Thread: Maker's mark

Hello!
This is my first post in this forum. I just bought a very rusty near wedge, which i estimate to be from around 1850 or maybe a little later. A hunchback with a smile. My gut feeling is that it is a Sheffield razor. The problem is that the tang is almost completelly covered in rust, so identifying it is very hard. All I can see is that there is an oval field (like a skinny blimp in profile) stamped into it with some very, very small lettering inside that are impossible to read. Anyone who can give a clue of makers having this elliptical mark? I would post a photo, but it's impossible to get the little markings to show up on a photo.

Maybe if you want answers you need to provide pictures. Can’t tell you if we can’t see it

Well, as I said in my post, I have not managed to take a photo of it where the markings actually shows up, so I didn't find it very useful to post a photo and then getting the comment that you can't see anything in the picture. I thought it was better to give a verbal description in the hope that somebody could come up with a helpful comment.

If it's red rust, you should be able to clean it off with relatively non-aggressive methods, like metal polish or oil and a toothbrush. This would remove the rust but not the steel under it.

If not, you may be able to do a rubbing to get a better image of the mark.

If its covered in rust than scraping it with a DE or SE blade isnt going to make it worse. Covered in rust makes me think its not worth saving anyway. There were lots of makers that used circles and ovals and such. Next to impossible without seeing it.

BTW, Welcome to SRP.

Try CLR and a brass brush to remove rust. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
If careful you can use a single edge razor blade.

I have now managed to remove the surface rust from the tang, using an SE blade (thanks a lot for the tip). Unfortunately there are quite a lot of pittings and the lettering is very small and shallow. However, the first part says "James" and after a lot of googling I'm pretty sure the manufacturer is someone named James Tidmarsh, who seemed to use that mark on some of his knives. Thanks again for the tips. If anyone knows anything about James Tidmarsh and his products, it would be great if you could post it.

JAMES TIDMARSH
London
(1892)
Name also used by Thomas Ellin &
Co.
Goods of various metal alloys

Originally Posted by bouschie

If careful you can use a single edge razor blade.

Good tip; I'd forgotten about that one. For anyone else who tries it, just be careful to use a low angle, as the tangs are often soft and a SE can bite into it.