Thread: The Stub-Tailed Shavers

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

They have the red dots and numbers the same as all other Lummus razors but no direct provenance aside from that.

I like that!. It would have been nice to get a few myself.

Not sure why photo is upside down. Sorry guys.

Here's a couple I got recently. Neither were cheap, but still less than I was willing to pay. I'm very happy with them and love them to bits. The upper is a Roberts (with escutcheon plate), the lower a Clarke and Hall. And a little rose coti thrown in for good measure.

So you know me, I tend to use the same razor for months, even years, on end. When I saw the Roberts I had that in mind. It honed up beautifully, took an excellent edge and gave a great shave. Here's the problem though, and I'd be very grateful for any advice on this. I'm finding it hard to maintain the edge with just stropping. I've only been using it for a week or so, so maybe things will settle down a bit - but I've had a similar problem from an early model Shepherd I have too.
I finished it on a G20k, and it had a nice edge but was pulling after a couple of days.
I finished on a coti, and it had a nice edge but was pulling after a couple of days.

It could have been my stropping, but I've just used my W&B anchor for 9 months straight with only stropping, no touch ups or even pastes.

I'm not a steel expert, but I guess it's from about the 1820s - the steel should be good enough by then to keep a consistent edge, no?

Any help? Cheers

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

...snip...
I'm not a steel expert, but I guess it's from about the 1820s - the steel should be good enough by then to keep a consistent edge, no? Any help? Cheers

Very nice razors!!! Congratulations~!
Some will hold a fine edge at the angle of the spine, some will not. It could be that there is some fine corrosion breakdown at the edge. Maybe not. For a couple old ones that that would not quite hold the edge at the spine angle, I honed and then finished honing with one or two layers of tape to strengthen the edge.
That may work for you.
~Richard

Originally Posted by Geezer

Very nice razors!!! Congratulations~!
Some will hold a fine edge at the angle of the spine, some will not. It could be that there is some fine corrosion breakdown at the edge. Maybe not. For a couple old ones that that would not quite hold the edge at the spine angle, I honed and then finished honing with one or two layers of tape to strengthen the edge.
That may work for you.
~Richard

Thanks, Richard. I gave it a go with three layers and it's done the trick. Not sure if it was me though, going from a 10/8 to 5/8 took me a few days to settle down too.

Here ya go Frankenstein............



They look great!!!
It isn't as good as your original pic because I had to take a pic of my computer screen (you can see the pixels in the stone) but it is easier to look at.

This might be a little close. It's stamped Byrne along with some other strange stamps. Scales are horn, but seem different. Like maybe horn from a different animal, or treated with something. Copper collar less pins. Lead wedge. Tail is longish for a stub, but tang is taller thinner grind like earlier razors. I did nothing to this except clean and hone. Shaves really well. Please excuse less than stellar pics. Any additional information is appreciated.

[QUOTE=appa69;1537718]This might be a little close. It's stamped Byrne along with some other strange stamps. Scales are horn, but seem different. Like maybe horn from a different animal, or treated with something. Copper collar less pins. Lead wedge. Tail is longish for a stub, but tang is taller thinner grind like earlier razors. I did nothing to this except clean and hone. Shaves really well. Please excuse less than stellar pics. Any additional information is appreciated.


That's a nice one. I tried to look it up but I couldn't find anything on it in any of my references.

If it looks fake or if it does no please your eye, there is nothing more to add. Period. It is not a matter of a razor in its way to be... That is why no appraisals and no reasons for a shaving tool other than his shaving abilities.

Originally Posted by appa69

This might be a little close. It's stamped Byrne along with some other strange stamps. Scales are horn, but seem different. Like maybe horn from a different animal, or treated with something. Copper collar less pins. Lead wedge. Tail is longish for a stub, but tang is taller thinner grind like earlier razors. I did nothing to this except clean and hone. Shaves really well. Please excuse less than stellar pics. Any additional information is appreciated.

Nice one! I think the stamp is an abbreviation for "3 Great Ship Street" (Gt. Ship St.), which would put it in Dublin. I looked but didn't find any hits on a Byrne at that address, though there was a different name at that address in a publication from 1837. There is a Peter Byrne (cutler) on Bride Street from the Treble Almanack, 1832. Looks like you may need some old newspapers to track that name down definitively.

In 1826, the Dublin Morning Register ran this advertisement:



That certainly does show one Mr. Byrne operating some sort of storefront at 3 Great Ship Street.

However, I can't turn up anything else through the British Newspaper Archives.