Thread: Uncommon geometry of the blade

I bought this Marshes&Shepherd (1818-1850) some weeks ago, with the conviction that the blade was in its original state, without hone wear. Note that the spine has no hone wear at all. I bid on this: the blade has an uncommon but original geometry.
Yesterday I found one proof that I wasn't wrong: Lummus published in his first article (1922) a blade by the same manufacturer with the same shape!

If my memory serves me right, Seraphim had a similarly shaped Marshian, too.

Now THAT is cool. I like it. I like it a LOT. I wonder if the geometry lent itself to a good scything stroke? Seems like it might...

Originally Posted by sparq

If my memory serves me right, Seraphim had a similarly shaped Marshian, too.

There have been Marshians on the earth and they left their razors????

Even though this razor has little to no hone wear, I think that some razors wear hone wear as a mark of distinction. It shows that the razor has a history of use and allows me to feel a conection to the past.

Originally Posted by Chimensch

There have been Marshians on the earth and they left their razors????

http://straightrazorpalace.com/galle...as-landed.html

Originally Posted by JimR

I wonder if the geometry lent itself to a good scything stroke? Seems like it might...

One interesting style of blade, common in the late thirties, had the heel wider than the toe, the back showing a corresponding variance in thickness so that the blade would lie flat on the hone. [Lummus, cit. article]

Also note the W R mark on the shank of Seraphim's blade (William IV: 1830-1837).

Great razor, really!

Hmmm... I wonder if the idea behind that is a similar idea to the one behind the Merkur Slant.

What I mean is, that even though the razor is shaped differently, you use the same stroke you normally would, but the different shape produces different (better?) results.

Well, blades wider at the toe are very common and in those cases the angle spine/bevel could be the same of this Marshes (just with a different sign). So this shape is not a revolution in the honing technique. I think it was just a different fashion or a new idea to sell new razors or a distinguishing mark introduced by a manufacturer and then transformed in fashion for just a short period. Or different combination of those ideas.

EDIT: Also, blades wider at the toe often are thicker at the corresponding part of the spine. Same as stated here by Lummus.