Comment on Sunday SOTD Thread - January 19th, 2025 (#588)
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 4 weeks agoI honestly don’t know if it will make a difference. I would take a butane lighter and slowly heat the entire blade to the point where touching the edge with fingers is uncomfortable. This should be way below the temperature it would take to alter the temper.
djundjila@wetshaving.social 4 weeks ago
But then what would be the benefit?
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 4 weeks ago
Perhaps making the razor hot might allow it to be more easily straightened when the blade is put in a vise.
FWIW, I have tried this with knives that were dropped and bent. I’ve had zero luck. The amount of pressure to get the steel to retake its shape normally breaks the steel.
djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 4 weeks ago
I doubt that it would do so in a meaningful way. If you google “yield strength vs temperature carbon steel” diagrams (or “reduction factor”, or “tensile strength” they would be related) you’ll see that regardless of steel type, not much changes between room temperature and, say, 300ºC and that’s getting close to tempering territory. It makes sense that softening the steel happens at temperatures at which we lose the harder forged steel microstructures (=losing the temper)
😬 Yeah, that’s the risk
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 4 weeks ago
I thought as much, but figured I’d ask. Thanks!