Thread: Opinions???

I see the ring/bump part way up the tang. Could that be the tempering line?

I would love to hear Zak or Manah's input. If I don't see something from either one of them I might send a PM. In fact I might just do that anyway

The shape of the tail indicates 1830's

And Horn is the most likely material for Original scales, yes it might have been other material but Horn was the most likely

Thanks for all the input. I should state that I have not seen this myself. He sent me the pictures because he knows that I am an "avid enthusiast" by my description. I am certainly not an expert which is why I brought it here for thoughts and input.
I have learned so much from many of you but still I know I have a lot to learn.

Here is another picture he sent me of other things he has found in the area. The razor that you see in the center is also one he found near the officers quarter according to a map.

My comment to him on this one was as follows:
"And also likely much earlier. The easy assumption would be that more of it rusted away but that is much like the shape of razors in the 1700s. There were a lot of changes that happened to them in the period between the last couple of decades of the 18th century to the first decade or two of the 19th century. That could be an heirloom piece from the 1700s. Razors were not only expensive in those days. A nice one might be Maybe $2 to $2.50 which relates to somewhere between $75 to $100 today. But in addition to that they were also much harder to come by because most of them were made in England and we didn't have such a great relationship with England at that point in time. The big centers for Razor making at that time were Leicester and Sheffield.the United States and Germany had not really become big players in the straight razor market that early yet."
Please correct me if any of this is not right.

Edit: I should also mention that the one in this picture he said is obvious was not hollow ground which I told him is called a wedge.

Well... The rust isn't just rust. Looks like there's a lot of sand mixed in, so it's possible there might be an identifiable razor under that.

The original scales would have been, in order of likelihood:

Horn
Bone
Ivory
'Tortoise Shell'
Silver

I'd put my money on horn.

While celluloid was invented in the late 1850's, in practice it wasn't used for razor scales until the very end of the 19th century and took the place of Vulcanite (which is a hard rubber), which itself wasn't widely used for razors until the 1880's.

It's very hard to say on a date for it without seeing what the blade looks like underneath that enormous bolus of rust and debris.

More likely than not, it's safe to assume it dates to the late 1830's.

The second razor is most likely to be Sheffield-made from 1810-1830, though the style was maybe more popularly made in London and from a variety of French manufacturers, the tail looks much more Sheffield to me, and probably more like 1830 than 1810.

On cleaning this thing up: I know there have been more than one post but recently JOB15 posted about using an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning up blades. That first one might be a good application for using that since it would be very easy to remove any maker's marks if there is any still to be seen underneath all that crud.

Why would you want to clean it?

It is what it is and unless you were trying to prove it belonged to some famous General what would you gain?

Originally Posted by 32t

Why would you want to clean it?

It is what it is and unless you were trying to prove it belonged to some famous General what would you gain?

At the very least it would prevent further corrosion and possibly help identify the blade. Why wouldn't you clean it?

Originally Posted by BeJay

At the very least it would prevent further corrosion and possibly help identify the blade. Why wouldn't you clean it?

If you remove the corrosion there isn't much left.

If it is worth preserving preserve it as is.

Record what is found and it will quickly go away in my opinion.