Thread: looking for wade and butcher razor info

wade & butcher. yes, a seldom spoke of but when it is, known to be notoriously dangerously low quality death traps of a razor. Known to be highly prone to spontaneous combustion. No "england stamp"? Those are the ones. I hope it doesn't have a lead spacer too, as those ones are *super* explosive. Yup. Better send it to me and I will safely dispose of it for you. Exploding razors. You don't want that.

FYI your razor probably looked like this originally:



Many WB of that time period that turn up have been reground. (This is not a bad thing and the regrinding was likely done around the turn of the 20th century). Based on similar blades I would peg yours as somewhere in the last quarter of the 19th c, but more precise dating is difficult to establish.

Ok so the blade may have been reground. Any thoughts on If the scales are original or replacements?

Are WB of this age common or less likely to come by?

Originally Posted by mbruemmer

Ok so the blade may have been reground. Any thoughts on If the scales are original or replacements?

Are WB of this age common or less likely to come by?

Hard to say definitively if they scales are original, but most likely. They are period correct. These type of WB show up for sale a lot. They were made probably in the millions, like many other Sheffield razors.

Not knowing much other than the info I have gotten here everything looks like it belongs together. I had a feeling it wasn't an uncommon razor but after watching auctions on occasion I just never saw any quite like it.

Originally Posted by mbruemmer

Not knowing much other than the info I have gotten here everything looks like it belongs together. I had a feeling it wasn't an uncommon razor but after watching auctions on occasion I just never saw any quite like it.

Yep, it's still a piece of high quality hand-made Sheffield steel though and will give a great shave.

C-mon, Benz, I,m a dinosaur and really don't even like computers, but everyone , or mist everyone from 6 years old up to my old ass has a phone, and they got cameras . So let's start seeing those photos, Tc

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

C-mon, Benz, I,m a dinosaur and really don't even like computers, but everyone , or mist everyone from 6 years old up to my old ass has a phone, and they got cameras . So let's start seeing those photos, Tc

Yep, got a phone......an old flip open with a camera. Never used it, never figured it out. Wouldn't know how to get the pics from the phone/camera on the site anyway. To me a camera is a camera, a typewriter is a typewriter, and a phone is a phone.

When I'm through with my SOTD razor rotation I'm thinking of having the neighbor kid come over and take a pic of them all and have him post it on the SOTD forum.

Maybe a regrind or maybe not. The double stabilizer (shoulder) started to show up on hollow ground blades in the mid 1870's. So 1870 -1890 would be a good date for that blade. A safe bet the scales are horn. It does seem odd the spine has such a swayback and the edge is straight. I'd think a blade with that spine would have a smile. Could be the result of a regrind as per ScienceGuy.