Thread: Very old straight razor- help with info?

Hoping someone can help with some information. I received this razor today from my cousin's husband. It was his great uncle's razor and hone. John William Willhoit was born in 1852 so I feel sure that his razor must have been made in the 1800s. I've looked it over and there is no brand or any numbers or letters anywhere on the razor or its box. I can't tell if the scales are made of wood or horn? Probably wood? The scales are rough, maybe someone here can suggest something to help them, but I may just want to leave them in their original condition. At first glance the blade looked in better shape than the rest of it, but then I saw a little crack in the blade close to the shank as the pictures show. I have been wetshaving for around 10 years now with double edge and single edge safety razors, so I'm really ignorant about straights. Again, hoping that someone can tell me something about this razor or razors this old. Any theories about its origin, any ideas about condition, if there's anything that can be done about the crack or whether anything needs to be done about it, etc. would be much appreciated. Hope the pics come through ok. Thanks!!
Cleave






More pics to follow

By the way, the hone says "Crown Jr." Any info about that would be appreciated as well.

unfortunately I can not help with info on your razor but that is a sweet piece of history. The crack at the heel is unfortunate but I believe that can be fixed depending on how far it goes I am not an expert, just my two cents. Still congrats and I believe you could still have a sweet razor with some care and resto work. Best of luck : )

It certainly looks like and 1800's razor from Sheffield or the US. The scales are horn and can be rehydrated with some neatsfoot oil. The crack is a pretty serious issue though. If the grind is not too thin you could remove the crack along with much of the stabilizer. By the looks of the razor though, that would be a very bad idea. The other option would be to remove width from the blade. Also a bad idea in this case. That thing has tons of character though, and a very nice patina. If that were my great uncles razor, I'd soak the scales, remove any rust and mount it in a shadow box for display.

It looks a lot like a Wade & butcher or a Sheffield razor. The scales are FBU type. A couple other razor makers used that style of scale also. I have a F. Fenney that has a broken blade but has a wide tang & the scales are like that. I also have a Geo Savage XX with scales like that.

That is a cool old razor by itself, but triple cool with the history and provenance. Scales look to be original to me, going by the size of the blade against the scales, and the pinning looks right. A pro could probably grind that crack out if it doesn't go up too far, and is real close to the stabilizer, but I would make a shadow box for it and display it rather than that. IMHO.

Great razor, even better history. I would soak it in neatsfoot oil like mentioned and leave it alone. Display it with that picture, to me just preserving the razor would be my goal. Good luck with it and post to let us know which direction you go in.

I agree with Jimmy, wouldn't do a darn thing to it. Put it a display box and enjoy it as is

Add me to this list of people that agree with Jimmy.

That's definitely the direction I'm leaning. I'm not very artsy/craftsy, so what kind of box/frame am I looking for and how do I display it? Also, still hoping someone can shed some light on the Crown Jr. hone. Thanks, guys!!