)?

52 hrc just seems like a ripoff to me.
 
This is just a thought as I really don't know but is it possible the "vintage" razors were of a similar hardness so these are just historically accurate?

This might make sense as I (sadly old enough) recall watching the barber strop that weapon (it always made me nervous :) so many times. A harder temper/steel shouldn't need that much work after every couple of sweeps.

Just a thought...or a memory...I forget now. :)

http://fritzantiques3.homestead.com/714barbershopinterior.html

Ahhh, the good ol' days when you could get your hair cut one way. Ask for an inch off and you leave with a crew cut and a slap of tonic that you have to wash off.
Now there are too many descisions and too much gunk they push on you for your hair.

I guess that was a ramble :)
 
I don´t think they are emulating old crap, from wikipedia this should be one of the best companies making razors today, I just think they are cutting corners, but thats just me.
These should be "state of the art", but according to me, well, they are not, not even close, actually they are the opposite of that now when I think about it.
 
Silicon makes sense. I believe it was fairly common in older steels because of where it was pulled from. Mind you it's the same thing glass is made of and is incredibly strong. I would imagine it would help in edge retention... Of course I know very little on the subject.
 
In most enviroments silicon would classify as a non metallic inclusion, a contaminant. Unless you had a very good reason to put it there (ease of sharpening or similar), and I just don´t think they have one, considering their aim hardness.
 
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