Thread: Prices of early 1800s razors when made

Thanks and yes, I was loose with terminology.

Early engravings circa 1825 showing the Sheaf Works depict cementation furnaces with their
characteristic early shape. You can see at least 16 of them in one engraving. The
cementation process in that type of oven apparently took roughly three weeks to produce
one batch.

As you said, crucible ovens were then used to melt the blister steel to produce tool steel.
The amount of grunt work to produce blister steel and then tool steel ingots was
apparently considerable.

That is why I believe tool-steel razors from the early 1800s would have been quite costly
and why I am curious what they did cost.

Originally Posted by ggfinn

Thanks and yes, I was loose with terminology.

Early engravings circa 1825 showing the Sheaf Works depict cementation furnaces with their
characteristic early shape. You can see at least 16 of them in one engraving. The
cementation process in that type of oven apparently took roughly three weeks to produce
one batch.

As you said, crucible ovens were then used to melt the blister steel to produce tool steel.
The amount of grunt work to produce blister steel and then tool steel ingots was
apparently considerable.

That is why I believe tool-steel razors from the early 1800s would have been quite costly
and why I am curious what they did cost.

I dunno! I would pay 10 guineas. Today's prices?

My friend, I said no such thing. Was Neil Miller who came into this thread to help you out.
If you take time to read his words and sort them, you shall see that you have received some excellent info as to the economy, wages in the era, and costs of comparable items as well.
Quite interesting and informative. Should get you in the ballpark.
Best you shall do, I suspect.

Hey, thanks for the effort. It is hard to find out. We expect so much from the web,
but all the old records are on paper or microfilm and need to be scanned in and
have character recognition run on them to make them easily searchable.

At this point a week's wages seems a good guess.

Originally Posted by ggfinn

Hey, thanks for the effort. It is hard to find out. We expect so much from the web,
but all the old records are on paper or microfilm and need to be scanned in and
have character recognition run on them to make them easily searchable.

At this point a week's wages seems a good guess.

Indeed not. A good guess is one thing. An effort? An educated guess is quite another. What you have received is an astute, educated guess in detail. Researching history is exhaustive and not many can do it properly. Neil strives to help, but will tell it like it is.
If you wish razor history, prepare yourself for dead ends and crazy family history. You may not comprehend what you see. Yet it is real, yet unknown. Many things are lost. JMHO

Just to help with any calculations on that "sword steel" price comparison.

the fashion of that time was for "small sword" often referred to as a "court sword" these were similar in shape to a rapier, but not as long or heavy. usually a lighter cross section as well. So they used rather less metal than their larger counterparts.
And yea, that silver handle would have been a big factor in cost. I have seen some as short as 18 inches, 24 or more. There were longer ones, but I'm not sure at what point they ceased to be a "small"
I would say there was as much steel in them as perhaps 3-5 razors?
If you could find a basic steel price and silver price for the time frame, it might help to determine which portion of the sword cost what, and use that info to deduce razor steel production cost (not including labor of course)

So the next time yall hold and use a straight razor from the "early days"....think about all that work and how much it cost to buy that beautiful straight razor you have during that time period...
Makes a person feel humble about this day and age we live in now. Thanks for all the information on this thread......

Originally Posted by Willisf

So the next time yall hold and use a straight razor from the "early days"....think about all that work and how much it cost to buy that beautiful straight razor you have during that time period...
Makes a person feel humble about this day and age we live in now. Thanks for all the information on this thread......

Yes, certainly, that is the reason I accumulate and renew, if necessary, an old razor.
To add a bit,about a century later:
In 1912:
Average income= $1209.0
Loaf of bread=$0.04
Gallon of gas=$0.11
New car=$650.00
New house= $3395.00
Good man's wage $1 a day
Nice razor? $1 t0 $5
~Richard
More:
A shaving set, razor, mug, soap, and a strop was $1.75 to $3

I was not able to find a circa 1815 price list for razors, but I did find one for
edged woodworking tools. The price of a craftsman's jack plane was 2s8d in 1816.
The bodies of planes then were wood. Cast iron plane bodies were much later.
A jack plane blade would have roughly the same amount of cast steel as a razor.
That implies to me the cost of a razor in 1816 would be circa 2s, which is less than
I expected, more on the order of a days wage than a week.

Originally Posted by ggfinn

My suspicion is that an early serious razor, for example a Greaves, cost
a weeks wages at least for a typical factory worker. Anybody out there
know or have pointers to sources?

THX

Interesting thread, Mechi's catalogue of cutlery shows razor prices around 7 Shilling for a pair or 3.6 for one. Some research shows the average worker in that catalogue time period made close to 25 D per day.You need 12 d to make a Shilling. That said you would have to work one day and a half to get their razor. Also note that this is more around 1820-1830.

Just what was needed. I argued from finding woodworking tool prices that circa 1815
a standard razor would cost roughly 2s. Your quote of 3s6d from circa 1825 is in line
with that, adjusting for a decade or so of inflation.

Also of interest, your quote shows that a fine-grade razor would cost less than 2s more.
Fancy Dan would have spent 5s.

Looks like a typical razor cost one to two days wages circa 1815-1830.