Thread: Rogers Refined Steel

I'm not sure which Rogers made this razor. I'm pretty sure it is not Joseph Rogers & Sons. The Refined Steel stamp is a bit unusual. A guess at the date is 1810 -1820's. A 6/8 near wedge grind with an arris type spine. Glazed blade faces and crocus finished spine and tang. New scales in black horn at .105 thickness copied from the originals which were also black horn. The lead wedge is also copied .070 tapering to .040. Three of the four steel collars are also original. One was missing with only the backing remaining. The forth scrounged from an old set of scales.

Very nice, good job.

Very nicely done.

I was hoping Voidmonster would drop in and leave his opinion as to the maker of this razor.

As per Neil

When I think of Rodgers I automatically think of Joseph Rodgers & Sons and the famous Star and Maltese Cross trademarks, but this blade makes no mention of the sons, neither does it have the trademarks, so if it is from the same lineage it is much earlier.

The firm has no universally recognised start date, but are known to have been working as cutlers since before 1724 - John Rodgers is recorded in the records.

The trademark was claimed earlier to but only conferred in 1764 to Joseph Rodgers - it wasn't used on all items at that time, mainly being seen on pen and pocket knives. Then there is the Royal Warrant - "Cutlers to His/Her/Their Majesties", granted around 1821 - this isn't on the blade either.

Another hint is the 'Refined Steel' imprint - cutlers made much use of imported steel at first, but with Benjamin Huntsman's process of melting blister steel in a crucible the more refined crucible steel (also known as 'cast steel') was made available to cutlers and it dominated Sheffield. Rodgers didn't make their own steel (shear steel) until 1890, and went on to make crucible steel in 1894.

By 1890 Rodgers was so pre-eminent in Sheffield and abroad, and so image-minded that the star and maltese cross and the royal warrant were stamped onto most everything they made, so I would guess at a very much earlier date based on the above info, condensed from Geoffrey Tweedales writings.

Regards,
Neil

I would bet my bottom dollar that razor would be a smooth shaver, excellent restoration, I love the razor.

Looks sweet, Karl..! Wondered what that type of spine was called, now I know.

You really did that razor justice Karl.
Perfection as usual.

Pete <:-}

By looking at the shape I would venture to say it could possibly be a middle to late 1700's manufacture date. A great save and restore. As stated above I'll also bet she shaves great. Congrats!!

Originally Posted by DoughBoy68

By looking at the shape I would venture to say it could possibly be a middle to late 1700's manufacture date. A great save and restore. As stated above I'll also bet she shaves great. Congrats!!

I don't think it is quite that old but thank you for the kind comments. If you have access to The Standard Guide to Razors by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart you can get a real good idea of general blade shapes to help date razors.