Stainless Steel Standards

<Stainless Steel Standards>

There are 3 main factors to decide the quality of beauty shears.

1. Material 2. Heat Treatment 3. Craftsmanship.

Today, let's talk about stainless steel standards since stainless steel is the most commonly used material for beauty shears. Steel standards might differ by country or have different criteria, but the chemical composition defines it in most cases.

International and national standards exist for each country, along with company-specific standards. International steel standards are not commonly used in the USA, Japan, Korea, or Pakistan. Instead, many mixed specifications are used in a complicated way.

1. China

Steel technology was transferred from East Germany to China a long time ago, so the Chinese Steel Standard is fundamentally based on DIN from Germany. Recently, China has aligned its standards with international standards, such as GB/T 20878, published in 2007.

The standard numbers below are interchangeable according to GB/T 20878-2007.

• 30CR13 - 420J2
• 68CR17 - 440A
• 108CR17 – 440C

2. Pakistan

Pakistan's steel technology was transferred from the Soviet Union, but its standard management system is similar to Great Britain's.  There is a clear standard for mild steel but no clear standard for stainless steel used for scissors. Overall, the manufacturing and management system for stainless steel is very ambiguous. Finding high-quality stainless steel for making scissors in Pakistan might be challenging.

 3. Korea / Japan

Korean steel companies do not manufacture the proper 440C shape for making scissors. Therefore, many Korean (except those who import from China) and Japanese factories mostly use steel from Hitachi and Aichi companies. Koreans use a lot of imported steel from China, but not stainless steel since the quality is deficient.

• AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute)
• ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)
• DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung, German Institute for Standardization)
• EN (Euro Norm, European Standard)
• GB 国家标准(China, Guo Jia Biao Zhun, meaning the "National Standards")
• GB/T 国家标准/推荐(China, Guo Jia Biao Zhun／Tuijian, meaning "Recommended Standards"; "tuījiàn" means "recommended."
• ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
• JIS (Japan Industrial Standards)
• KS (Korean standards)
• PSQCA(Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority)

<Comparison Table of Stainless Steel Standards by Each Country>

Editor's Note: I have designed and developed numerous scissors. Having run my factory for a long time, I have manufactured and sold many kinds of beauty scissors. I have also used many different types of steel. For almost 30 years, I have monitored the hairstylists who use my products and others'. Based on my many years of experience in the beauty scissor business, the differences between Hitachi 440/ATS314 stainless steel and steel from any other company are enormous.

*The above states the ideas of the MICHIKO scissors; others with different opinions may think otherwise.*