Thread: Celebrated Wade Butcher Chopper

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can give me information about this razor I got off eBay. It came out to be seventy something dollars.

That part in the blade where it looks like it gets smaller towards the handle, is that how it was originally? Or was that a part of the razor that got messed up and then reground?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,


-aram



forgot to include pics.

EDIT: OK, you posted the pics...


Yeah, that looks like a messed up regrind.

Luckily, you can hone that out (use low, low grit), and still have about 2 more inches of blade to go!

Awesome looking razor, just needs some work.

As you suspected, the edge was messed up at some point. It's not supposed to look like that. Also, the scales are original as is the bullseye washer on the spacer pin. However, it's evident that the the razor was re-pinned at the pivot pin and not very well IMO.

Here's what I believe to be the good news:

I love those horn scales on the old choppers. You can buy bullseye pins that are almost exact replicas of the original (rather than stacked washers which mimics the look of the original one piece bullseye like you see on this razor) and although that's one of the hollow ground choppers rather than a wedge, I've held one of the kind in your photo; There's enough metal for the edge to be ground down to the level of that flaw and you still have a nice razor. Provided you find someone with the equipment, skill and time to grind it for you.

Chris L

Ouch. It hurts to see those razors in that shape! Sorry about the damage that has already been described. You could take care of the edge but without a regrind (which would probably get rid of the etching) it would take a while and leave you with maybe 7/8 at best. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Philadelph

Ouch. It hurts to see those razors in that shape! Sorry about the damage that has already been described. You could take care of the edge but without a regrind (which would probably get rid of the etching) it would take a while and leave you with maybe 7/8 at best. Good luck!

The crisp etching in this particular blade fuels the fire I've had in hatching ideas about how it would be possible to make an imprint of such etchings, scan them at a very high dpi and make an etching stencil. With the position of the etch on the blade determined prior to a regrind, it would work after the regrind to recreate the original etch. Same with stamps on tangs that would be lost in sanding out pits, etc.

Definitely possible to do. I'm probably not the first one to think about doing this either.

Chris L

Yup, as others have said... messed up a bit.
Looks like you have a nice project razor. It will be worth the work; W&B's are awesome shavers.

Originally Posted by Chrisl

The crisp etching in this particular blade fuels the fire I've had in hatching ideas about how it would be possible to make an imprint of such etchings, scan them at a very high dpi and make an etching stencil. With the position of the etch on the blade determined prior to a regrind, it would work after the regrind to recreate the original etch. Same with stamps on tangs that would be lost in sanding out pits, etc.

Definitely possible to do. I'm probably not the first one to think about doing this either.

Chris L

One of our guys, Vlad, did essentially just that with great results. He built up a font library from the scan, if I recall correctly.