I was auto topped by 5 bucks but I don't doubt the winner had a ceiling of 500 or more. It's more than I could afford really, but sometimes your eyes just roll back and you enter zombie mode.
Attachment 172687
Printable View
I was auto topped by 5 bucks but I don't doubt the winner had a ceiling of 500 or more. It's more than I could afford really, but sometimes your eyes just roll back and you enter zombie mode.
Attachment 172687
I don't understand why the Wade an Butcher razors are commanding such high prices. I picked up a 7/8 near wedge made by George Plum for £5(about $8) Old / Vintage Cut Throat Razor - George Plum Razor "The Plum" | eBay it is almost identical to a Wade and Butcher but costs a fraction of the price.
I have no doubt they are fine razors but why are they so much more than other razor manufacturers ? Is it just a simple case of buying a name ?
Attachment 172688 I thought this razor was a pretty good deal. Then began the honing.....I like bevels that you are barely able to see.....I have no idea how to get there from here. I had been using 3 layers of tape on a 600 Chosera then dropped to 2 layers on a 1K when I thought I was closer, but the razor looks like it was honed by multiple people each group taking a side......seller asked $45.00 for it, I asked if the price was firm...he said how about $38.00. I was pretty happy then, now I am deep in frustration and agitation. I completely understand the zombie mode and add that there are other land mines to step on in this game.
Attachment 172696After hours....bevel a long way from where I want to be.......ugh.
Sorry, could not figure out how to delete fuzzy pic.
Thanks Bob, but the heel has no edge whatsoever.
Good looking piece, you could sell that for $300+ all day long.
From the original auction:
HUGE BLADE WITH A GREAT GRIND,ONLY MARKING IS WADE WHICH WOULD DATE IT 1810-1818,HE PARTNERED WITH BUTCHER IN 1818,THE TOP IF THE BLADE IS 1/4" AND IS ETCHED "MAGNUM BONUM"
Was at the in-laws yesterday, was watching that on my phone...just checked it this morning and yea, wow, that went for an incredible price. But it certainly is an older, more unique W&B, and I'm sure whoever got it will be happy with it.
On the other hand, stumbled onto an auction yesterday with 3 minutes left, for a 9/8 W&B, FBU, was at $210.00. Couldn't believe it. Figured I'd hop in, what the heck, worth a go, figured this would end at around $450 as well, if not higher, and I'd be out....it didn't, my bid didn't even auto jump once....score for $210.00 and shipped for $3.50 right here in Ontario.
Gotta love those auctions that end at weird times...Saturday afternoon of all times!
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...arbers-use.jpg
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...arbers-use.jpg
I watched that one carefully but I didn't like the description of how he buffed the blade with a wheel and pastes so I was worried about the blade. I even asked a question here about the method he used so I stayed away. Let us know if the scales are original and the blade is in good shape. Thanks
Trade mark recognition. Can you say Duck ? Same thing. You know your getting a popular brand with a great reputation.
To get the height out of that bevel it will need a regrind. Not a heavy one but the blade thickness at the bevel is why it's so high. This may also be why you can't hit the heel without going after it with special moves on the hone. This is caused by hone wear of course and also may be the result of chip removal. If the width is reduced on a blade removing a chip you are increasing the width of it at the bevel and therefore height in the bevel. Remember your not decreasing the spine width to match. Regrinds are a pita and many don't like to go there. Concentrating on just the bevel area and keeping it cool while grinding is the key to doing it right. It's also going to have a little more hollow to it in the end.
I do console myself with having won the other:
Attachment 172699
From the description:
MARKED WADE & BUTCHER ON TOP OF BLADE & PATENT TEMPERED STEEL ON TANG,EARLY RAZOR c1840's
I don't know about 1840s but it is older.
Yes, I keep wondering who, "Joe" is whenever I read a description of one of his blades????
But, he has a return policy, say's if you don't like it, send it back, since it's minimum postage and in the same Province, figured I can't really go wrong...a 9/8 FBU for that price??? I couldn't see any bluing, but an inspection will tell...
I think the answer is that Phrank has the market cornered :rofl2:
Sorry Hart, I lost out on a MB there a while ago...couldn't let this one go as well.
That, and as stated by JimmyWetshaver being this one is Wade only, sans Butcher, I was willing to take a large hit to the wallet.
Not sure if you are game but I've seen your restore work, if you're willing to take on a project for me I'd be very happy to entrust this one to you...?
it was a beautiful looking wade straight razor. i too was watching the bid, but GODDAMN! Over 400 is way out of my league!
What I am guessing is honing is not going to fix the bevel width unless you use 8 layers of tape. It can be honed to shave ready and taking more metal off is not always the answer to get there but if that is what it takes to get the look you want then it's up to who ever owns it.
I agree, it's his to do what he wants with. But why not use the side of a single grit stone, if you use synthetics that is. Or a skinny coticule? Skinny stones can accomplish things that a wide one can't. Just a suggestion. I'd try everything I could do to get it shave ready before I started removing metal.
Haha - I've already been there, friend. Early in my SR shaving career I bid a little more than I should have on an old blade and someone took it for a few dollars over my max - RELIEF!!!!
I'm very pleased that one of our members and someone from Canada as well, has the blade. Don't apologize, you really did save me from myself, it was something I can ill afford at the moment.
I'm immensely flattered with your offer, but I'm purely amateur and pursue restoration as a hobby on my own razors. I'm still at a point where I'm never sure if what I'm doing is going to end well or in disaster.:D There are many here who would be a far better choice.
I did have high hopes though and looked into getting some mammoth ivory for the scales from Canadian Ivory. They don't seem to have anything in an appropriate size right now but they said they would have more in September, if you're interested.
Whatever you choose, let us know how it turns out.
Cheers!
I think you are selling yourself short there Hart :nono:, the work you did on that WB in Oak Crotch is far beyond stunning...Quote:
I'm immensely flattered with your offer, but I'm purely amateur and pursue restoration as a hobby on my own razors. I'm still at a point where I'm never sure if what I'm doing is going to end well or in disaster.:D There are many here who would be a far better choice.
Attachment 172959
Attachment 172960
Truly.
I'm in complete agreement with your choice in scales for this piece, IMHO it would be the perfect compliment for this blade.Quote:
I did have high hopes though and looked into getting some mammoth ivory for the scales from Canadian Ivory. They don't seem to have anything in an appropriate size right now but they said they would have more in September, if you're interested.
Wilco!!Quote:
Whatever you choose, let us know how it turns out.
not sure what you have tried but to hone that one id hold the blade at 45* to the hone (that's 45* to the direction of the honing stroke, not lifting the spine off stone to 45*!) and rock the pressure from heel to toe during the stroke. honing like most things can be thought of in terms of "course, medium, fine." I don't hesitate to do course work on a stubborn heel or (more rarely) toe area, isolating pressure on one spot with an added finger from my second hand. ill go straight up and down the hone staying on the one side and keeping pressure on the spot for 10-15 strokes and then same on the other side. sometimes I do uneven number of strokes between the sides during this "course" part of honing if the cutting edge isn't centered between the bevels properly. I think of this "course" part as "corrective" honing and then the "medium" refines and blends and utilizes my normal honing strokes. then the "fine" is just polishing what is already established, no further correction should be made during the "fine" stage of honing. I would even do the corrective "course" homing without tape so you can correct the years of different honing by different users and then put a layer or two of tape on for the medium and fine honing. it speeds things up for me doing it this way and usually ends up with a more attractive result.
Those land mines are out there, don't step on one!
I just hate it when that happens. They will look ok but when you go to hone them, it's a different story altogether!
I saw that but had to stay away from it. I knew the price would get way up there. I have two that look identical but they aren't Wade & Butcher. One says Magnum Bonum on the spine. The other one just says Sheffield on the shank.
Well, just had coffee with Valery, he had a look at the blade and basically said it looks brand new, it's in stellar condition, he couldn't believe it, scales, etching all superb, Saturday afternoon auction end and what a find! It's getting honed now and then used with some nice Barrister and Mann, Heather and Sage soap he gave me.
Showed up the other day, forgive the crappy cell phone pics!!
Simply...big...heavy.
Attachment 173342
Attachment 173343
'Magnum Bonum' is faint but clearly defined throughout
Attachment 173344
Attachment 173345
There is some slightly uneven hone wear on the sides
Attachment 173346
Attachment 173347
Attachment 173348
Ah, so it was you(s) that outbid me!
Only fair, I'll tell you what I know about this style of razor.
First and foremost, there are a surprisingly large number of them out there, for a razor that was fashionable in 1815.
Second, I did a big writeup on a subset of these razors over here.
However, since I wrote that, I've gotten more evidence, and one more razor.
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...d92b4f7695.jpg
(You can right click these images and 'view image' to see a high-res version)
The two with the makers marks ground off were made by George Marsden, probably around 1810-1814. The one in the pressed horn scales was made by James Barlow very shortly thereafter.
'Magnum Bonum' was a relatively common slogan etched onto razors in the first half of the 19th century, but there's a difference between a razor with the slogan and a 'Magnum Bonum' razor.
Razors with the slogan (Latin for 'great good', basically) were usually bigger razors, but otherwise unremarkable. Like this one.
What can be described as the Magnum Bonum razor bore the slogan on the top of the spine:
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...e96b7efd1c.jpg
...and was made in a fairly distinctive shape.
To date I've seen razors in that shape, with minor design variations in the tang, made by Greaves & Sons, Wostenholm, James Barlow (quite a long time before his 'Echo' mark), George Marsden (stamped just 'Marsden'), and a whole slew of generics: 'Warranted', 'Cast Steel', 'Sheffield', etc.
This engraving from an 1815 book of advertising illustrations shows a slight variation. I'm not sure if the etching on the side of the spine was simply to illustrate that the etching was there, or if it was meant to be representational -- I've seen these razors with the etching in more or less that location.
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...Smiths-Key.jpg
As for Robert Wade...
He was born June 4th, 1773 in Sheffield. His father was a wealthy grain merchant, also named Robert Wade, and his mother's name was Eleanor.
What, exactly, the cutler did with most of his life is a mystery. There's some evidence that he was a captain in the Sheffield Volunteer militia, but that wasn't exactly a business proposition, and he couldn't have been mooching off his dad, since the elder Wade died in 1795.
Young Robert didn't take up the cutlery biz until he could do so without all that messy apprenticeship stuff -- specifically in 1814, when the Cutler's Company lost their monopoly control of the local cutlery trade. After that though, Wade seems to have hit the ground running. The partnership with William & Samuel Butcher didn't begin until 1818, but there's evidence that Wade continued producing under his own name even after that.
And, more pertinently, his wife Jane continued producing razors (she's listed in an old directory as Jane Wade, Razor Manufacturer) after he died in 1825. December 8th, to be more precise about it.
Jane died in 1829.
And that was the end of Wade & Butcher. Every razor marked 'Wade & Butcher' that was made after that date was effectively a brand name and not a company (kind of like the various makes of American cars which are technically General Motors, but branded with numerous companies names that still have value on their own).
However, Robert and Jane Wade had two children, Robert and Jane Elizabeth. It looks like the Butcher brothers took them in, because by 1840, Robert Wade (the third) was the man on the ground in America, and he was living high on the hog in Philadelphia.
So! I'd guess that Wade razor dates to 1815 +/- a year or two. The style of razor was always made with a very particular scale shape (as you'll have noticed from the various pictures here and in my blog post above).
Any restoration should make an active effort to preserve the etching on the spine, and most likely the original shape of the scales.
If it's anything like the ones I've got, it'll be a fantastic shaver.
The top razor is indeed a Magnum Bonum (can't see it from here). It also had some writing on the side of the spine which was hard to make out. I got it off eBay in an old London made strop box. The bottom razor however is different having a rounded spine with nothing written on it. It does have the top half of some writing on the tang which is hard to make out but could say "Superior" on it. I also got this one off eBay but in a separate auction.
Superior Temper.
:)
I'm not sure what's on the side of the spine though, I'd need to see it in person.
These razors were, indeed, sold in pairs in a strop box. The two I got were in one, and Smith's Key has an engraving of the box, too.