Thread: 8/8+ Spencer

I could not find this maker in the SRP archives so here is one. Matthias Spencer was a file maker granted his trade mark in 1749. A crescent moon and the letter Z. He died in 1809 but generations of his sons continued to run the business and expand. Steel, cutlery, razors, saws and all manner of edged tools. The company survived until the 1980's. There is a nice write up in Tweedale's Directory. My date guess is 1830 -1840. The near wedge 8/8 plus blade tapers from 1.190 at the heel to 1.120 at the toe. Originally ground this way based on the even hone wear. Received with a broken toe the blade was re-ground and finished in its original glazed finish. The original scales were straightened, re-dyed and assembled using the original lead wedge. This is the first razor I have seen from this maker. I'd like to see more.

Super as usual.

Bob

Beautiful restore on this wedge, as always. Not familiar with this maker either. Great job!

Wow ! Wow ! Wow! Karlej!! Once again you have raised the bar to new levels!

Nice work. I think the ones from rare makers are far more attractive than mor more common or highly hyped.

A beauty of a beast.!

It is a microtome. That is what Spencer made. Instruments. Looks great!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

It is a microtome. That is what Spencer made. Instruments. Looks great!

The wedge grind is symmetrical. The microtomes I am familiar with are ground flat on one side. Tweedales has pictures of old Spencer advertisements. They list Steel, Files, edge tools, saws, table knives, razors, shovels, wire and c. of every description. I'm sure they probably made microtomes too. They seem to have made everything else. I do not believe it is a microtome but a near wedge grind razor. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

No doubt it is no longer a microtome after regrinding.
Look at the clues, esp in the before pics. Tang-to-blade transition on the front side is set back and light. This was the flat side.
Now look carefully at the back side. Tang to blade transition is deeper and right up to and on the blade and a bit of stabilizer there.
That was the concave side. I have seen several (all quite large) over the years and yet not a single Spencer 'razor'.
(Spencer still makes microtomes)
Not trying to steal any thunder here, Karl. Just thought you might want to know what is is/was.

As I said, it looks great.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

No doubt it is no longer a microtome after regrinding.
Look at the clues, esp in the before pics. Tang-to-blade transition on the front side is set back and light. This was the flat side.
Now look carefully at the back side. Tang to blade transition is deeper and right up to and on the blade and a bit of stabilizer there.
That was the concave side. I have seen several (all quite large) over the years and yet not a single Spencer 'razor'.
(Spencer still makes microtomes)
Not trying to steal any thunder here, Karl. Just thought you might want to know what is is/was.

As I said, it looks great.

My grinding would not change a flat side to a V shape. Imagine how much metal would have to be removed to do that. It would also reduce the width of the blade. There was no blade width loss in the restoration of this blade. The regrinding is just enough to remove the pitting. I frequently see these old blades where the shoulder is ground back further into the tang on one side more than the other leaving a slight shoulder on one blade face. Makes me wish I had a straight on picture before the restore. The current Spencer company is different I think as they have only been in business for 50 years. This the first Spencer anything I have seen and they certainly did advertise that they made razors. I appreciate your knowledge I just don't agree in this case.