Thoughts on this one? Joseph Rodgers & Sons Razor..

I just snagged a lot of razors off e-bay and included was this razor:

http://www.dreamlash.com/pics/222.jpg

It is a Joseph Rodgers, Sheffield razor. I thought the tang was very unusual, so, i decided I'll give it a shot to restore the blade.

now, I did some google searching, and i found this image:

Pair of Joseph Rodgers razors in ivory

What do you guys think? think this razor has ivory handle & tang?

The one thing that leads me to believe it might be celluloid is the ridges that are carved into the tang. I don't think thats very commonly done to ivory.

Either way, I didn't pay a whole lot for the lot, and included in it was another Sheffield wedge.

Any comments welcome!!! :D

It looks like ivory but its hard to be sure from a photo. Ivory has a very distinctive grain thats quite easy to see in thin pieces, if its synthetic the grain will be very regular or non existent, if its bone it will have pores, I think theres a quide somewhere on the site that might help?

Theres no reason why they couldnt use jimping on ivory, it will take very fine detail, nice razor by the way.

Hot pin test it. If you take a hot pin to an inconspicuious area you should find out. If it melts the scale, it's not ivory. Not sure how you draw the distinction between ivory & bone though, apart from searching for the grain, as bone has tiny channels through it where tissue or blood used to be.

I will post my findings once I get this razor in-hand. Thanks for the info on the pin test.

That's really cool; I've never seen a Rodgers with a covered tang, and I've never seen a stub tail with a covered tang either.

I bet she'll be a beauty once she's cleaned up.

Hey all -- I wanted to post an update to this thread.

I have since received the razor, and initially I was nearly positive that it was plastic. It felt so flimsy, and flexible, and smooth and I could see no grain whatsoever. I went ahead and started cleaning up the blade and stuff.

I tried the hot pin test, and the first few times I thought I was doing it wrong, or the pin wasn't hot enough, etc. So, the second night I grabbed another crappy razor that i knew was plastic, and i tried the pin test on that one and sure enough the pin almost went clear through the scale :eek:

So, I am now the owner of a beautiful Joseph Rodgers with Ivory scales and FULLY covered Ivory tang. I am not done cleaning it up, but, here are a few pictures. The grind is very interesting on it -- I've been told by the guys in chat that it is ground like a wapi?

Anyway, I'm not as good of a blade restorer as some guys in here *cough*Aaron

I've gotta pick up some higher grit sandpaper to finish'er off...since I don't have a tumbler ;)

here are the pics:

http://www.dreamlash.com/pics/rodgers1.jpg

http://www.dreamlash.com/pics/rodgers2.jpg

http://www.dreamlash.com/pics/rodgers4.jpg

http://www.dreamlash.com/pics/rodgers5.jpg

That's looking good there. Great buy! Good news about the ivory. It makes the razor feel even better i find!

Hey, that is one heck of a find... and by chance no less. :)

Good luck restoring her. Be sure to keep us posted. I for one want to see final pictures.

To me the hollow is similar to the wapi's hollow, but your rodgers has a thick spine above the hollowing that is not present with the wapi.

great looking razor!

I have the exact same razor just that its covered in black. Its celluloid. If it was ivory it would be pinned to the tang. Mine is one piece which fits over the tang. I'm not sure how it's affixed maybe just friction. But you never know maybe yours is Ivory.

Interesting! Celluloid didn't come in until around 1870 and you razor is pre-1877 (after this the blade or tang strike on Rodgers' razors was 'cutlers to Her Majesty' - mostly!) so the scales etc could be celluloid but I think not. I have seen ivory-covered tangs that are fully-clad (as your is) that are presumably glued into place, part-clad (sides only) that are pinned and full-clad that are pinned. The blade shape is I believe known as an 'Arris'.

A very nice piece that looks to be cleaning up really well!

Steve, is Arris a reference to the shape of the spine?

I do have a feeling that it was originally glued, because the blade has a very small ( 1/2 of a mm) shift independent of the tang. I imagine the glue isn't doing what it was originally intended to do..after 130+ years :)

If held up to a light, you can see the metal shaft through the covering, but it ends immediately after the pin...the entire tail has no metal beneath.

I'd love to repin.. clean out the blade under the tang, re-glue the tang...but, there would be no margin of error for my newbieness... the pins are made out of something harder than brass, and there are no washers. I would be afraid to crack the scales.

Maybe in a while as I get better at everything.. if I don't sell it as is (I have spent too much on this hobby already..)


I had no idea this razor was that old -- thank you for the info!

As for the ivory v. celluloid.. I wonder if 1870s celluloid passes a pin test like ivory? All I know is this thing does not melt!! After passing the pin test, I figured I'd go a step further.. I heated up the end of my needle nose plyers and pressed it against the inside of the scales..and still no melt, just a very light brown mark like it burned the surface ever so slightly.. i was able to wipe off the mark immediately after, with a bit of polish.

That's a beautiful razor! I have stopped doing the hot pin test, now that I have more experience with ivory. Never cared for the dentist office odor of burnt tooth you get with ivory, and you get the same smell with bone. I have vaporized a couple of celluloid scales myself, trying to see if they were real tortoise shell. If the material has an extremely fine grain, no pores (that's bone) and feels cool, very smooth and a little slick to the touch, it is ivory. Most of the time the scales are very thin, but not always. I have some walrus ivory scales that are much thicker and don't look like elephant ivory. It also takes a beautiful polish, unlike celluloid. Love ivory razors! Sad how many are cracked, but not all of them are. Thanks for the great pictures. I am frankly a little envious of your good luck!

Wow! Ivory or not, that is a great looking razor. I love those diamond shaped spines. Just the aesthetics are wonderful. Enjoy.

Jordan

I finished it up, and posted it in the Workshop Gallery. Figured I'd post in here, since a few of you wanted to see the final product!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/galle...tml#post335774

Truly gorgeous razor, with excellent polishing work. And thank you for posting the details of your sanding/polishing sequence, I'm trying to learn.

I lean toward believing it's ivory just because of the maker and the period. Joseph Rodgers & Sons certainly had enough ivory to carve their toilet seats out of it during the period your lovely razor was made. Yee-haw, let's go down to the Joseph Rodgers ivory cellar!:

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.an...odgers/026.jpg

Wow, you're not kidding about the ivory overload in the cellar there!
Beautiful razor though. The finish is really clean and crisp. Did you finish with 600? It looks like a 1500-2000 grit finish at least. Wonderful job, I envy you Rodgers, mine is not in the same league.