Thread: What is your most rare straight razor?

Nice! I love those etched blades.

I don't know how rare this one is although I can't seem to find any listing of the company

H Martin, made in England.

What's interesting is what's on the other side:

Ground by Joe Jaeger Los Angeles CA. I just started cleaning it up and I haven't honed it or shaved with it yet but I'm eager to see how well it shaves. It's a bellied full hollow ground and it has a good ring to the blade. I'm guessing H Martin was probably a contract company who bought it from a manufacturer here in the states although that's certainly a new one on me.

Never seen an LA razor before.

Originally Posted by kcb5150

17/16+ Wade and Butcher Buffalo Hunt. Only razor I have ever seen this etch on. Attachment 306837Attachment 306838Attachment 306839Attachment 306840Attachment 306841Attachment 306842Attachment 306843

I have a Wade & Butcher wedge with a Cornucopia and the bit near the toe looks like they may have used the same image for that flower part but hard to see on mine.

Originally Posted by JP5

Never seen an LA razor before.

...Raisin yes. Razor no.

Originally Posted by JP5

Never seen an LA razor before.

Update on the H. Martin: I honed that thing up and stropped it this morning. My assessment would be, "Wow!" That is a damn fine shaving razor. It's on par with my Shumate, my Robeson Shuredge, maybe even my Wade & Butcher Special. Hats off to Joe Jaeger and LA razors....hmmm... That sounds like the name of a sports team. The LA Razors? Now that I think about it the razor blades would make a good name for a hockey team, say from someplace pertinent like Sheffield or Solingen. I like that. The Sheffield Razor Bades!

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Update on the H. Martin: I honed that thing up and stropped it this morning. My assessment would be, "Wow!" That is a damn fine shaving razor. It's on par with my Shumate, my Robeson Shuredge, maybe even my Wade & Butcher Special. Hats off to Joe Jaeger and LA razors....hmmm... That sounds like the name of a sports team. The LA Razors? Now that I think about it the razor blades would make a good name for a hockey team, say from someplace pertinent like Sheffield or Solingen. I like that. The Sheffield Razor Bades!

LA Razors could also be one of their gangs.

Ha! That's a good one. They could either cut you up or give you a clean shave.

Originally Posted by rideon66

I have a Wade & Butcher wedge with a Cornucopia and the bit near the toe looks like they may have used the same image for that flower part but hard to see on mine.

I have a soft spot for W&Bs, especially wedges, especially with etching. That big buffalo hunt etched razor is amazing, I've never seen one.

I too have a W&B Cornucopia-etched wedge I bought off eBay for cheap, just so I could learn how to hone a wedge. It had already had poor honing attempts before I got it, which is why it was cheap. I foolishly tried to hone it without any tape at all, and the bevel was so wide it cut into the etching. Then I added a layer of tape, and it was still not near enough. So I added a second layer of tape, and the bevel was still too wide, but the edge I got was honestly amazing, so I left it.

It doesn't look like much now but that cheap W&B wedge is the best pure shaver I have, even with my well-intended but ill-informed failures in honing. I would be embarrassed to post pictures of it because of the multiple wide "rainbow bevels," but it is an amazing shaver that has held that awesome edge through many shaves for months, with just flax linen and leather stropping. I'm still an addict and buy razors, but it has become my reference razor against which others are judged.

Stuff like that keeps me coming back to old W&Bs no matter what else I dabble in and like. W&B used some amazing steel in the mid-19th century, that can take abuse and neglect and still hone up and shave like crazy. They are beasts. And the big etched ones are impressive beasts.

Originally Posted by FatboySlim

I have a soft spot for W&Bs, especially wedges, especially with etching. That big buffalo hunt etched razor is amazing, I've never seen one.

I too have a W&B Cornucopia-etched wedge I bought off eBay for cheap, just so I could learn how to hone a wedge. It had already had poor honing attempts before I got it, which is why it was cheap. I foolishly tried to hone it without any tape at all, and the bevel was so wide it cut into the etching. Then I added a layer of tape, and it was still not near enough. So I added a second layer of tape, and the bevel was still too wide, but the edge I got was honestly amazing, so I left it.

It doesn't look like much now but that cheap W&B wedge is the best pure shaver I have, even with my well-intended but ill-informed failures in honing. I would be embarrassed to post pictures of it because of the multiple wide "rainbow bevels," but it is an amazing shaver that has held that awesome edge through many shaves for months, with just flax linen and leather stropping. I'm still an addict and buy razors, but it has become my reference razor against which others are judged.

Stuff like that keeps me coming back to old W&Bs no matter what else I dabble in and like. W&B used some amazing steel in the mid-19th century, that can take abuse and neglect and still hone up and shave like crazy. They are beasts. And the big etched ones are impressive beasts.

Still the best catch I've ever made, cold call email to some dude in Germany who had posted it in a SOTD, hadn't been active on the site for years, 6 months later out of the blue I get an email from him, sure he'll sell, two weeks later the Unicorn arrived.

Wade & Butcher, Ottoman Egyptian & Royal Windsor Razor