Thread: Metallurgical analysis?

Anybody out there able to do an analysis of a razor's steel? Rockwell hardness, or even carbon content, etc?

I have a Rockwell tester but I need it calibrated. I'd suggest asking JoshEarl or Mike Blue. Josh was doing that razor analysis project iirc.

Fastenal can do these test for you. If I recall correctly, someone on bladeforums was paying about $25 for each chemical analysis of the steel he sent in.

The Fastenal site says they offer the following:

Laboratory Equipment and Services

• 200,000 lb. Tensile Tester - Testing of externally threaded fasteners for tensile, proof load, and yield strengths; testing of internally threaded fasteners for proof loads
• Rockwell Hardness Testers - Testing Rockwell hardness in the B and C scales, as well as surface hardness on the 30N scale
• Micro-Hardness Tester - Hardness testing using the Vickers scale
• Skidmore-Wilhelm - Measures the clamp force created by an externally threaded fastener when tightened
• Spectrometer - Chemical analysis for iron, nickel, aluminum, copper, and titanium based materials
• Portable XRF - Rapid alloy identification, PMI (positive material identification)
• Metallographic Microscope - Analysis of grain structures and boundaries on raw material and finished product
• Non-Destructive Testing - Magnetic particle (AC/DC) and liquid penetrant testing inspections to identify cracks above and below the surface.
• Drive Test Plates, Torsional Collets, and Ductility Blocks - Performance testing for thread cutting and thread rolling screws
• Drill Drive Tester - Drill-drive performance testing for self-drilling and tapping screws
• Corrosion Test Chamber - Salt spray (fog) testing per ASTM B117
• Charpy Impact Machine - Impact testing up to 264 ft.-lbs. with a temperature range of +410°F to -202°F.
• CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) - Precise measurements of angles, concentricity, roundness, diameter of holes, distance of points, etc.
• Optical Comparator - Dimensional inspection of linear measurements, angles, thread profiles, and radii
• Laser Lab - 3-D laser inspection system accurately measures diameters, lengths, tapers, straightness, concentricity and threads to print with exact measurements every time
• Dimensional Inspection - Utilizing ring and plug, variable thread, length, and protrusion gages, calipers, micrometers, and pitch micrometers
• Additional Equipment - Profilometer, MicTrac, Elongation Gage, Torque Wrenches, Gage Block Set

I had a Herder razor blank Rockwell tested at Mike Blues. The edge was 59 and the spine was 54.

I see no point in a chemical/carbon content analysis because I can only buy from a fixed number of choices of steel. Admiral, Crucible etc and they set the mix, not me. I have to learn to make the most of what I can buy from them.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

... I see no point in a chemical/carbon content analysis because I can only buy from a fixed number of choices of steel. Admiral, Crucible etc and they set the mix, not me. I have to learn to make the most of what I can buy from them.

I never knew that Fastenal did all that stuff.

Randy, you've really made the whole point. It's one thing to know what the chemistry of a piece of steel is, but is it practical to know all that. You're going to have to make a blade (or two or three) and do your routine with your shop tools and then test the blades to see if they are right, even if you have the spec sheet from the steel mill for your custom order of 10,000 pounds of 1 /38 inch round bar.

Really, a true story that happened to a friend of mine. The alloy was to specifications as he ordered it. But there were enough old cars in the bucket lining to add things like Californium and other exotics. Generally this mill does tons of rebar more often than clean alloys. The steel run was off just enough that he had to go back to basics and establish the heat treatment parameters all over again. Now he, and I, do this routinely when a new batch of steel is ordered. I consider it safe practice for a new steel I've not worked with before.

You can find some labs that will test metals much cheaper, but in Minnesota, my curiosity usually runs about 100 USD per test. It means the destruction of a sample by burning. There are cheap spark testing methods that only leave a scratch, but those are looking for alloy materials reactions and then their little microchip "infers" the alloy by comparison to a database. It will not truly test carbon, because it's an indirect test, so you will not really know that.

Hardness testing I can do.

Philadelph: did you get a test block for your tester? Having one of those and comparing readings is a cheap workaround for a non calibrated unit. Mine was de-milspec'd and is only guaranteed accurate plus or minus 0.5 which is perfect for a blademaker.

Thanks guys.

What I'm interested in finding out is what kind/quality of steel goes into the Double Arrow razors. So, I'm not interested in finding out about the steel blanks/stock, but rather what the end product specs are.

Not really that jazzed to have to spend $100 to test a $12 razor though!

Are you looking for the Rockwell hardness of the DA's? If so I would be willing to sacrifice a DA if Mike Blue is willing to do the test this Saturday.
The edge test could chip out the blade, no big deal to me. Hmmm, I do have a bunch of junker blades, maybe test them also some time in the future?

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Are you looking for the Rockwell hardness of the DA's? If so I would be willing to sacrifice a DA if Mike Blue is willing to do the test this Saturday.
The edge test could chip out the blade, no big deal to me. Hmmm, I do have a bunch of junker blades, maybe test them also some time in the future?

If it chips out the blade, I'd be more than happy to do any rework needed to get it back to shaving shape. I'd just like to know what the deal is with these DAs.

Reminds me of this thread.

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/fo...s-project.html

Originally Posted by smythe

Reminds me of this thread.

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/fo...s-project.html

That's a dead thread. We need to send a razor in for testing. I don't even know if vintage blades are tempered since many of them seem so brittle at relatively low hardnesses (59 rc), and carbon content is somewhere around 0.5% which is pretty low also.