Thread: Is this a sheffield blade or what?

Old Straight Razor Similar to Wade and Butcher Chinese Sheffield with Horn Scale | eBay

So this razor appears to be a sheffield 1/4 hollow 13/16 w/ barbers notch. I have seen old W&B's and joseph elliot razors with chinese markings in the past. If i have the history right, 'chinese' razors were imported from sheffield and sold to chinese rail road workers during the 1850-1880's during the us western expansion. Most of the time the 'chinese' symbols on the razor were non-sense with no actual meaning. I cant tell if this one is a mid 19th century sheffield blade or maybe some weird actual chinese blade. needless to say im not willing to pay ebay prices for a razor made in china. Any insight, opinions or fact about this blade would be appreciated.

It certainly looks old and sheffield-ish. What I can say for sure is that I have a Wade and Butcher with chinese markings (real markings or made up) and saw a razor recently with the exact same symbols in the same order, a dead match, but no mark of any manufacturer. Even the blade shape and the special collars were the same. So this leads me to believe that some were just marked with the special characters and not with the manufacturer.

Thanks for the info! Now for the million dollar question.... Do the symbols on ur W&B match the ones one this auction?

Doesn't look like it. Here's mine for comparison. http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...azors-bay.html

That is the Joseph Elliot version, definitely Sheffield, I have one.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Doesn't look like it. Here's mine for comparison. http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...azors-bay.html

Thanks for the pic. What really caught my eye is that old greaves though, appears to be pre sheafworks. Incredible blade work . Too bad about that chip on the edge.

Thanks for confirming that for me Nelson.

Originally Posted by JoeLowett

Thanks for the pic. What really caught my eye is that old greaves though, appears to be pre sheafworks. Incredible blade work . Too bad about that chip on the edge.

Don't think so. A lot of the blades that are stamped Greaves and Sons with the swords look like they date to much later than 1826, so I think they just didn't include the stamp. Like this one: http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...hed-razor.html