Thread: "Temperd" steel razor inquiry

Been lurking and learning. Now I have joined and glad to be here. The knowledge in and around this community is impressive. My straight razor interest is three years old and I have taken a particular fancy to the older ones from mid 1800s and before. There is something about the history of these tools that I find fascinating.
I have a razor pictured here that I would appreciate some input on. I have my opinions about age and such but will keep them to myself so as to not influence others opinions should you care to offer yours. I have done a few quick searches on the spelling of the word Tempered. On this particular razor the spelling is "Temperd". I was hoping that someone with more knowledgeable than I could shed a bit of light on English history and this different spelling and therefore help date this razor more precisely. Of course, the scale shape and tail length are good clues to its general age but those two details alone offer only a broad stroke across many years. Anyway, enough has been said. Please take a look.
On a final note, do you think the scales are original? They look to be bone...maybe ivory, and I would to clean them up a bit but would need a bit of advice on how. Got any?

I have seen a mix of "tempered" and "temper'd" and "temperd" from the period so I'm not sure if it's a reliable way to date them. Based on your shape and similarity to some known examples, I would put it somewhere around 1815-25. The scales are probably original, the cross-hatched pattern is prevalent in that time period. It's hard to say whether they are bone or ivory without examining them more closely. I used to have a pair that looked almost identical to that, in bone.

Welcome to the forum.
Being new to razor restoration, I would suggest getting one of the pros to redo this gem.

My immediate reaction was 1820. If I had to hazard a guess between bone and ivory, then bone would be my pick. Original? Sorry no clue.

Thank you all for your input. My best guess was somewhere in the 1820's to 30's range. I am glad to see that others share this opinion. I too think the scales are bone. I have a few ivory scaled razors and there is a certain "grain" to them that these scales do not seem to show. On the other hand, the other bone scaled razors I have seem to have the tell-tale tiny black and brown slivers within the grain. The cross-hatched scales pictured above are without either distinguishing characteristic. If I was a betting man I would place my money on bone. Their yellow tone pulls me in that direction but really, I am guessing and an amateur at that.
As with some of the other razors in my small humble collection, shaving with this razor is simply very cool. Its an old, practical, timeless creation that was built for a specific purpose and the fact that it can still effectively serve this purpose just shy of 200 years later is awesome.

Definitely 1815-1825. By the latter half of the 1820's, that sort of un-branded razor was almost always 'Fine India Steel' or 'Silver Steel'.

The scales are almost certainly bone. In that period, ivory scales were very rarely fitted using collars on the pins. There were higher grades of bone used in scales which could, especially when carved, look a great deal like ivory.

You can take a jewelers loupe or strong magnifying glass and examine the ends of the scales, on the edge. Also closely examine around the crack and break. Bone will have very small holes, ivory does not.





All three are bone, but note how the one that's carved with wavy lines is much harder to see the characteristic canals (there are several types which all have different shapes).

Complicating matters some, the pattern of scale decoration on your razor was used on both ivory and bone.

Great info! Nice pics too. Just this evening I was comparing an old W&B with another razor that I know to be Ivory. The W&B has scales that are highly polished and i was questioning whether they might just be Ivory. However, I looked with a glass at the end near the top pin and small pores are evident.Plus, there is no evidence of the long grain pattern that my Ivory handled beauties have. The cross hatched razor pictured above has evidence of the tiny pores on the smooth worn ends as well.I am confident that they are bone. I appreciate your helping with the dating of this razor! I wonder if there existed machines to crosshatch the scales or if a craftsman did it by hand?

Originally Posted by Moonbow

Great info! Nice pics too. Just this evening I was comparing an old W&B with another razor that I know to be Ivory. The W&B has scales that are highly polished and i was questioning whether they might just be Ivory. However, I looked with a glass at the end near the top pin and small pores are evident.Plus, there is no evidence of the long grain pattern that my Ivory handled beauties have. The cross hatched razor pictured above has evidence of the tiny pores on the smooth worn ends as well.I am confident that they are bone. I appreciate your helping with the dating of this razor! I wonder if there existed machines to crosshatch the scales or if a craftsman did it by hand?

It's a file-cutters pattern, which was done by hand, but using a machine of some sort (steam or water-wheel driven). However, I know there were techniques for softening ivory and pressing it in a mold and I suspect it was possible to do the same with bone as well.

Certainly all the old horn scales were made in molds, not cut and shaped by hand. I've seen enough fancy ivory scales which are identical that I'm fairly certain they were mass produced too.