Lots of info about the different types of steel used, Solingen, Sheffield, French, Swedish, American, Japanese etc. anyone want to share what the feel like the differences is between them and how the feel, act and hone? Whats your favorite?
Different types of steel by country
- Thread starter Sam0917
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Solingen and Sheffield, and the rest, are places - not steel types.
Steel has been in production globally for a loooong time. Since day 1, improvements have been made and steel products have varied in performance, attributes, liabilities and assets.
For a while, some cutlers in Solingen were using steel from Sheffield. And so on.
In Japan, many types of steel were branded and used; Swedish steel for example. I am fairly certain they weren't getting ore from Dannemora so one can assume the name is loosely based on formula, not origin.
Another point to consider is that not every smith gets the same results with the same formula steels.
Even within a genre from a certain period of time from a particular maker there are differences to notice under critical observation.
My personal preferences are for vintage razors, and focused more on blade style, grind, and size. Not too many locations produced 8/8 heavy grind blades. Sheffield did though, so I gravitate that way often. Not always, but often enough. In my experience every vicinity produced enough razors that were different enough to allow me to see that most broad sweeping generalizations sorta pointless.
Steel has been in production globally for a loooong time. Since day 1, improvements have been made and steel products have varied in performance, attributes, liabilities and assets.
For a while, some cutlers in Solingen were using steel from Sheffield. And so on.
In Japan, many types of steel were branded and used; Swedish steel for example. I am fairly certain they weren't getting ore from Dannemora so one can assume the name is loosely based on formula, not origin.
Another point to consider is that not every smith gets the same results with the same formula steels.
Even within a genre from a certain period of time from a particular maker there are differences to notice under critical observation.
My personal preferences are for vintage razors, and focused more on blade style, grind, and size. Not too many locations produced 8/8 heavy grind blades. Sheffield did though, so I gravitate that way often. Not always, but often enough. In my experience every vicinity produced enough razors that were different enough to allow me to see that most broad sweeping generalizations sorta pointless.
Japanese Yasuki steel is a type of steel.
If you have time, this is a good read, comes from my very good friend Joseph of Edge Dynamics.
https://www.edgematters.uk/wcf/attachment/138714-sheffield-razor-steel-pdf/
I was gonna read but.............
Access denied
I was gonna read but.............
Access denied
- Thread starter
- #6
Same here, access denied
Strange, I can click the link and the PDF opens, it's far too big to copy and paste. Try this.
1drv.ms
Microsoft OneDrive
No one said it wasn't. Sorta makes my point though.
Tamagahane is also a type of steel from Japan but there are variations upon that theme. Not all is the same and not every smith produces the same results.
But Yasuki and Tamagahane are not the only types of steel used for razors in Japan.
so the term Japanese Steel is just a vague reference to a place where steel is made, not an actual type of steel.
If someone asked, which Japanese steel do you like more, White steel 1 or Super Blue?
Then there a chance to be specific and make a qualified response.
Copied from the original post...
....the different types of steel used, Solingen, Sheffield, French, Swedish, American, Japanese etc
Solingen is a place
Sheffield is a place
France is a place.
Sweden is a place
America is a place
Japanese is a place.
All of those places made many types of steel over the last couple/few years.
Historically, in this and a few other communities, people have constantly attributed specific qualities to steel made somewhere without qualifying anything other than a continent, country, etc.
Things like....
Solingen steel is soft
Sheffield steel is soft.
Swedish steel is the hardest
American steel is super hard.
There are many more, that should suffice for now.
And in some examples those things might be true and in many cases they are not.
Guarantee that 5 different smiths working Yasuki steel can come up with 5 different flavors.
Sheffield steel from 1820 is so not the same as what was produced in 1860.
And so on.
I think the regional preferences in heat treating can effect the razor a lot more than the type of steel they are using.
Regarding disposable razor blades:
There are a handful of iron ore deposits around the world that are pure enough to go straight into a furnace to make an alloy. These are much more economical to use for steel than ores that need to be refined. While extremely pure, these ores contain some impurities, so steel made from them is a natural alloy. In the case of Swedish ore, it is better suited to blade production than, for example, ultra pure Australian ore.
This natural advantage, along with a history of production, an advanced expert workforce, and modern facilities allows Sandvik to produce blade steel of very good quality at low cost with good margins, and globally competitive prices. A lot of blade makers use their blade steels because of the combination of price and quality.
Refined and recycled steels can be just as good and better, but the good ones are often more expensive to produce, and they aren't all good. There are cheap ones that don't perform well.
For example, the standard Russian steel Mostochlegmash blades I tested were more durable and consistent than their Swedish Steel counterparts. Feather's Japanese Steel and Accutec's American steel also perform well.
However, there are some poorly made steels out there as well. Something produced at a lower cost than Sandvik Steel is likely to be inferior.
And yes, design, heat treatment, and grind are more important than which specific steel you selected that was suited to the task. It does matter a good deal that you selected a steel that was suited to the task, however.
There are a handful of iron ore deposits around the world that are pure enough to go straight into a furnace to make an alloy. These are much more economical to use for steel than ores that need to be refined. While extremely pure, these ores contain some impurities, so steel made from them is a natural alloy. In the case of Swedish ore, it is better suited to blade production than, for example, ultra pure Australian ore.
This natural advantage, along with a history of production, an advanced expert workforce, and modern facilities allows Sandvik to produce blade steel of very good quality at low cost with good margins, and globally competitive prices. A lot of blade makers use their blade steels because of the combination of price and quality.
Refined and recycled steels can be just as good and better, but the good ones are often more expensive to produce, and they aren't all good. There are cheap ones that don't perform well.
For example, the standard Russian steel Mostochlegmash blades I tested were more durable and consistent than their Swedish Steel counterparts. Feather's Japanese Steel and Accutec's American steel also perform well.
However, there are some poorly made steels out there as well. Something produced at a lower cost than Sandvik Steel is likely to be inferior.
And yes, design, heat treatment, and grind are more important than which specific steel you selected that was suited to the task. It does matter a good deal that you selected a steel that was suited to the task, however.
That works.Strange, I can click the link and the PDF opens, it's far too big to copy and paste. Try this.
Microsoft OneDrive
Thx
- Thread starter
- #12
Very good read, appreciate it!Strange, I can click the link and the PDF opens, it's far too big to copy and paste. Try this.
Microsoft OneDrive
It gets pretty murky in the 20th century. Germany owned interests in Swedish mines at one point... they also used Kaiser-Ellison from Sheffield, Böhler from Austria... Japan imported steel from Sweden via ASSAB (a collaboration between four mills to sell steel to emerging markets after WW2), Austrian steel branded Phoenix, plus domestic steel through Hitachi.
None of that tells us anything about the actual formulas, or the heat treat/temper used.
None of that tells us anything about the actual formulas, or the heat treat/temper used.
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