Thread: Special razor 18th century George Smith

Hi,
I have acquired a very special 18th century razor I think!



This is how I got it:


The razor is made by the same maker that made this razor:


http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...th-george.html

The mark "SMITH" and the stamps on the spine" GEO. SMITH MAKER" are clearly the same! It is interesting to see that the "SMITH" mark of the first razor is a little bit bend and that the "+" above "SMITH" is merely a hint.



When comparing both razors and their stamps, I can only presume that they've
used separate stamps for the "+", "SMITH", "GEO." and "MAKER"

These 2 razors are both made by George Smith (F1734, Master Cutler 1749, presumably died 1785),
father of Thomas Smith (F1763, who acquired the mark "+ SMITH" from his father ( after his death)
and used it further along (Gales & Martin Directory Sheffield 1787,...))

MOST PROBABLY, Thomas Smith had and used "T S " as his own mark (F1763)
(Sketchley's Directory of Sheffield 1774) before he inherited the "+ SMITH" mark

Between 1770 - 1785, George Smith operated as George Smith & sons, Peacroft

Together with the fact that the shape of these razor, and the typical shape of the tang,
they're clearly older then 1775, it could very well be that these 2 razors are made BEFORE 1770
(George Smith alone, without his son's)!

They also have a typical "Dip-at-toe"
( http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...h-century.html ),
seen in razors of the Revolutionary time, 1760 - 1790,
so these razors could very well be from 1760 - 1770

The special thing on the first razor is the special shape!
Besides the "Dip-at-toe" , it has a distinct transition between edge and tang,
something that is thought to be done from the early 1800's, not before 1770.
Also, the tang has a non-typical shape, it becomes very narrow towards the beginning of the edge!

The razor still has got its original scales and iron collars, so it isn't a "fixed" or restored blade, it is genuine and original IMHO!
Also observe the very minor honing of this wedge ground razor, and , while I didn't hone it at all, its edge is still sharp!

To conclude, it is also interesting to see bigger pivot collars (about 3/8" or 9,5mm) against the collars at the "wedge" side (5/16" or 8mm)

Very nice.
It just proves, they dont make them like they used to.
I think the washers give it it's own charm that sets it apart from others.
Hope to someday find something that old, in at least that good of condition.
Thanks for sharing.

In my opinion it was made later by a man with a grindstone

Why do you think that, Thaeris, the hollow grind?

A re-grind?

Like the collars & deep stamps, in great shape, a nice find.

I was wondering the same,
an extra picture of its ground by the way, a nice wedge I would say

I love the stamp along the top of the spine! The point where the blade meets the tang looks to be so thin I would almost be afraid of it snapping.

The mark on the tang doesn't follow the "direction" of it :



And they are usually larger on razors of this period. Plus it doesn't look like "natural".

In my opinion it was made to mask an wear of the blade like this one :



Made it usable again from the nose to the end of the blade, and perhaps give it a more modern form.

But it's only a guess.

Originally Posted by Thaeris

Made it usable again from the nose to the end of the blade, and perhaps give it a more modern form.

But it's only a guess.

It is very possible I think!

Maybe it was to fix a fault in the forging...


It could also explain the fading of the "Geo." stamp on the spine,

and the fading of the "+" mark, maybe some metal was also removed of the spine


If that is the case, in the beginning, it would have been more like this


Darn, really thought I found something...
but hey, they did a very nice job, didn't they...

It's quite an ingenious fixing indeed (if it is one).

Yea, don’t see those every day…

Still a nice find, no matter what happened to it… it’s not a reground Gold Dollar. It’s all history and interesting trying to figure out, what was done and why?

Makes it even more, fascinating.

I picked this up the other day for $2 for the ivory scales, can’t read the stamp because of the rust, but now I think it may be older than I thought.

In Ivory, it was probably a nice razor once.