Thread: Re-etched Wade and Butcher Celebrated FBUs

I been racking my brain since this thread started trying to remember were I saw a guy doing etches on old razors. He was headed in the direction you are all discussing. I thought it was an SRP thread but I tried to find it again and couldn't. He will get better at doing it to the point you won't be able to tell. well except for a few very well trained eyes. At that point I don't think I would really mind that much. We all try to take them back to what they looked like when new. That is the primary focus of a lot of restorations. Yes using what is there is always most desired but no one is shocked by new scales when the old ones are broken. Added value or not is perceived by the buyer. If someone is selling a razor that has had that much work as NOS then yes, find a tree and get a rope :<0)

Soooo, tell me if I am wrong, but in Wade and Butcher FBU's, the ones with the blade etch have always seemed to me to be the originally Hollow-Ground, double-stabilized ones with no FBU on the tang.
Adversely, the ones which were originally wedge-ground had no blade etch, NO double-stabilizers, and had
'For Barber's Use' on the tang.

I suppose what I am implying is this razor has no double-stabilizers and is obviously a (reground) wedge.
It also seems to be absent the 'For Barber's Use' on the tang and has been etched.

Not a "For Barber's Use" Razor, but a big old W&B wedge all dressed up as one?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Soooo, tell me if I am wrong, but in Wade and Butcher FBU's, the ones with the blade etch have always seemed to me to be the originally Hollow-Ground, double-stabilized ones with no FBU on the tang.
Adversely, the ones which were originally wedge-ground had no blade etch, NO double-stabilizers, and had
'For Barber's Use' on the tang.

I suppose what I am implying is this razor has no double-stabilizers and is obviously a (reground) wedge.
It also seems to be absent the 'For Barber's Use' on the tang and has been etched.

Not a "For Barber's Use" Razor, but a big old W&B wedge all dressed up as one?

It's hard to say, but you are right, I would expect double stabilizer on a model such as this. However, it could very well have been originally double-stabilizer that was reground, taking off the stabilizer. I can't say for sure. Most of the big plain WB wedges I have seen have stamped tangs, while this one has an etched tang, more consistent with the Celebrated HG and FBU.

So all in all this razor in question could easily have originally been a Celebrated HG FBU that was reground to remove rust and re-etched. Or it might not have. But it has definitely had a new etching done.

I think if it was indeed reground to the point of grinding-off the outer stabilizer, the remaining one would not appear as this one does. The blade would be way deeper than this, IMO......

That's a very good point.

Ah well. Just goes to show. An etch does not a 'Barber's use' make!

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Ok here's an update. I found another one on ebay from the same place, only this time... the etching is more closely reflecting an original example. This is going to be a lengthy post. Let's start with a composite of a bunch of genuine FBU examples collected from my own holdings as well as all over ebay and the internet, so we can get an idea of how much the fonts and positionings varied (hint: not actually that much). I'm going to analyze all of these and figured a good sample size would be nice to make claims.

<snip>

And looking closer, we can see some characteristics of the original acid-etched examples, most notably non-uniform fonts and rough text edges due to the etching process:

<SNIP>

Below, left, is the first re-etched example I saw on ebay. You can see it's very, very poorly done. The middle image is the most recent one I found, which is better and obviously after learning some things to make it look more original. To someone who knows fonts well, the 'FOR BARBER'S USE' part especially should look glaring in comparison. A genuine example is at the right.

<SNIP>

Here is an in-depth comparison. Some things to assist in comparison: 1. The height of the cross of the 't' is different in the most recent re-etch than in all other vintage samples (red). 2. The general shape and ratios of the letters is different (blue). 3. The small blackletter 'e's are missing a part at the lower left that is seen in all old examples (orange). 4. The length of mid-level horizontal lines of 'F' and 'E' relative to top and bottom is incorrect (purple). 5. Original fonts had very rounded, prominent serifs (green). These are sharper and smaller on the re-etched example.

There are other small details but this is a good sampling to get you to recognize how to spot these.

<SNIP>

Finally, on this particular example, there is clear evidence of buffing on the tang, with a very fresh looking grind on the blade face. This has been reground, however it clearly has a nice crisp etch. Compare another example with original etch that has been reground and polished:

Attachment 240703

The latest one I came across was listed as 'restored' and not 're-etched'.

That last one would take me a few looks, it would definitely tweak my eye, but that's a pretty good effort...if you didn't look closely it could catch you.

The rest stand out like a plague...just horrible...

Great post and thanks for posting this information...thinking this might warrant an entry into the SRP Wiki.

The one thing I always liked of those deep etched razors and it goes for all razors not just W&B is the fact that the etching isn't perfect and you get rough spots and places where the acid etches beyond the design. I find it more artistic. Its like having a hand painted painting and one that is printed on a computer to perfection. The flaws are what makes it appealing to me. Granted I see someone wanting to replace what's lost since they do it with paintings all the time, but a lot of things tend to lose some character in the process and adding something that wasn't there to begin with can ruin many things. Sometimes though for certain stuff I can improve something. It all comes down to the buyer and whether they know what was done and agree to it.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Ok here's an update. I found another one on ebay from the same place, only this time... the etching is more closely reflecting an original example.

This post should be a Wiki (SRP library) article. Too important to just go into the graveyard where all threads seem to eventually end up.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Ah well. Just goes to show. An etch does not a 'Barber's use' make!

Oh yeah....I've got a W&B Rattler that says FBU, a typical #14 shaped W&B that has FBU, both stamped on the tang...along with one that looks exactly like the second pic you posted, no stabilizers as well that's stamped FBU...let alone the FBO's as well....