Samuel Osborn, Mushet Steel

this was a good week. not only did i get a very nice white tam o' shanter hone, but also an excellent razor made by samuel osborn & co., clyde steel works, sheffield. osborn was the exclusive manufacturer of robert mushet's special steel, the first commercially used air hardening tool steel and predecessor of modern high speed steels. the blade of this razor is made from such a steel. it contains about 8% tungsten and some manganese and is hard and extremely resistant to abrasion. the back of the tang has a made-in-england stamp, so the razor was made post 1890.

setting the bevel on synthetic stones was easy, but it took almost two hours to finish on natural stones. a very fast nakayama finally did the job, but i truely wished i had finer synthetic stones to use. it shaves quite well despite the troubles i had while honing the beast.

and a photo of the beauty: almost zero hone wear, some spots, but nothing serious, thin ivory scales, free of cracks, and a wedge made from lead. compared to many other sheffield razors the finish of the razor is exceptional.

Attachment 238156

regards,
hans

That is a beauty, congrats.

Bob

Nice looking razor - and the blade seems to be tight in the scales as well. I have a few original Ivory razors and at that angle in your photo, most will fall into the scales.

Ps – I like your glassware as well.

darn, i got caught!

i wanted the stamp to be seen on the picture and put a small piece of paper between the tang and the back scale. otherwise the blade would have dropped down. usually, i'd fix that with a chasing hammer or repin the scales, but not in this case. i really don't want to ruin the delicate ivory scales. btw, the blade is pretty heavy, a near wedge, maybe quarter hollow.

i'll tell my wife that you like her glassware! :)

regards,
hans

It is a beauty. The strange name, Mushet Steel, got me curious .......... ;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushet_steel

jimmy, don't miss neil miller's post about osborn and mushet: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ml#post1468856

regards,
hans

That is one sweet Razor, I'll bet it shaves as good as it looks too. I have an Heljestrand MK 30 coming with similar scales, my only Ivory, factory scaled razor.

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Originally Posted by FAL

That is one sweet Razor, I'll bet it shaves as good as it looks too. I have an Heljestrand MK 30 coming with similar scales, my only Ivory, factory scaled razor.

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great, i love heljestrands! actually 3/4 of my razors are heljestrands...

this osborn is my only ivory scaled razor, too. i bought it because of the blade and would have been happier with synthetic scales, because i don't dare to remove or to tighten the scales, and, more important, the razor had to go through customs. if they opened the parcel and noticed the ivory scales, it would have been confiscated. so i was pretty nervous while the razor was on its way from sweden to switzerland. but all went well, and i am a happy shaver!

regards,
hans

Really nice razor. I've got one, but was in bad condition wen I bought it.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...cations-3.html

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Originally Posted by Lewy

Really nice razor. I've got one, but was in bad condition wen I bought it.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...cations-3.html

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while waiting for my razor i tried to gather as much information about osborn/mushet as possible. of course i also stumbled over your thread about the restoration. most excellent work! i really like your use of bamboo to replace the ivory scales. looks very nice!

may i ask how you remove pins from ivory scaled razors without damaging the scales?

regards,
hans

Hans, I always use a Dremel and drill with diameter smaller than pin diameter. I drill a hole center the pin as deep as it possible.
After that I press the rest of pin material.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lewy

Hans, I always use a Dremel and drill with diameter smaller than pin diameter. I dill a hole center the pin as deep as it possible.
After that I press the rest of pin material.

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great, got it! usually, i file down nickel silver pins on razors with synthetic scales and then punch them through the holes. but i don't expect this method to work well with ivory scales.

regards,
hans

The blade looks spectacular and the thin communion wafer-like thickness of the Ivory is superb. Classy tool there Sir!

Nice razor. I have one similar, but in no where near as nice a condition.

thank you all for your kind comments!

right now the razor is in the hands of a material scientist who offered to take a closer look at the steel. i am expecting the results of an x-ray fluorescence analysis in a week or so. it will be interesting to know the composition of this particular piece of mushet-steel. unfortunately, i forgot to ask the man not to touch the edge to check if it is sharp...

regards,
hans

regards,
hans

I took my MK30 to the bench an hour after getting it and carefully tightened the scales, a few taps at a time and no problems.

Are you trying to find the exact composition of the steel so as to re-produce it?

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Originally Posted by FAL

I took my MK30 to the bench an hour after getting it and carefully tightened the scales, a few taps at a time and no problems.

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well then, i'll give it a try as well... how do you like the MK 30? cute little shaver, isn't it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FAL

Are you trying to find the exact composition of the steel so as to re-produce it?

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yes, exact composition, except for carbon unfortunately, which is difficult to detect and measure. but no, no re-production. i have neither the knowlegde nor the means to do that. it's pure curiosity. by coincidence i know the right man who has the right equipment. i did not even ask for the analysis. he offered it. for free!

regards,
hans

I know this is an old thread but I thought that I'd add to it. I recently bought the same razor (pic attached). One of the scales had the tip broken off at the hinge pin so I had to unpin it and replace the broken tip with some colored epoxy. You had mentioned that when taking the picture at the beginning of this thread you needed a piece of paper to prop up the razor due to it being loose. I found that this razor had paper-thin brass washers on the inside edge of the scales at the hinge pin. I have been repinning the scales but am having a challenge pinning them hard enough to get any stiffness around the pin. The scales are tight & straight, it's just that the hinging is almost frictionless.

I don't know if you ever got results on the steel content, but I can say that this razor holds a great edge. Being so slim and small is shaves more like an MK31 than the larger MK32, but the steel is right up there with Swedish steel, which I understand was the accomplishment of Mushet steel.



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