Thread: Ever seen this Made in England?

Anyone ever run into one of these no name made in England razors? I got it in a lot with some other things I wanted and I initially had high hopes for it. In my experience English razors are often very good. All it says on the blade is the country of origin with no maker's mark or name anywhere.



It is file cut on both sides of the tang...



...and appears to be half to 3/4 hollow.

The scales are odd. They appear to have been dark (probably black) but fade from oxidation both from water and air. You can see spots on it where the water has faded them plus they have an overall brown looking tinge That seems to go below just the surface. They seem to be some sort of synthetic material.
I have honed it, progressed it and finished it more than once with varying methods but it just never really shaves very well. It isn't really bad, it just isn't very good. I'd call it... acceptable I guess. I was so hoping I had found a diamond in the rough but it's just been rather disappointing. I noticed that it doesn't seem to have the ring to the blade that a lot of my better ones do and It never really shines when polished. My guess is that it was probably a knockout from some company that produced either only cheap or maybe a line of cheaper razors for hardware stores or haberdasheries as a low line alternative.
Any thoughts?

There were a lot of top quality razors that were made for people to have their names put on them for advertising. Importers also did that, some well known quality importers are Peter J Micheals-Cmon, Dubl Duck, Hess, SRD, there is actually a long list of people who did resell of others wares. I have encounter a few no names along the way that are top shelf. There are also a few threads dedicates to loved no name razors. Logically if someone saved that razor all this time, someone is likely to have loved it in the beginning, so it’s likely a keeper.

I have a Bengall with one black scale and one faded brown. I'll try to get a pic. I dont know if bakelite does that. Celluloid seems be to be prone to doing everything it shouldn't!

I wouldnt give up on it, especially with that grind. Could be a winner!

The others have ya covered with the manufacturer -- generic, but good quality!

With the scales, they're some variety of vulcanized rubber (gutta percha, vulcanite, etc). They start out very black, but sunlight can fade them to a weird brown-green color. Some polish and elbow grease and they'll go back to their original glossy black.

Zak beat me to it. I've brought those brown colored scales back to black. And yes Rubber. It's easy to tell when you start sanding. Smells like Tires. I just wish you could put a little something on them to soften them some as when they get brown they also get brittle.

Originally Posted by Gasman

I just wish you could put a little something on them to soften them some as when they get brown they also get brittle.

Try rubbing some glycerine into them periodically. Some users/collectors of old Leica cameras use that on the vulcanite body covers to keep it from getting brittle.

Bob