Thread: Clark & Hall

This is a vintage Clark & Hall razor made in Sheffield between 1797 and 1823.

I got it from a collection of Civil War memorabilia.

It is in pretty remarkable shape for its age.
The scales, collars and pins appear to be original.
Just did a little polishing and cleaning.

Honed on Shapton Glass 1k, 5k, 8k and finished on an Escher. Took a beautiful edge.

Looking forward to the test shave in the a.m.

Pete <:-}

Looks great, Pete! Betcha it has never been so sharp!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Looks great, Pete! Betcha it has never been so sharp!

Gave it my best shot.

I love Sheffield Steel!!

Pete <:-}

Looking forward to seeing how the shave goes. I see lots rave about them.....once!

I think the later advances in blade design are more important than the steel. Just me.

Shave like a Great, great, great, great grandfather? It's in fine condition.

What a beauty! Please give us an updated report after your shave.

The Shave Report

First thing I noticed is the blade appears very long. I think it's because there isn't a transition from wide blade to narrow tang. Didn't present any problem.

The bottom of the tang where your thumb rests is very narrow. I have a Maestro Living razor that's like that so I'm used to the feeling. No problem.

The stub tail is really stubby but hooks onto your finger just enough to let you know that it's there.

The razor is well balanced and handled easily.

If you look closely, the blade's edge is smiling from around the midpoint to the toe. This was very cool and made shaving in the hollows and valleys super easy. I kinda compare it to my R. Saito's ease of handling the curves.

With the combo of Sheffield Steel and an Escher finish, the three pass shave was super comfortable. BBS for sure. It's right up there with my top dogs.

Shaving with a razor that old, with so much history puts the cool factor off the charts.

Me likey...

Pete <:-}

Excellent, Pete!

Oh, I love being able to shave with a razor that old.

Based on owning ... a lot of razors from the period, I would wager that one dates to 1805-1815 or so -- just to narrow down its date a little further.

There's a small chance that the horn is translucent enough that you can shine a very bright light on the wedge and see if it has holes in it besides the one the pin went through.

From late 1700's to the first couple years of 1800, they typically had three extra holes. Briefly after that, they were made with a large cavity. Then roughly 1805 or so, they moved to the design we're more familiar with.

I wish I could tell you why that is, but I can't. Only that it's what I've seen on razors from the era.

First, thank you for the information.

I just went into a pitch dark room with a super-duper flashlight and tried looking for holes in the wedge.

No luck. I think the chances were really good that I would have seen them if they were there.

Being 200± years old is good enough for me.

Thanks!

Pete <:-}

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Oh, I love being able to shave with a razor that old.

Based on owning ... a lot of razors from the period, I would wager that one dates to 1805-1815 or so -- just to narrow down its date a little further.

There's a small chance that the horn is translucent enough that you can shine a very bright light on the wedge and see if it has holes in it besides the one the pin went through.

From late 1700's to the first couple years of 1800, they typically had three extra holes. Briefly after that, they were made with a large cavity. Then roughly 1805 or so, they moved to the design we're more familiar with.

I wish I could tell you why that is, but I can't. Only that it's what I've seen on razors from the era.

Just thinking out loud I can think of a couple of possible reasons for the extra or larger holes.

If the holes were made of expensive metal the holes would save material costs.

The other reason would be to change the balance point.