high hrc blades

anyone know any companies that make harderrazors than hart steel at 63 hrc

Why?

The hardest steel you will find in a razor is some of the vintage Swedes.
But none of them goes above 62. An dthere is a good reason for that.
beyond that you won't have the right conditions in the steel to produces the sharpest & smoothest edge.
Hardness is but one factor in steel.

Here is a very brief introduction
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/glossaries/mtlgterms.shtml

There is a reason metallurgy is a whole field of science. It is very complex.

honed said:

The hardest steel you will find in a razor is some of the vintage Swedes.
But none of them goes above 62. An dthere is a good reason for that.
beyond that you won't have the right conditions in the steel to produces the sharpest & smoothest edge.
Hardness is but one factor in steel.

Here is a very brief introduction
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/glossaries/mtlgterms.shtml

There is a reason metallurgy is a whole field of science. It is very complex.

Click to expand...

Indeed. In addition to the Rockwell hardness, there are other factors such as the carbon content of the steel and any impurities (whether desired or undesired). As an example, TI's Carbonsong C135 is hardened on the high end of the desired range, but it also has an unusually high carbon content (1.35%), which makes it a bit brittle. TI's C135 razors need to be finished with an abrasive strop (which, through rounding, increases the bevel angle at the edge) or with a couple of layers of electrical tape on the spine when finished on a hone. Otherwise, there will be microchipping. I consider this a defect in the design, but TI sells their razors with the expectation that the buyer will use one of TI's paddle strops.

Great example!

And if you then take a steel like Hitatchi's White Steel, that has ~1.4% carbon, but it is manufactured using a process that leaves it incredibly clean, it can take an edge that is sharper/more refined then anything else, but that will still hold up well to hard use.
Just recently I sharpened a Tojiro Shirogami up to 0.1µ CBN using a 7 degrees per side angle.
That is way steeper then most straights. Still it has great edge retention & the edge stood up to some aggressive chopping on a wooden board with no harm.

So again, steel is complex. Hardness means very little.

Very true. I don't know the exact composition of Carbonsong C135 nor how it differs from white I steel. I have a Hanasama kamisori with Hitachi White I steel, and it doesn't have the problems seen on the three TI blades I sharpened recently. I also have a couple of neck knives with Hitachi Blue Super steel (1.5% carbon), and they are quite rugged.

My thoughts exactly. As in all of the plsts above. Hardness is on small factor of many that go into making a great razor. And one of many that can be its undoing. A SUPER DUPER hard razor is worth a pile of dog doo if it crumbles and chips on the hone. I believe straights have kinda been perfected a long time ago. Nobody is going to reinvent the wheel there. Is this about your ultimate razor? Just make the worlds hardest razor and get it out of your system. I allways root for the underdog. Make it and post pics.

oh i have abandoned such thoughts of making the hardest straight razor. im just curious to see the upper end of the range is

The hardest razor I own is an Iwasaki western-style razor made from tamahagane, differentially hardened. The box these razors came in claims 66 HRC IIRC. I also have a Robert Williams that is 65. I have two Livis made from Hitachi blue steel but I don't know the hardness; they are pretty hard though. None of these razors show any signs of crumbling or brittleness.

Really hard razors are "interesting" to hone.

I agree with the other posters about the TI carbon song razors. Really not a fan of that steel.