Thread: 7/8th and larger big blade American razors.

With Sheffield as the king of big blades… W&B, Rodgers and Wostenholm come to mind… I know there are a few more.

Many blades were forged/ground in other countries and imported into America under various names, size between 4/8 and 6/8, but what about the big boys, some razors may have been entirely made in America but...

Where are the American branded meat choppers?

Good question. I have several different brands of US made vintage blades but they are all 5/8-7/8 hollow ground, and they all shave super. I have never seen a big wedge, I have a small 4/8 us made wedge but nothing larger.

I have seen a few blades in my time and while I am no razor expert... it just occurred to me that I haven't seen big American made blades... or even big blades imported form other countries with an American distributors name on it.
You know like Geno razor made in America and C-Mon razors import from Germany (don’t quote me on those) but they are all mid size razors... nothing 7/8 and up... wedge, hollow (single or double).

Just wondered if anyone seen one?... or herd of one.

Is been bugging me for some time now...

My Ashton Jackson may have been 7/8 when it was new. It's presently 13/16". And I saw another AJ on ebay a few months back that was close to 8/8. Search for the thread titled "Ashton Jackson ??" to see a pic.

Thanks Sandcounty, found the thread and the pic... seems American big blades are are a rarity.
If they were made in America did they all just rust away?
or did Americans prefer mid sized razors so they just didn't make them?

Thanks again.

I'm wondering if the rarity of wide razors manufactured in the US isn't more of a time line issue. Most of the large wedges and concave ground razors we are familiar with are from the 1800s and at that time I don't think (ok, more like guessing on my part) there were all that many US based razor grinders in business and thus most razors were still imported from Europe. As the US makers geared up, the "fashion" of razors was already leaning towards the lighter newfangled extra hollow ground jobbies as is typically seen in razors made around the turn of the century up to today. This does not mean there were not *any* large razors made, only that the demand for such razors had most likely fallen off from it's peak back around 1850ish (and I might add that my history knowledge of razors contains a lot of "ish").


Regards

Kaptain "Theoretical BS sometimes smells like the real thing when it comes from me!" Zero

You know... you may be right...
It never occurred to me that during the reign of the big blades America was importing from other countries but there were no established American distributes yet at that time.

Thanks kaptain

Here's another wedge that may be American. I'm not sure though. It is marked N A SMITH PHILADELPHIA, and is just under 7/8"

I have a 7/8 meat chopper wedge with the barber's notch.

H & J W King
51 Beekman Street
New York

I think Zero hit the nail on the head. Big wedges were really a function of that particular grind and the era in which they were produced. Certainly there are U.S razors larger that 7/8s but probably not many so fewer have survived. The English really had a near monopoly on those monsters and made them in quantity so we have many left.