Thread: Flea market find: W&B Masonic razor

Found a very cool razor yesterday; I hope it's useful as well. It's a Wade & Butcher with what appears to be gold Masonic symbols etched in all over the blade. One scale is cracked and poorly repaired, and the end wedge is missing. The blade itself is very nearly a straight wedge; if I put a straightedge alongside of it, I can see that there's just a hint of hollow to it. I have some questions about it:

1) The edge is curved, from about a 7/8 near the toe to maybe a bit under 6/8 at the heel. Is this the way the blade was made, or was it poorly honed in the past? Is this going to be a PIA to hone? (In other words, should I forget about ever shaving with it?)

2) I haven't polished the blade yet. Am I in danger of removing the gold from the etchings if I scrub some Flitz on it? How best should I clean it up, or should it be left alone?

3) Regarding new scales, I'm tempted to try my hand a making a pair (I have some black walnut that I've been waiting for a use for), but obviously it would be faster and easier (and more certain to get accomplished) if I just buy replacements from Classic (if they'll fit; the existing scales are 5" from pin to pin). Is there any collector/value concern over what it gets rescaled with that I should keep in mind? I at first thought these scales were plastic, but I'm starting to wonder if they might be bone.

4) Anything else I should know about this razor? Can it be used as a Ouija board?

Oh, I paid $10 for this. Good deal?

The scales look like they could be horn. Are they translucent? Try putting a bright light behind the thin ends to see if light shines through. Horn also has a slight grain to it like a wood grain.

I can't tell what its going to be like to hone, but for $10, I'd say you did really well. Where is that flea market?

Jordan

Good find. not bad for 10 bucks

[quote=farace;134716]

3) Regarding new scales, I'm tempted to try my hand a making a pair (I have some black walnut that I've been waiting for a use for), but obviously it would be faster and easier (and more certain to get accomplished) if I just buy replacements from Classic (if they'll fit; the existing scales are 5" from pin to pin). Is there any collector/value concern over what it gets rescaled with that I should keep in mind? I at first thought these scales were plastic, but I'm starting to wonder if they might be bone.

Nice razor, and a great price!

My only comment would be about buying scales from Classic: I bought the Dovo, red, bone scales from them. I put them on a "Red Imp" of my Grandfather's. The original red scales were broken. I wanted to keep the "Red" scale look. Anyway, during my first shave after re-pinning, I notice the red dye was bleeding all over the place. Classic was willing to take them back, but I didn't want to send them back after the re-pin job. I sealed them with polyuethane - and they are now fine. I would not buy them again, though.

I, also, bought a pair of the Dovo Pakawood scales in blue from Classic. Absolutely junk! They were more of a light purple color(not blue by any means) and very faded at the curves of the wood. - very poor quality.

There are not a lot of people out there selling scales. Bill Ellis @ www.billysblades.com would be a good choice to buy scales only. Everything that man does is great! Otherwise, try making yer own. I will eventually.

Another choice is to hit Ebay - I look for cheap, rusted blades that have exotice looking scales - and buy them only for the intention of breaking them down and putting the scales on a good blade that has poor or broken scales. This has worked pretty good for me. Unfortunatly, I have banned myself from Ebay at this time. My RAD has gotten way out of hand and I need to put a stop to it. Oh, well!

Regards,

Steve

MAAS and Flitz will de-gold! Use at your own risk / discretion. Even without the gold, I think the etch will be there in silver frosting - but I can't be certain, really

$10 - you should be in jail for this steal! Is someone knocking on the door?

Cheers
Ivo

The fact that it is thinner in the back than the front is most likely due to uneven honing (that's no too uncommon from what I've seen either). For $10, you did very well. I'm not sure if some of these particualr razors came with a square point, or if the barber notch has been removed from yours (is there any kind of beveling at the end, or does it just look like it was cut straight down?).

Polishing will most likely ruin the goldwash within the symbols, but may keep the symbols on the blade if the etching is deep enough. I'd recommend restoring the original scales -- if they are indeed horn. Otherwise, the walnut handles sound very good (why bother with plastic on this beauty?).

There's no reason you can't shave with it. In fact, you could have it re-ground torestore the entire wedge profile (just like a brand new razor), but it will definitely destory the etching on the blade.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll avoid both the Flitz (at least near the etching) and the Dovo scales for this razor. The etching would indeed remain, but of course I'd prefer to keep the gold in place.

Jordan, that flea market is in Clinton, Connecticut near the Westbrook town line. It's a rather small flea market on Sundays only, and there weren't many vendors yesterday, so I almost didn't bother going!

Originally Posted by xChris

I'm not sure if some of these particualr razors came with a square point, or if the barber notch has been removed from yours (is there any kind of beveling at the end, or does it just look like it was cut straight down?).

I'm at work and don't have the razor in front of me, but I saw no evidence of there having been a notch.

Originally Posted by xChris

I'd recommend restoring the original scales -- if they are indeed horn.

How does one go about restoring a broken horn scale? I would imagine I'd have to try to rebreak the poorly lined-up glue joint and try to do a better job matching the pieces up than the previous owner did. I guess I have nothing to lose if I try, since I planned to rescale it anyway!

My bad -- I read over your statement about the damage. So it will be more difficult than I thought. Yeah, you'de have to try to figure out how to re-break the joint (probably impossible without detroying the scales further). Then find a suitable replacement wedge from a donor/scrap or making from new stock (e.g., plexiglas, etc.).

So, I guess you're gonna be making new scales, huh?