Silver combined with steel.

[TSENG]

After soaking in bleach , the blackened part has a silver reaction.
Joseph Smith & Sons Celebrated Razor 3415 6/8"
Silver combined with steel,(Wedge)
MANUFACTURED BY Joseph Smith & Son
SHEFFIELD (1870~1887)
PRINCE ALBERT'S ROYAL PATENT RAZOR

 

[rbscebu]

I can only wonder why include the silver.

 

[TSENG]

I can only wonder why include the silver.

My guess is that silver is used for soldering, so you can see the silver turning black in the gap.

 

[Brutus]

I can only wonder why include the silver.

Keeping in mind that the ‘silver steel’ of old used for knives and razors was named for its appearance and did not contain any silver.

Silver Steel BS1407 Chemical Composition​

	Analysis Range (%)	Typical Analysis (%)
C	.95/1.25	1.13
Si	.40 max	.22
Mn	.25 / .45	.37
P	.045 max	.014
S	.045 max	.018
Cr	Cr. .35 / .45	.43

(and of course the balance to 100% consisting of iron)


B.

 

[Gamma]

Faraday experimented with adding silver to steel in hopes of creating a superior alloy. Tools claimed to have had been made of this alloy were tested and no silver was detected.
Faraday commented about razor smiths etching "Silver Steel" on their blades to deceive people. That was in the 1820s. By 1870 it was ancient history.

I've seen identical oxidation 'lines' in Kamisori. Appears to be impurities in the steel that get 'folded' in during forging - hence the lines. Silver wasn't in the recipe though, I suspect it's just steel that didn't have all of it's impurities 'hammered out'.

 

[hatzicho]

Well indeed Faraday did tests to form alloys with silver and a lot of other materials, such as Platinum, Iridium and Rhodium. Together with James Stodart, they also produced razors from these alloys.

The test with silver gave various -more or less- successful results. Depending on the amount of silver in steel, the alloy was more or less uniform.

Here a short extract of a published document from Faraday and Stodart in 1822 (in: The repertory of arts, manufactues and agriculture; London 1822)

„…. With respect to the alloy of silver, there are some very curious circumstances attending it. If steel and silver be kept in fusion together for a length of time, an alloy is obtained, which appears to be very perfect while the metals are in the fluid state, but on solidifying and cooling, globules of pure silver are expressed from the mass and appear on the surface of the buttom. If an alloy of this kind be forged into a bar, and then dissected by the action of dilute sulphuric acid, the silver appears not in combination with the steel, but in threads throughout the mass; so that the whole has the appearance of a bundle of fibres of silver and steel, as if they had been united by welding…..“

In Faraday‘ experiments silver was added to the steel, beginning with 1part silver/160 steel down to the rate 1/500. In larger amounts of silver, no uniform alloy could be produced. But:

„When 1 of silver to 500 steel were properly fused, a very perfect button was produced; no silver appeared on its surface; when forged and dissected by an acid, no fibres were seen,… The specimen forged remarkably well, although very hard; it had in every respect the most favourable appearance…..

This alloy is decidedly superior to the very best steel, and this excellence is unquestionably owing to combination with a minute portion of silver.“

--

Coming back to your Joseph Smith razor.

Well it is of course possible that also other razor makers tried to add silver to their steel, based on their knowledge of the Faraday experiments. Maybe they added a bit too much silver here….