Thread: Tillotson's Celebrated

Hey all,

Wanted to show you my new chopper. Found her on ebay for a reasonable price and picked her up.

It is made by a company called Tillotson's. It's a company out of Sheffield. The almost 7/8 wedge blade was in very rough hone, but after many hours of work it shaves amazingly well. Out of my three razors (including a nice Boker) I find this razor the best to shave with on a day-to-day basis.

I really like the feel and weight of it, and it leaves me zero irritation even though I used it twice yesterday (special dinner, had to look nice).

I was hoping that someone might have a link to some information on Tillotson. I once read an article that said the company was around 1835-1855 or somewhere around that time.
Any other information about this company or razor would be greatly appreciated.

On the show side the tang reads "TILLOTSON'S CELEBRATED RAZ, SHEFFIELD"
The "RAZ" probably used to be "RAZOR" but it is no longer there for some reason. Also, there is a weird symbol to the left that looks like a letter "B" rotated 90 degrees clockwise with an "X" under it.
The other side is blank.

There is some light pitting and haziness, but I think it should be okay once I am done.

Here are some pictures of the razor:

There's no entry for Tillotson on the uniclectica list.

I restored one awhile back

http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...y-acrylic.html

I founf info on the maker for the person that owned this one I'll try and find it again for you


Tillotson's made in England 1830-1859 so far

Very nice old blade! I particularly like the silver escutcheon plate on the scales, and what looks like a pearl inlay. Thanks for posting the nice photos. From Goins':

TILLOTSON & CO. COLUMBIA PLACE SHEFFIELD. c 1830-1859. This company manufactured Bowie type knives, among other types of cutlery.

This razor was made by very old and well-known company. The founder - Thomas Tillotson became the Master Cutler of Hallamshire in 1789.

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I'll be rescaling it next month, so tell me; would I go to razor-hell for putting carbon fiber scales on this blade?

Originally Posted by Old67

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I'll be rescaling it next month, so tell me; would I go to razor-hell for putting carbon fiber scales on this blade?

Yes you will . Why in the world , would you want to replace the original scales ? Or are you kidding us ?

Originally Posted by dave5225

Yes you will . Why in the world , would you want to replace the original scales ?

They are extremely loose, and the holes have already been drilled out once, so the pins are quarter-inch as it is. They are warped more on one side than the other, which looks goofy.
And the pearl inlays are half broken and gone anyways. I don't like the shape of them and the texture of them has been ruined by time. There are worm-hole things all over and the wood feels grimy and unpleasant.

The scales will be replaced. The question is just what I should use.

I'm leaning towards C.F. because I travel a ton and need some durability.

You have valid reasons to replace the scales , so you won't go to razor hell . The scales didn't look that bad , in the pics .