Thread: John Barber Razor dated 1824

Gongratulations! Thats a real nice blade. I love the subtle sweep of the spine. Looks like a hell of a razor.
Cant give you any advice on the blade and how to restore it, there is a whole bunch of scary skilled people here who can guide you.
I was merely posting to warn you about fidddling with the scales.
Looks like ivory and probably is due to the age and the look of the razor in general. They are very, very fragile when it comes to unpinning ( thats when you remove the scales to work on the blade ). I managed to break two in a total of two attempts..
So, send it of to a professional or take it, really, really easy when you unpinn it..

Sorry about my less than perfect english.
Victor

I found this for you:

Sword Forum International | swordforum.com

Although the article pertains to antique swords, I thought some of the information may be of help to you in preserving your straight razor. I am not knowledgeable enough about metals to determine if all, or any, of this information is sound. But possibly one of the more experienced members might read the article and verify whether or not the recommendations are good for your family heirloom.

Congratulations, by the way

it is a very nice razor, and the family lineage makes it priceless.

Let my stick my untrained nose in here for a moment -- to my eye, those scales don't look original anyway. My first impression was plastic, tough to tell from a picture, ivory is certainly possible. That razor is beautiful enough to have the scale material evaluated by someone who can tell for sure-----but, no razor that old that I've seen was pinned like that.

I'm not advising anyone to touch it -- at least not right now -- but that blade would look a lot more "natural" in some nice horn scales with old-fashioned big washers.

Absolutely gorgeous razor, what a terrific family piece.

I can certainly recommend Neil Miller at www.strop-shop.co.uk - hand made straight razor strops, razor pouches, shaving accessories, vintage razors, razor honing and restoration he is UK based and does excellent restoration work , hes done several for me and the work is superb.

Originally Posted by Brummel

I can certainly recommend Neil Miller at www.strop-shop.co.uk - hand made straight razor strops, razor pouches, shaving accessories, vintage razors, razor honing and restoration he is UK based and does excellent restoration work , hes done several for me and the work is superb.

+ 1 to that! Neil´s prob one of the best to restore a vintage razor. I´ve had many razors with Neil and I keep coming back to him. He comes highly recommended in my book.

Hi All, I have now sent this razor off for hopefully a sympathetic refurbishment. The firm I chose was the Invisible Edge and they received it last Friday. Steve Dempster has sent me the following technical description.

The blade is a 6/8 full-swept square point with slight point extension, in swage cross-section and with pronounced blade shouldering and a small grob to the nose. It is in the shoulderless style and has been quarter-hollow ground to about Henckel Scale 2. The tang is unusually deep with a correspondingly small heel drop and there is no shouldering or stabilisers at the blade to tang junction. The blade is by John Barber, Sheffield England, unusually stamped on the front side blade shoulder and with trademark square and compass tang strike. The blade has a small trigger, entirely in keeping with its age and I would assess this as between 1815 – 1824. John Barber was trading from 1810 – 1834 when the firm became John Barber and Son, finally ceasing trade in 1852.

The blade has been fitted with a type of ivory scales – from which source is unclear but these are nicely striated and are fitted with a period lead spacer.

In a moment of enthusiam I also sent another razor I have. Steve has identified it as a travelling razor from around 1880.

The scales are now off and still in one piece!

I shall post post restoration pictures. I may even shave with it. I am the 7th generation that this razor has passed through so this will be a humbling moment.

That's awesome. I got a Wade & Butcher that belonged to my great-grandfather. The scales were ruined so I had some made with his initials on side and year of birth and death on the other. I restored the razor myself and shave with it regularly. I look forward to handing it down to my sons.

John

Originally Posted by kerryman71

That's awesome. I got a Wade & Butcher that belonged to my great-grandfather. The scales were ruined so I had some made with his initials on side and year of birth and death on the other. I restored the razor myself and shave with it regularly. I look forward to handing it down to my sons.

John

Pics of this please John! I also have an heirloom W&B, my Great Great Grandfather's. For original poster, I believe you'll love the John Barber, I have a handfull of those as well.

I'm excited to see the after pics!

My wife remarked that I would be going to work looking like a slasher victim.

That's only for the first month or so.<g>

Charles