Wade & Butcher Blank for Concaving

[WBK]

I picked this up earlier this year. The only other one I have ever seen is the one Joed mentioned in this thread here.


I know the story behind these is probably lost in time but perhaps an educated guess can be put together. The main question I have is who did the concaving? Were these test pieces that W&B made? Or were they actually sold as blanks and reground elsewhere?

The stamping is heavy on the tang of mine so it does not seem like someone would re-stamp with their own trademark/name. I could see someone doing an additional stamping as to where it was gound (ie: Hamburg Ring/Sheffield Ground).

I do have one clue that makes me think mine was ground by W&B. The point is ground in the same style as on my W&B Bow Razor (in the picture below, the Bow is on the left, the blank on the right).

Anyone else out there have any? If anyone has any razors that look identical but with a different manufacturer stamp, I guess that could answer the question if they were sold then ground elsewhere. The blade on mine is 5/8.... take a look and see what you have I will say this: this is the best shaving W&B I have ever had!