Thread: Manganese steel

Gentlemen-
Is "manganese steel" a form of stainless? I can guess at at least one component in the alloy, but does that make it rust resistant? What kind of reputation does it have in regards to its use in razors?

Thanks - Gags

I have a "Vanadium". Doesn't claim to be stainless (don't know the country of origin, either).

I don't think so. It is what it claims to be manganese steel, which is very resistant to abrasion. It also achieves greater hardness without an increase in brittleness.

I'm no metallurgist but ..... I have quite a few manganese steel Solingen razors. A few Wester Bros and a few Bartmann, among a couple of others, the name of which I can't think of off the top of my head. They are all good with the Bartmann being better than the Wester Bros IME. I read a bit about manganese steel when I was in Ironworker's apprentice school going through the welding class. IIRC it is used in applications where the surface takes a beating and the manganese 'work hardens' as it is used. So for something like the teeth on a dragline bucket it will wear far longer than other steels. How that applies to razors is a mystery to me. More than likely, like silver steel and others it is marketing hype for straight razors. I could be wrong though, I was wrong once before.

Manganese is a pretty common component in steel in general. The Manganese thing is just an advertising ploy they used years ago in a day when you could make any claim without having to prove it.