Thread: 5/8 Wade & Butcher sway back thumb notch hollow grind in antique bone

I did not realize how many W&B's I had in my project box, but this is the last of them. There are several unique things about this razor. It is a sway back blade, has a factory thumb notch in the tang, is a true full hollow grind, not a ¼ hollow and has antique bone scales, all original.


The blade was in decent condition to begin with. It got a light sanding on the tang to clean up some light rust but the blade was in very good condition. I did not sand it out to a mirror finish but elected to just hit it with the buffing wheels to clean off the patina and buff it out to a nice shine.


The scales are the original bone. There was a small crack starting to form on the wedge end on one side of the scales. I depinned the razor for a thorough cleaning and gave the scales a very light wet sand to freshen them up just a touch. The small crack was reinforced with CA from behind and is solid now. The wedge is the original pewter.


When I repinned it I used a stainless backing washer with a brass over it. Normally on a set of scales like this I would have just used a single brass washer but because of the age of the bone I wanted a larger load bearing surface area to prevent any cracks in the antique bone. The blade even has the factory thrust bearings, closes very close to center

Beautiful!

Masterful work and an excellent restoration! I also love the way the bone scales have aged, makes me glad one of my razors has bone scales!

I just put it in the Classifieds if anyone is in the market for a new blade.