The Marshian has landed!

A long time back I had purchased a venerable old Marshes & Shepard Pond Works razor.

It had a tremendous amount of hone wear on the toe....so I took off the scales (now on my LeGrelot, nice horn with ivory inlay...) and the razor went into the drawer to corrode for yet another century...



Yet times are tough....

I got no dough to buy a new razor....


I'm desperate!


I get a little kooky reading SRP all day and I slip into a deranged state of mind....


And then I take out the ol' Marshes razor and head for the shop....


The result?

I call it the Marshian, because it looks like it came from outer space!

It tapers from about 13/16 at the heel to a tidy 4/8 at the toe. It's a razor for all styles!

Like a big honker? Work the heel.

Need some precision for the coup de maitre? Slip that dainty tip under your nose and have at it!

Did I mention I also tried for a worked back vines type effect? (came out a bit strange with the rounded spine that is on there)

I didn't bother trying to give it a very fine finish, just some rough hand sanding to add some texture and alliviate some old corrosion.

Yes, it's a freakshow, folks....I know, but it now counts as yet another razor in my rotation! SCORE!

Has taken a keen edge, we'll see how it shave this weekend...

*speechless*

*wonders how this beast will shave*

And a question: May I have some pics of the Le Grelot... the one with horn scales and ivory inlay... please?

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Originally Posted by Ockham

*speechless*

*wonders how this beast will shave*

And a question: May I have some pics of the Le Grelot... the one with horn scales and ivory inlay... please?

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Here are the scales that came off the Marshes. If the Marshian shaves well, it will also earn a new set of scales.

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Originally Posted by Seraphim

It tapers from about 13/16 at the heel to a tidy 4/8 at the toe. It's a razor for all styles!

Like a big honker? Work the heel.

Need some precision for the coup de maitre? Slip that dainty tip under your nose and have at it!

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Seen a few like that & gotta wonder if they were honed that way for the reasons you mention. :shrug:

Well...I gotta say it's...unique. I think in time it would grow on me. Looks like a variable shaver in regards to the hollow. Wedge on one end and hollow on the other!? Somebody liked it enough before you to put that type of configuration on it, or they had time to kill like you did. :thinking: Can't think of a better way to kill some time with some left overs. I think you did a good job on it and would be happy to hear how it shaves. I would give it a try. Every day I get a little older and a little wiser so at this point in my life I know looks are only shin deep. I have some straights that don't look like much but give a killer shave. Hope this one give you a great shave! :)

You could call it a crooked smile:D

I like it! it's kind of :medvl:

I have a couple that slant the other way that are great shavers due to the natural scything motion on a straight stroke. Please post the results of your test shave. I hope it makes it into your rotation.

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Originally Posted by Seraphim

Need some precision for the coup de maitre? Slip that dainty tip under your nose and have at it!

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Not to be too crude on the forum, but in skimming the post to get to the pics I read the bold part with the first letters switched :gaah:

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Originally Posted by Joed

I have some straights that don't look like much but give a killer shave. Hope this one give you a great shave! :)

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Was wondering where my best razors went :D

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Seen a few like that & gotta wonder if they were honed that way for the reasons you mention. :shrug:

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Nah, I'm pretty sure it's just a hundred years of honing the toe end more than the heel. I was just trying to come up with a positive spin on it.:)

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Originally Posted by BigBubba

I like it! it's kind of :medvl:

I have a couple that slant the other way that are great shavers due to the natural scything motion on a straight stroke. Please post the results of your test shave. I hope it makes it into your rotation.




Not to be too crude on the forum, but in skimming the post to get to the pics I read the bold part with the first letters switched :gaah:

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Bubba,

It was your semi-custom that inspired me to hack the ol' Marshes!:nj

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's just a hundred years of honing the toe end more than the heel. I was just trying to come up with a positive spin on it."

Positive enough if it shaves well. Another workhorse in your string.

Bill Ellis restored a similar shaped razor for Joel over at B&B. It's sort of what inspired me to buy the Marshes in the first place.

Well that one seems to have been made that way unless Bill gave it a tweak. Certainly wouldn't be tip heavy. Strange beast indeed.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Well that one seems to have been made that way unless Bill gave it a tweak. Certainly wouldn't be tip heavy. Strange beast indeed.

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Mine would seem that way too- the spine tapers evenly down towards the front, etc, etc. I can tell by the way the bevel was that is certainly was not designed that way, it was simply worn down, and I'd bet dollars to donuts the same is true of the Ramapo. Bill certainly gave it a fantastic re-finish, and I love the end result.

Wait a second, here's a pic of a Ramapo before the extreme hone wear set in. You can also see that Bill gave Joel's razor a complete re-grind as well. He doesn't mess around!

In the end, we are using a simple, sharp piece of steel to cut our whiskers. It doesn't really matter if the toe is narrower than the heel, or vice-versa. You could achieve the same result by simply holding the razor to your face a bit at an angle. Right?:shrug:

Another Ramapo. So, I really don't think they came in strange shapes originally. Nor did mine.

By mine sure is strange shaped now!:p

Yeah I don't like getting my exercise by jumping to conclusions but I think that one of Joel's has met Bill's Burr King.
Think outside the box :D

OK, so now I know why this razor has been honed down so much......



It's a damn sweet shaver!:y


Really. True to its' heritage as a Sheffield wedge razor it is smooth and unstoppable.

The previuos owners over the past ~150 years must have got to the point where they were like

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"Hmmm, methinks ye olde razor is looking a wee bit long in the tooth, I'm a wearin her down to a nub....perhaps it's time to retire her...

Well, let's just hone her up one more time for auld lang syne....."

"Damn! :eek: The ol' girl still has her stuff! Back in the rotation with ye, lassie!"

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Wow is all I can say about this razor that I callously tossed in the back of the drawer with the discarded scales and worn out razor boxes. It holds its' own against any of my other razors. Very very nice. They don't make em like that anymore!

You cant judge a book by etc.etc.
Funny bout them Sheffields :D

In keeping with the transformationm from 19th century to 21st century razor, I put some shiny scales on the Marshian.

I also pretty much polished up the blade to mirror finish. It's not perfect, there's some remaining pitting and some higher grit scratches left over, but it's about 85% shiny Sheffield steel.

One of the reasons for polishing it, was stropping the razor with the 600 grit finish on the spine bevel felt horrible. There was very little feedback, it felt very "gritty" and it didn't seem like it was doing my strop any favors eitherhttp://badgerandblade.com/vb/images/smilies/frown.gif. Hopefully the shine will help with all that....

I also made a slight modification to the very toe of the forked tip, as previously it had a very sharp radius up there, and that made using the tip very imprecise when going under the nose, or over by the ears.


This whole project was pretty much a seat of the pants affair, without a whole lot of time put into it, as I didn't expect much out of the razor. I hacked away at the spine with the dremel as I would not have shed any tears if that had ruined the blade.

Turns out this is now, quite surprisingly, a top performer in my stable! It looks wierd as all get-out, but shaves super-smooth and sharp.

P.S.- There's a warped Wapi sitting scorned and forlorn in my drawer that may take a trip to the shop sometime soon as well......:w
:nj

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Originally Posted by Seraphim

P.S.- There's a warped Wapi sitting scorned and forlorn in my drawer that may take a trip to the shop sometime soon as well......:w
:nj

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I think you have more creativity in your pinkie than I have in my brain. I love that thing. I have a badly reground THESSEN with a crack that I love - it ain't pretty, it ain't what it was supposed to be, but it shaves like a monster, so I love it even more for it's imperfections.

Definitely inspirational! I also love the brushed Aluminum scales. Probably nicely balanced and bonus of not too expensive or difficult to make! Also fit well w/the "alien" theme! Well done!