Thread: Old Marsden

Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

DAMN!!!!! That is awesome.

Originally Posted by BobH

Always a pleasure to view your expert repair/restore work. Just a lovely old razor.

Bob

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

........ ..........

Originally Posted by rolodave

Well done, Tom

TLC for a fine old piece.

Congrats

Originally Posted by Hirlau

The Razor Gods are smiling Tom,,,,,,,,,,,,

My thanks, Gentlemen! It is good to have it done. I am happy you approve!

Originally Posted by Phrank

Superb as always, the scales are magnificent...so do you have a date range on the razor - gorgeous piece!

My Thanks, Andrew. I dunno. I get crosseyed reading Zak's linked observations!
I shall message him and see if he will elaborate further.

Originally Posted by UKRob

So many tips to learn from you Tom - fantastic story book as well.

Originally Posted by petercp4e

Absolutely a beautiful restoration!
How cool is it to have scales on a razor that tell a story!!
Definitely well worth the time and effort. A great shave is the bonus with this razor.

Pete <:-}

Thanks to both of you. The scales do indeed tell the story of a fine hunt. My pics don't show all, but the detail is very fine. Every time I looked, esp as-magnified, I picked up another detail I had missed.

Now That my friend is the Epitome of a restoration!!
Absolutely stunning job bringing back a little piece of the past. Awesome job and thanks for posting your procedures! May give me the confidence to attempt a few scale repairs myself!

Beautiful save there Tom
Great work retaining as much original materials as possible
I haven't tried to use Epoxy to join a complete section of horn only filling bug bites this is definitely an inspiration
thanks for sharing

The problem with researching Marsdens is that there were just SO DAMN MANY of them. But I've suffered in the pits of parsimonious given names so y'all don't have to.

To cut to the chase, our man Marsden, in this case, is George Marsden of 21 Meadow Street.

Getting more precise is problematic.

Baine's Directory, published in 1823 lists G. Marsden, razor manufacturer at 21 Meadow Street. Unfortunately, I don't have my books unpacked yet so I can't compare that against the dates for James Barlow. Geoffrey Tweedale turned up a goodly amount on Barlow, and that's pertinent because A) Barlow took over the works at that street address and B), he made this (which I'd get better pictures of if I had all my razors with me at the moment):



And yep, it's etched Magnum Bonum on the top of the spine.

So. George Marsden. The apprentice registries aren't really any help, since there are six George Marsdens within a 15 year span all apprenticed in the right branches of the trade to have ended up manufacturing razors in the right timeframe (roughly 1808-1820ish).

The trade directories aren't any help because there's only a single listing dated 1823.

Unfortunately, the busy Mr. Marsden is probably going to remain an unknown other than his first name.

More fruitful are the scales, which are almost certainly original to the blade. I've seen a lot of Marsden and allied styles in pressed horn like that.

If you look very carefully all over the scales you might find the name of the scale manufacturer. These old pressed horn scales are a major fascination for me because they're traceable. This is the last lot of them I got:



Names I know:

Broadwell
Morton
Wilson
Woofindin (there's a fair bit on this clan, as they founded an important charity)

Everything I have on the figural scale pressers is pure guesswork. There's not any real record of these sorts of scales, Geoffrey Tweedale hadn't ever seen anything like them. The pressers themselves were relatively well known as a kind of OEM manufacturer (think ACDelco or Foxconn a company that manufactures the parts that other companies use to build stuff), but I've never seen a plausible explanation for where these fancy scales came from.

My best guess is that they sold by the scale manufacturers and not the blade makers. A lot of them are generic (IE: Warranted, Refined Steel, Silver Steel, etc -- no 'brand' name), but not all by any means. The scales come in a wide variety of quality too, and some were clearly knock-offs of better work.

Broadwell, Morton, and Wilson marks will be pretty easy to find, though Wilson's could be well hidden. Early Woofindin stuff is astoundingly close to invisible.



At the bottom of the design, there's a basket. On the left side, just below it you can make out a scratchy VW. That's the initials of Verdon Woofindin who most likely cut the die used to press these scales. I've seen at least one other Woofindin initial (I, if my memory's working right, which I'm not sure it is).

Originally Posted by NewellVW

Now That my friend is the Epitome of a restoration!!
Absolutely stunning job bringing back a little piece of the past. Awesome job and thanks for posting your procedures! May give me the confidence to attempt a few scale repairs myself!

I truly appreciate that. Horn is unique in this area, IMO.

Originally Posted by Substance

Beautiful save there Tom
Great work retaining as much original materials as possible
I haven't tried to use Epoxy to join a complete section of horn only filling bug bites this is definitely an inspiration
thanks for sharing

Thanks, Mate!
I have been quite successful with it, Rules as follows.:
Wash, scrub it, at least a week to dry.
Apply epoxy, at least a week to cure. Adding another week before saturating with neetsfoot.
Not for those who rush!

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

The problem with researching Marsdens is that there were just SO DAMN MANY of them. But I've suffered in the pits of parsimonious given names so y'all don't have to.

To cut to the chase, our man Marsden, in this case, is George Marsden of 21 Meadow Street.

Getting more precise is problematic.

Baine's Directory, published in 1823 lists G. Marsden, razor manufacturer at 21 Meadow Street. Unfortunately, I don't have my books unpacked yet so I can't compare that against the dates for James Barlow. Geoffrey Tweedale turned up a goodly amount on Barlow, and that's pertinent because A) Barlow took over the works at that street address and B), he made this (which I'd get better pictures of if I had all my razors with me at the moment):



And yep, it's etched Magnum Bonum on the top of the spine.

So. George Marsden. The apprentice registries aren't really any help, since there are six George Marsdens within a 15 year span all apprenticed in the right branches of the trade to have ended up manufacturing razors in the right timeframe (roughly 1808-1820ish).

The trade directories aren't any help because there's only a single listing dated 1823.

Unfortunately, the busy Mr. Marsden is probably going to remain an unknown other than his first name.

More fruitful are the scales, which are almost certainly original to the blade. I've seen a lot of Marsden and allied styles in pressed horn like that.

If you look very carefully all over the scales you might find the name of the scale manufacturer. These old pressed horn scales are a major fascination for me because they're traceable. This is the last lot of them I got:



Names I know:

Broadwell
Morton
Wilson
Woofindin (there's a fair bit on this clan, as they founded an important charity)

Everything I have on the figural scale pressers is pure guesswork. There's not any real record of these sorts of scales, Geoffrey Tweedale hadn't ever seen anything like them. The pressers themselves were relatively well known as a kind of OEM manufacturer (think ACDelco or Foxconn a company that manufactures the parts that other companies use to build stuff), but I've never seen a plausible explanation for where these fancy scales came from.

My best guess is that they sold by the scale manufacturers and not the blade makers. A lot of them are generic (IE: Warranted, Refined Steel, Silver Steel, etc -- no 'brand' name), but not all by any means. The scales come in a wide variety of quality too, and some were clearly knock-offs of better work.

Broadwell, Morton, and Wilson marks will be pretty easy to find, though Wilson's could be well hidden. Early Woofindin stuff is astoundingly close to invisible.



At the bottom of the design, there's a basket. On the left side, just below it you can make out a scratchy VW. That's the initials of Verdon Woofindin who most likely cut the die used to press these scales. I've seen at least one other Woofindin initial (I, if my memory's working right, which I'm not sure it is).

Thanks so much for coming aboard, Zak! Especially nice to see this IS my oldest razor! Really cool how they did these pressings. I wonder where the dies are, but sadly, most were melted down for war efforts, I suppose.
Old stuff!

Awesome research Zak love reading your stuff

WOW Sharptonn !!....This razor (and your restoration work) really speaks of some fascinating history
Will we see this in a SOTD ?