Thread: What is your most rare straight razor?

Originally Posted by Rockabillyhelge

This is probably my rarest Razor, a Dittmar Bros. of Heilbronn, 11/16" Frameback ...snip... the shaving character of that blade is briliant.

Yours is now the third I've seen, but I would say that is very rare.
Thanks for the info on blade quality, I have not had the pleasure of a shave with it yet, the point is a little scary! Lol
Now I'm going to have to send mine out to be honed up!
I may see if I can get Tom to give her an edge, but I try to avoid his edges, as one should need a license to operate an edge as sharp..

Originally Posted by MikeT

Yours is now the third I've seen, but I would say that is very rare.
Thanks for the info on blade quality, I have not had the pleasure of a shave with it yet, the point is a little scary! Lol
Now I'm going to have to send mine out to be honed up!
I may see if I can get Tom to give her an edge, but I try to avoid his edges, as one should need a license to operate an edge as sharp..

I've seen maybe 15 of these for sale over my collecting, but all of the same form. I've seen I think only one of an earlier form from the same maker, but I don't have a picture of it anymore. If I remember correctly without looking it up, they were produced around the 1830s +/-.

Right now this probably my most rare razor.

A Marsh Bros Ponds Works. Interesting blade with ivory scales.

Are those ivory scales?

Originally Posted by dan656

Are those ivory scales?

Yep. I don't think I've done the hot needle test but I'm fairly certain they are.

I remember that one from eBay. It looks really spectacular.

Originally Posted by jfk742

This probably my rarest, given the short period of time in which they were ground.

I just love a tapered blade, I need to find some more...

are those "tapered" like supposed to be like that? that's very interesting - my first reaction would be to think it's some sort of mistake...have u seen many of those, when/where were they ground?

I have 3 from various makers. Made in England and I want to say from 1840’s to 1860’s (hopefully voidmonster or scienceguy can jump in here to correct me). The spines are tapered as well to maintain geometry.



The marshes was reground at some point and probably had a barbers notch as well.

The Rodgers is the only one I’ve seen from them. The chip in the edge is a bummer and the only reason I haven’t cleaned it up. I’m going to lose a bunch of steel and looks to have not been honed too much through out it’s life.

Edit: photo looks super clear on my tablet, not so much uploaded, apologies for quality.

Originally Posted by jfk742

I have 3 from various makers. Made in England and I want to say from 1840’s to 1860’s (hopefully voidmonster or scienceguy can jump in here to correct me). The spines are tapered as well to maintain geometry.



The marshes was reground at some point and probably had a barbers notch as well.

The Rodgers is the only one I’ve seen from them. The chip in the edge is a bummer and the only reason I haven’t cleaned it up. I’m going to lose a bunch of steel and looks to have not been honed too much through out it’s life.

Edit: photo looks super clear on my tablet, not so much uploaded, apologies for quality.

At this point, I'm not even sure how many tapered razors I have. There are ten of them in my 'tapered blades' drawer, but I know I have at least several others waiting to have scales put on them, and one out on loan.

The classic tapered point razors were made between 1837 and the early 1840's, with a few notable exceptions.

I'll cover the exceptions first.





The illustration is from the 1815 Smith's Key, and is a pretty unequivocal example of an original razor ground to a tapering point. The photo was made by Joseph Hives between 1803 (when he was freed from his apprenticeship) to 1808 (when he died). The hives razor has some hone wear that exaggerates the design, but that's because people unused to honing this shape of blade end up putting too much pressure on the point and flattening it further.



This razor was made by John Bagshaw of Liverpool in the 1870's and was part of an unmarked 7-day set.

So, the style has existed for a very long time, and it persisted for a very long time too...

But there was an explosion of them over a brief period when nearly every manufacturer made one and most all of them were etched 'AN EXCELLENT RAZOR' along the top of the spine. A few are stamped with King William's crown mark 'WR', most that have a crown are Victoria's (which dates them).

The beginning date there of 1837 for 'AN EXCELLENT RAZOR' is pretty firm. The ending date -- well, we're relying on Henry Lummus.

Here are some of the manufacturers I've seen whose razors were etched 'AN EXCELLENT RAZOR' on a tapered blade, in the order I remember them:

Fred Fenney
Wm. Greaves & Sons
Wade & Butcher
George Savage & Sons
Joseph Elliot
Hawcroft & Pearson
Marshes & Shepherd
J. Bingham (pre-Fenney buy-out!)

You can triangulate the dates a little more using the companies, since people like Hawcroft & Pearson went out of business, the Greaveses died, Fenney died and was sold of to Bingham. Many of those were clearly made before 1845 due to company closures, and after 1837 because a lot are marked VR.

Except for things like the Bagshaws from Liverpool (Bagshaw was a cutler from Sheffield who moved a lot of American product and decided to relocate to the port most of his goods went through in the 1840's, so there's another interesting data point).

When they're properly honed, they are fantastic to shave with around a mustache.

I forgot to post this one, a B Winks & Sons Lancet Steel Sheffield, Tortoiseshell with brass liners and nickel silver wedge.