Thread: The Butcher Shop

"...for superiority of temper stands preeminent to all others manufactured." Sounds perfectly reasonable when you think about it!

That is a very interesting razor, for I don't know that it is correct to call it a faux anything. Most frame back models had a frame the same thickness all the way back to the pivot, and it would surely be an easier way to make even a faux one. So the name on the scales seems an odd one to choose, and yet Manah's link precludes the possibility that you have a non-authentic composite.

Most wedge razors are, in fact, slightly concave, and while I don't think grinding this directly from the diameter of the stone was the only way of doing this, it seems by far the most likely. True hollow-ground razors of a slightly later period were undoubtedly done on a much smaller-diameter stone. It couldn't have been a simple matter to change, in the days when a single shaft ran the length of the factory. For the smaller wheel would have had to rotate much faster if metal removal wasn't to be very slow. Existing systems of pulleys and bearings mightn't have been up to it, and a water-bath would have had to be higher up.

Your razor looks like an attempt to produce the advantages of a hollow-ground blade (chiefly the minimal amount of metal removal required to hone it) before the small-wheel setup was available. It is actually very similar to a blade I am restoring, the "Superior Concave", and to one on the SRP database.

Wade & Butcher "Full Concave Fine India Steel" 7/8 - Straight Razor Place Wiki

The database scribes it to 1830-37. These, and I think yours, were made by lengthwise grinding, as they are hollow (below the spine) with a curvature which increases near the back. The big question has to be, why change to that inconvenient little nobble at the end of the thinner shank? Maybe they had the die for stamping horn or whalebone, and that inscription seemed too splendid to stop using.

anyone kno a good place to pick up a wade and butcher? in good shape? ive been prowling ebay and the antique shops but no luck yet. well at least for a decent price.

Universally Approved by Zak Jarvis, on Flickr

This just showed up today and I couldn't be happier. I got it through eBay. The seller had enough pictures that I could see the GR on the blade and thus pegged it as a W&B dating to 1820-1830.

I paid $50 for it, and I think the damn thing is worth that just in salvage steel. You could pry open aircraft carriers with this thing.

There are a couple nicks in the blade, and it's a true wedge so getting them out is going to be a bear, it was probably rescaled at some point since the descriptions I can find for this model specifically state it had pressed horn scales with 'Celebrated Razor' and 'Universally Approved'. These horn scales have no marks and weren't particularly well made. There's no spacer, so they're cracked a bit.

So now I have a 180-190 year old razor. The repair on it is probably at least 80 years old. Does anyone know of any armed conflicts that need a two-handed straight-razor brigade?

That's a great find. I really like those older razors with the thick shank. I don't know if it makes them easier or harder to shave with, but something about them appeals to me aesthetically.

Thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by BigJim

That's a great find. I really like those older razors with the thick shank. I don't know if it makes them easier or harder to shave with, but something about them appeals to me aesthetically.

Thanks for sharing!

I'm still new enough to all this that I don't have clearly articulated preferences yet, but I know I love the way this razor sits in my hand. It's got jimps on the top and the bottom, so it's really easy to get a secure grip (at least with dry hands). It's technically not much bigger than my Joseph Rodgers, but the weight difference between half-hollow and full wedge is not to be trifled with. It's like a guillotine for unruly follicles.

Krism: I'm tracking a goodly number of W&B through eBay at the moment, but I'm also into the whole restoration angle. Some of the ones that are up there could probably be made ready to shave with little more than some good polish (Maas is what most folks use, I could only find Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish, and it works great) and a professional honing.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

I'm still new enough to all this that I don't have clearly articulated preferences yet, but I know I love the way this razor sits in my hand. It's got jimps on the top and the bottom, so it's really easy to get a secure grip (at least with dry hands). It's technically not much bigger than my Joseph Rodgers, but the weight difference between half-hollow and full wedge is not to be trifled with. It's like a guillotine for unruly follicles.

Krism: I'm tracking a goodly number of W&B through eBay at the moment, but I'm also into the whole restoration angle. Some of the ones that are up there could probably be made ready to shave with little more than some good polish (Maas is what most folks use, I could only find Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish, and it works great) and a professional honing.

since i am new to shaving all together with straight i have yet to try a full on restoration. i only buffed the blade. how hard would a total Restoration be? and what tools would i need? do i need a sander and buffing rigs?

Originally Posted by krism

since i am new to shaving all together with straight i have yet to try a full on restoration. i only buffed the blade. how hard would a total Restoration be? and what tools would i need? do i need a sander and buffing rigs?

At the risk of being the blind leading the blind here, since I'm also extremely new to this and haven't yet done a restoration I feel happy enough with to show off (other than a blade etching), I'd say it depends on what you personally want. As long as you're restoring them for your use.

As for tools, I've been working entirely with a Dremel, some microfiber cloth and a jar of Mother's Polish. It feels kind of limiting to me though, and I've been pricing a buffing wheel. I also got an adapter for the Dremel to use it as a just-barely-passable drill press.

But I've gotten cheap eBay razors that needed nothing more than ten minutes with the polish and microfiber cloth.

I'd say it all depends on what you want.

The trouble with the Dremel tool as a drill press is that the speed is too high for most things. It will work with wood, plastic, bone etc., and perhaps soft metals, but will burn out steel drills on hardened or stainless steels. One way around this is the carbide drills which are so commonly available on eBay, usually with 1/8in. shanks which fit the Dremel collet, even when the drilling diameter is smaller or larger.

But they are mostly thin in the web between the flutes, and very brittle, being made for drilling printed circuit boards. They require very careful use.

Originally Posted by Caledonian

The trouble with the Dremel tool as a drill press is that the speed is too high for most things. It will work with wood, plastic, bone etc., and perhaps soft metals, but will burn out steel drills on hardened or stainless steels. One way around this is the carbide drills which are so commonly available on eBay, usually with 1/8in. shanks which fit the Dremel collet, even when the drilling diameter is smaller or larger.

But they are mostly thin in the web between the flutes, and very brittle, being made for drilling printed circuit boards. They require very careful use.

Yeah. I ran into this really quickly. The first set of small washers I got were just a touch too small, so I had to use the Dremel as a drill-press to open them up a little bit. It took hours to make four usable. I'm sure it will work fine for making scales out of horn or wood, but I don't see using it as a drill-press on metal again.

That said, it has been useful as a stationary grinder for very fine detail work, so it wasn't a loss.

Good conversation on restoration but it's in the wrong forum. Can one of you start a thread in the 'Custom Builts and Restorations' forum and post a link here please. I'll come back to the Butcher Block forum a few days later and clean the restoration posts out. It is our intent to keep the clubs as as place to share the beauty of the razors. Other topics should be in other SRP forums that best fit.

Thanks