125SC / 1.1563.01

125SC is a high-purity carbon steel developed by Achim Wirtz and manufactured by the Friedr. Lohmann GmbH.

During production, the highest demands were placed on purity and manufacturing quality. The steel was produced on the basis of Armco 4 pure iron (highest degree of purity available) in a completely unused mold using the vacuum melting process. This made it possible to achieve extremely low levels of the steel pests phosphorus and sulphur and the levels of hydrogen and oxidic inclusions were greatly reduced. This enables an extremely homogeneous and fine-grained structure (assuming optimal heat treatment), which in turn is a prerequisite for the finest cutting edges with the highest cutting edge stability.

The intention for the development of this steel was to create a European counterpart to the Japanese white paper steel (Shirogami). However, with higher purity and a slightly higher manganese content, so that the steel achieves full initial hardness even with oil hardening.

In terms of performance, the 125sc is comparable to other hypereutectoid pure carbon steels. It achieves a very high degree of hardness, is easy to sharpen, is suitable for acute grinding angles and the finest cutting edges and has very good cutting edge stability. The wear resistance is of course lower than that of alloyed steels.

Unfortunately, only a single melt of the 125sc was made, post-production is not expected. I managed to acquire the last remaining stocks in 3mm. The material is only offered while stocks last.