best steel for a straight razor

L

L.K.Smithy

Joined
May 22, 2007
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im very torn, i can stay in my dead end easy job at a feed supply shop and keep my long hair and beard, or start working at honda and make more, and work harder, but i have to cut my hair and beard that i have become very attached to. so, since i havent shaved in over a year i want to do it with a blade i forge. my main question is, will 5160 be good enough for a proper straight razor? also, should i give up part of my character as the long haired mountain man blacksmith for a better job? any thoughts welcome. thanks.
-Lou
 
Many people have trouble letting go of there "vision" of themselves. I think the mountain man is defined by lifestyle not hair style. I say "go be a honda working, blade forging, mountain man with no beard." Course I aint cutting my beard or hair anytime soon, but I live in Alaska were most guys have beards in the winter so I can get away with it.

No idea on the best steel but I would think 5160 would do the job well enough.
 
I know lawyers and doctors that are mountain men under the fancy suits. Many people hide under the hair and beard. Real individuals shine in any haircut or outfit.
1095 makes ,probably, the best razor steel.
Stacy
 
Outside appearance doesn't define the man. I know plenty of @#$@heads that dress nicely and plenty of good people that dress like @#$#.

I have a theory on weirdness (cause I'm pretty weird) that I espouse at my favorite watering hole. Looking and dressing weird keeps the normal people from discovering how truly weird you are, when you look normal you can lure them in close and spring your weirdness on them. lol

You can still be the good ole boy at Honday, you'll just dress better and won't have to shower immediately upon coming home.

edited to add: 1095 for razor steel lol

Good luck either way,

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
 
Real men don't use a razor, they hammer the hairs inward and bite them off inside !!! Razor steels are high carbon so 1095, O-1,W-2, and I assume A-2 would work fine.
 
1095 (first) and W2 (second) will sharpen up to a very high degree easier than the other steels. A razor should be able to cleave a standing hair, or hanging hair not pressed against the skin.
 
the first one i did i made with cpm154 (thats what i had and am used to working with) i now have some W1 thats starting to look razor like
 
im gonna take the job. thanks everyone. i really value all your opinions. everyone iv talked to said i should take the job and shave the face. my finance will really miss it though, and we are sad.but being a tech for honda will be great. one of my best buddies works there so it will be fun too. im going to be doing my best with 5160. i think a really hard temper will allow it to take a good enough edge. any suggestions on temper, sharpening, anything? thanks again.
-Lou
 
My opinion, the steel ought to lend itself to sharpening above all else. Like Mr. Goo put it, it should be able to cleave a hanging hair. That's sharp there bud.

Steel with carbides in it aren't doing you any benefit and they make it harder to get sharp. Even 1095 has carbides in it because the carbon content is so high. Stainless steel doesn't get as sharp as easy either.

I think fine grain is important too, so I'd pay extra attention to your normalizing or heat cycles before final heat treat. Steels with a tad of vanadium, like W2, 5160 and O1, might achieve a finer grain.

I don't know what the best hardness would be, but I tend think that fairly hard makes sense.

That W2 is sounding good to me, and I think that 5160 would work well too.

I've repaired, honed and sharpened some straight razors, they're so thin and so sharp they strike me as very different than regular knives.
 
I was going to make a straight edge razor with some 1/8" 1095, but i drew out a bushcraft knife instead. maybe I will buy more.
 
If you're going to use 5160 for a straight razor I wouldn't temper any higher than 300F. 1095 or 52100 would be the best choices. A2 wouldn't be bad for stock removal.
 
Larrin, I'm surprised you didn't recommend 13C26 :D After all, it was designed to be a razor blade steel.
 
dlpierson said:
Larrin, I'm surprised you didn't recommend 13C26 :D After all, it was designed to be a razor blade steel.
Click to expand...
It's not available in the right thickness, otherwise it would be the ultimate choice.
 
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