Thread: Wade&Butcher given to me today

I was sharpening my knife the other day when a co-worker came over to have a look. He showed me the knife that he carries, a Boker. I was telling him about a straight razor that i had bought and it was the same brand. He told me that he had bought a tool box off of someone that had a straight razor in it. He brought it to me today to look at.It is a Wade & Butcher Sheffield. I immediately made him an offer on the blade. He refused and just told me to keep it. I will need new scales and the blade will have to be polished and honed. I have never tried any level of restoration on a straight razor before so any advice on polishing would be appreciated. Here are some pictures.

That looks to me to be one sweet razor, looks like a faux frameback to me, pre-1900, from what I can tell the edge of the blade looks good, bit of hone wear on the spine, but that's to be expected. I'm certainly no expert, there are far more experienced members here, but that looks like it will clean up into a superb vintage blade and provide an excellent shaving experience.

You will have to get it rescaled though.

That's a very nice blade to be just handed...you are lucky!! Congrats!!

Try to do it all by hand if you have no experience. I almost ruined a nice razor I got trying to polish it with a Dremel. I actually made one small slip and cracked the blade. I only say almost because the crack occurred towards the tip so I'm going to have it cut down ultimately saving it. Read as many restoration threads as you can here and ask many questions. Have fun, should be a great restore.

Nice old W&B you've got there. Is that a 'tight crack' at the wedge, or are the scales broke loose there ? If it is a tight crack I would leave the original scales on it. I only change 150 year old scales if the crack effects the function. OTOH, some guys like new scales and there is nothing wrong with that. With the blade I'd try some metal polish and paper towels but I ain't a restorer. I'm from the 'less is more' camp.

The scales are cracked and someone has glued the back together. it was a very sloppy repair job. i have already unpinned the razor because the tip of the blade was hitting. Unfortunately i dont think the scales can be salvaged. but it will at least make polishing easier.

If you look at the area where the crack in the scales is located you'll note the 4 notches that are cut. At one time an owner had fixed it with a piece of string or fine wire. I'd try that.

With those cracked scales I think you should just send it to me... I will get rid of that eye sore and just because I am a nice guy I will even pay for shipping it to me..

Seriously though that is one NICE razor!
Nice SCORE bro!!!

Try starting around 200 grit wet dry sandpaper and working your way up with hand sanding.

Originally Posted by kwlfca

Try starting around 200 grit wet dry sandpaper and working your way up with hand sanding.

I wouldn't go that low at first. 600 or so maybe....
You can always go down if it is not cutting it...LOL

If you are new to this and you care about the blade and want to make a go of straight shaving, that is one nice blade that anyone would be happy to have. If you have the cash, I'd stay on the safe side and send it out to someone to professionally restore it, that is a very beautiful old blade, and will be a delight to shave with and own.

My two cents...

edited to add: go to the Restoration section of the forum and you can see some of the work the pro's and other members do on blades that look like yours and then what they look like when they are restored, it will take your breath away. That super vintage Wade and Butcher you have would turn out spectacular in the right hands...that blade would be worth it, again, IMO