Thread: So maybe I'm just showing her off...

But I'm also curious about how old this blade might be.

The beautiful black horn scales say "Sheaf Works" and the tang says "Cast Steel Warranted; large domed washers. Metal spaces, jimps top and bottom. Spanish/enlarged notch point on a quarter hollow blade; shoulderless too. Note how long the blade is; that's a Wapi for comparison.

Please note she looks better than the pics show, but lighting is bad and I didn't really take careful shots.

I'd love to hear any ideas about her age.

It looks like it has been hollowed out at some point - and I have never seen jimps on a cast steel blade; is that common? The old sheaf works in Sheffield was one of the oldest I see mentioned. The cast steel mark usually means early 1800s at the latest...

My guess is 1820s or 30s

Nice Wapi

Hm, it is quite possible that she was hollowed out after production. The jimps extend into the hollowed portion just before the "shoulder," so maybe those were added on later as well. There are still grind marks on the blade as well, and I suppose that also suggest aftermarket hollowing.

Maybe that extra info will be useful to someone...

Thanks for the input, Lee. I also dig my Wapi... but I might have to let her go. I'm giving that careful consideration.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Hm, it is quite possible that she was hollowed out after production. The jimps extend into the hollowed portion just before the "shoulder," so maybe those were added on later as well. There are still grind marks on the blade as well, and I suppose that also suggest aftermarket hollowing.

Maybe that extra info will be useful to someone...

Thanks for the input, Lee. I also dig my Wapi... but I might have to let her go. I'm giving that careful consideration.

Its a William Greaves, who used those markings from 1826 on. By the looks of it I would say 1850 at the latest but more likely 1826 to 1836

It is an odd razor in that the stamp is indicative of an earlier period while the grind and the monkey tail are of a later one. Sheaf Works was a Greaves trademark, From the look of the grind and the monkey tail I would expect to see Greaves & Sons. I once had a short tailed razor with a Sheaf Works pressed horn handle that had Greaves without the sons. I wonder if yours could have been a blade blank that had the earlier stamping on it and laid around until it finally got finished with the later grind ? When I date them I go by Robert Doyle's "Collecting Straight Razors". He has a chapter on dating according to blade styles and another according to handles. The slight curve in the scales would make it, about as JMS said, in the 1830s to '50s...... maybe.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

It looks like it has been hollowed out at some point - and I have never seen jimps on a cast steel blade; is that common? The old sheaf works in Sheffield was one of the oldest I see mentioned. The cast steel mark usually means early 1800s at the latest...

My guess is 1820s or 30s

Nice Wapi

The jimps were not that uncommon but the blade was obviously reground at some point, look at where the blade meets the tang. it doesn't quite look right, like it had a particular grind and at a later point reground without considering aesthetics.

Looks a little like this old john barber but for the tail

I have two Greaves Sheaf Works razors that fit into this discussion. One is a full wedge with jimps and is marked "Cast Steel Warranted". It's blade is engraved with "W. Greaves and Sons". The other razor is about half hollow ground, also with jimps, and looks like it is the original grind. It has only "Sheaf Works Sheffield" on the tang, with nothing on the blade. My feeling is that both grinds were done at the Sheaf works, and my guess is that the "modern" semi hollow grinds were done around the time the Sheaf Works closed, about 1852. What do you think?

Thanks for chiming in, Croaker. Mine seems to be identical to the first one you've posted with the exception being that mine has been hollowed a bit. I see yours has the jimps too, which suggests that the jimps on mine may be original. I have to be honest, I didn't think I'd see another blade like that any time soon.

Very interesting, great information gentlemen!