Thread: how old is this??

i picked this up off evilbay for a song.... it was LOOSE... so i tightened up the pins and honed it up.... i am leaving the patina on the blade for now because i think it looks sweet with the bone scales....

i am curious as to the approximate age........

gonna give it the first shave in the morning when i wake up....... ....

i am curious as to the approximate age........

The blade looks like others that i´ve seen but with horn instead of celluloid scales.
My guess would be that it´s from the 1880´s maybee late 1870´s.
Regards
Chris

That's a Wosty pipe razor, I have one just like it and it's a killer shaver. One of my best!

Hollow grinding didn't start until the latter part of the 19th century and as I recall Wostenholm closed down in the early 20th century so I would say between 1870 and 1920?

Im at work right now so I don't have my razor books here, but that's about the ballpark IIRC. Others may be able to provide more information.

Originally Posted by Stubear

That's a Wosty pipe razor, I have one just like it and it's a killer shaver.

+1 on that, I actually have one one the classified's...but now I think I will pull it and keep it a while longer. It's soooo hard to let a good razor go!

Originally Posted by docholiday

i am curious as to the approximate age........

The blade looks like others that i´ve seen but with horn instead of celluloid scales.
My guess would be that it´s from the 1880´s maybee late 1870´s.
Regards
Chris

the scales are either bone or horn.... they definitely are not celluloid.....


thanks guys for the ballpark..... i finished up the honing of it last night when i got home.... made a few laps on the .5micron pasted strop then a few *(20ish) laps on the latigo strop and it passed HHT on all parts of the blade...

i tightened the pins last night also so now the blade doesn't just flop around ......

it centers perfectly so i will not be rescaling it..... just cleaning it up a bit........

still can't decide to polish off the patina on the blade.....

Congrats on a nice Wostenholm. Of the lot of razors I purchased at an auction over 20 yrs ago, a Wostenholm Pipe/Superb was one of them. It was the first razor I got a really smooth shave from and still a brand I look forward to suing when they come up in rotation.

I'm sure you already know but for the benefit of the other readers, the HHT is a rewarding test when it works but is not a true test for when a Razor is shave ready. Early in my honing journey it was a fun test to perform when CarrieM and Jr were watching. The HHT has too many variables to be a reliable sharpness test let alone shave ready. The true test is in a shave. Prior to that I test my honing by shaving one arm hair at a time and observe how they are cut. For true sharpness I look for the hair to just fall over dead, not poping off. I try for this level of sharpness from the first hone I use even of it's a bevel setter but not less than 1k. Lots of people that try to base the edge quality on the HHT get lost in the journey and forget where the rubber meets the road, edge to skin during the shave.

Enjoy your Wostenholm. I know I really enjoy mine.

This razor is featured on page three of the http://manah.strazors.com/hsb_catalog.pdf posted by manah. This does not pinpoint the date of your razor, since that same design may have been in production for many years. But it does give you a frame of reference and a visual comparison to the razor you have.

Regards - Walt

Back years ago I had a stub tail pipe so it goes back. My assumption is that it was a Wosty but it wasn't marked other than the pipe on the tang. If yours is marked 'made in England' it is 1881 or later. If not it is pre 1881. Nice piece.

Originally Posted by paco664

i picked this up off evilbay for a song.... it was LOOSE... so i tightened up the pins and honed it up.... i am leaving the patina on the blade for now because i think it looks sweet with the bone scales....

i am curious as to the approximate age........

gonna give it the first shave in the morning when i wake up....... ....

how did you tighten up the pins?

Originally Posted by vvti713

how did you tighten up the pins?

very carefully with a anvil and a peening hammer.... i pressed the scales together right above the pivot pin and then CAREFULLY tapped them with the martillito *(spanish for little hammer) and watched for effect.... took 3 tapping sessions and it was sufficiently tight to hold the blade out @ 90degrees..... i can even shake it up and down without the blade moving....

then i aligned the wedge and repeated the tapping on that end till tight.......



bone scales...



nothing about made in england so it should be pre-1881....




i am super stoked to have this razor.... gonna shave with it in a bit.....