Thread: My First Razor

I've got a razor on its way to me from Lynn (I hope) as it is, but the other day I was in an antique shop and I asked the owner if he had any straight razors. He quickly produced one from under his glass countertop.

I liked it, so I quickly purchased it. Twenty bucks even.

It looks to be a 5/8 to me, but I could be wrong. It's a Wade and Butcher and it was made in Sheffield England. Underneath that is a little "w" in a circle, then an arrow pointing right and then a litttle german cross thingy. Engraved on the blade is "Gentleman's Razor" in a fancy font.

The guy said that the handle was made of "French Ivory," and that it was an early type of plastic. The blade itself is quite nice, and it has a tiny little "French point," as I think they're called, at the end of it. No rust, but there are the slightest of scuff marks on the heel of the blade where someone may have attempted to hone it... but I'm not sure.

Directly next door to the antique place was a barber shop, and the owner of the antique store suggested I go take a look at the straight razors he had on display. I went over and asked about them, but he said that they were all put away for the time being, but I could come back and see them some time and have an ol' fashioned straight razor shave too!

Oh, and the barber said that my razor looked like a quality one, and he said it had a really good weight to the blade, with good balance.

So do any of you recognize this razor by description? Could you tell me anything more about it, maybe?

Thanks.

That 'W' is a sideways 'B' and Wade and Butchers seem to be pretty well respected blades. they were around for a long time so I imagine there were some bad years in there. I haven't shaved with any myself (yet) so I can't speak from experience, but Lynn told me some of those old "meat choppers" are some of his favorites. You'll have to try for yourself to see. Will that barber hone up that razor for you? If not (and maybe even if so) you might keep Lynn busy with it for a while.

X

I have 3 Wade and Butchers. All good razors, 2 of them are the favorite of all my razors. I have a W&B Bow razor 7/8- great blade and a W&B wedge also 7/8 (sharpened by Lynn) now my favorite razor of all.

I also love a W & B I have .....nice 6/8 spike point - one of my favs, as well!

Good luck with it!!

Best -

Good news: my mom told me that when was looking in a few antique stores the other day she asked the old lady who was running one of them if they had any straight razors. I guess she was really old, so she had to think for a minute or two, but she finally remembered that she did have razors, and went and got two really old boxes. I was just read the descriptions of these razors over the phone, but apparently they're both black-handled ones. One is made in Sheffield, England, and the other is an American razor.

And on top of all that, the parents also told me that the razor I ordered from Lynn has arrived. So after only a couple of weeks of interest I'm now the owner of four razors. Woo hoo!

Another update!

Today I made my way to several local antique stores to see if they had any straight razors. The first one I went to had about six or seven of them, but only one had a price - twenty-seven dollars. I had asked the owner to price other items in the past and I think that because of my age he tends to try and take advantage of that and give me some big numbers. So I selected three of the bunch and asked him what he wanted for each of them. He told me two of 'em were ten bucks each, and the other (a see-through red plastic one) was twenty-seven. I then asked him, "Why is this one twenty-seven dollars?" He was like, "Well, because it's red and that's really rare." Riiight.

So I go to another antique "market" across the street and find a bunch of shaving antiques in a glass case. I asked the Russian guy to open it up for me so I could take a look. Inside I found two straight razor boxes. One had two razors crammed inside, but I had never seen anything like them. They were very small blades and almost the size of the ones you see in those little nail clipper dealies.

The other was dark green box in good condition, and it had Wade & Butcher on it. I opened the lid and was pleased to find a gleaming black handled razor inside. The one that came originally in the box, I imagine, since it's a Wade and Butcher too. I'm not certain, but it looks to be a 6/8, and on the blade (which is in mirror-like condition) it says "The Celebrated Extra Hollow Ground Razor" in a nice font. The sticker on the box said 15 dollars, so I asked the guy if he would take 10. He said sure. Then I commented on a few little hones in the case and he gave me one for free!

The thing is pretty smooth, gray, and about the size of a business card. One side is concave and the other is flat. I'll be damned if I know how to use the thing, though. Maybe someone can tell me?

I know you've got to get it wet, but with a stone this size, do I have to use a circular honing method?