Thread: Razor identification and history help required

I dont think they stamped blades. Tangs yes - before hardening. If you stamp after hardening the metal, now very brittle, shatters.

Besides, during hardening the steel moves around and deforms a bit in the thin parts - the blade - so it is left a lot thicker to counteract this, then ground to its finished stage before tempering to relieve the stresses. Obviously this would erase any marking.

Anyting on the blade would be acid etched (depth aka bite and colour fully controllable from light fosting to deep relief) or engraved, with the telltale engraving marks showing whether it was hand or machine engraved.

So no chance of upside down characters or mixing font types, just the vagaries of the process involved and the inevitable signs that a human did it on a concave surface, IMO.

Regards,
Neil

PS Voidmonster - still up for hand encoding ocr?!

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

PS Voidmonster - still up for hand encoding ocr?!

{whimper}

I'm still planning on scanning, OCR and correcting Volume 1 of Leader's 'History'...
(as well as a 4 volume history of Boston)

By the time I'm done, with luck, I won't have made news by mentally exploding in some kind of exciting way.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

{whimper} ...

By the time I'm done, with luck, I won't have made news by mentally exploding in some kind of exciting way.

That would be horrible to see Zak, but at the same time quite fascinating...

Regards
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

That would be horrible to see Zak, but at the same time quite fascinating...

Regards
Neil

"Data leak on aisle 4. Better grab the Menger sponge, it's a big one! While you're at it, get a fresh Sierpinski gasket too."

Originally Posted by Iceni

...If it's stamped lettering then the _ in concave could just be some dross on the stamp or an upside down letter...

That which appears to be a lower case "b" is, in fact, a variation of the serif on a lower case "u". "Concave" would be correct. I once produced a work "Glove" catalog embossed with the same font: I got a lot of calls about our "Globe" catalog. I altered the font to a more modern version in the second printing.

From Congrabulations on Your Grabuation! - Tweed - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"“That’s a traditional Old English font, which many students are not familiar with, with a long serif on the left-hand side that makes a ‘v’ look like a ‘b.’”

The straights are a little too wobbely, and the serifs look wrong.

Concur. Looks hand etched. I wonder if the "R" in "GENRINE" was just a mistake. Literacy in the trades was not at its apex in the UK in the mid 19th century.

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

... I wonder if the "R" in "GENRINE" was just a mistake. Literacy in the trades was not at its apex in the UK in the mid 19th century.

It is not an 'r' - if you look at Iceni's font, the end of the first upright in a lowercase 'n' is lozenge shaped and does not touch the other upright, which curves away from it at the bottom. The first upright of a lowercase 'u' is serifed with a small rise towards the next upright, which is also serifed at the top and so it touches the first upright at both top and bottom. What is missing is the central portion of the last upright - either the etchers stylus did not go sufficiently deeply through the wax, or the resist stamp had become a little worn.

comparing the 'nuin' portion of 'genuine' shows as much.



The lowercase 'r' in this font would look altogether different. It would have just one small serif at the bottom, much smaller than that shown on the blade.



Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Martin103

Welcome to SRP, you can find history about Joseph Elliot on this wiki link: http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...Elliot,_Joseph

I noticed in the link you posted it mentioned that Elliot was associated in some way with J Barber, wonder if that's John Barber?

Originally Posted by Miner123

I noticed in the link you posted it mentioned that Elliot was associated in some way with J Barber, wonder if that's John Barber?

In the late 1800's, Elliot went on a buying spree of old marks. They nabbed Shepherd's 'WOLF' logo, John Barber's marks (as well as I. Barber!) and a whole bunch of others. I've never seen any Elliot-produced WOLF or JOHN BARBER razors, but they owned the marks to do it if they wanted to.

I wonder if it is not based on one of many dialects found in the Isles. Sounds of some Welsh, Celtic variation or such. Could that be it? Not neccessarily a spelling, but a pronunciation???

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I wonder if it is not based on one of many dialects found in the Isles. Sounds of some Welsh, Celtic variation or such. Could that be it? Not neccessarily a spelling, but a pronunciation???

Eye tink thee is barking up t'wrong tree, yung Tom, deer t'me owd 'eart as thee be...