Wade & Butcher time frame??

I have been straight shaving for about 8 months now and have been very pleased with it!!! Starting with my 5/8ths sway-back W&B going to a Bismarck, and now I am so excited I was able to pick up my first chopper at a VERY discounted rate in my opinion.
I am very curious how long this razor has been around. There are 2 W&B 9/8'ths choppers in these pics and mine is the one w/o the barber’s notch. So the barber's notch razor belongs to one of the members here who provides restorations and was kind enough to lend me it for a trial run!!! (Stays nameless unless he would like to be know and can post on here). The ground on his is like a 1/4th hollow. The grind on mine is seemingly a full hollow. Don’t know if this is common for the choppers but I think this might be the first full hollow I have seen. The owner of the other razor was confused about the timeframe of mine because of the no barber’s notch? Thanks for your help in this matter.

Str8Shvr

If your razor has the word 'England' stamped at the tang, which it doesn't appear to, then it is post 1891. If not, then it is pre-1891.

Correct neither of them say Sheffield England just Sheffield

My guess is it used to have a barber notch and someone just decided they didn't like it :) I've never seen one like that before.

Both of these razors are mid-late 1800s. 1860-1880, my guess. As for hollow grinds.. ehh, I wouldn't necessarily call that a full hollow grind, maybe more like a 1/2 hollow. as the years past grinds got more and more hollow... by 1900 almost all razors being manufactured were full hollow.

edit: I'd be interested to see a pic of the blade closed. how much of a gap between end of blade and wedge?

Yeah, it looks to me as if the top one has been shortened just a little bit, removing the notch, for whatever reason.

The non-Barber's Notch blade in your photos even appears to have been shortened a bit. I have a few like that that don't seem to me to have been shortened and extended fully into their scales. I'll have to give them a better look, not to mention measuring them, to see whether they have been, in fact, shortened. One lives and learns.

From what I can see, the top one is a Celebrated Hollow ground, but does not have Barber's use on the blade. I have seen these in 1 inch before, sans notch and a bit shorter. The scales are always the same, though, making the things seem short. I think it is possible it is not a Barber's use, but a different model altogether?

As for the Gap I would say its 1/8 closed but the point almost hits the wedge as it closes. No where on the razor dose it say "for barber's use" Didn't have any idea that W&B made blades that big unless it was for the barber crew. For the grind I guess I just figured that about 1/2 of a 9/8's blade was full hollow but I am still new to terminology ;). I also figured mine was older because the shoulder is smaller and the place where W&B Sheffield stamp is, is much smaller as well as opposed to the blade w/ the notch.

I feel a smaller tang is indicative of a non "barber's use"as well. Sweet razor, for certain! If you were to measure from the stabilizer to the inside of the notch on the bottom blade, and from the stabilizer to the end of the blade on the top one it would be telling!

If that is the case that it is not a barber's razor. It would be the first i have seen that is of this size. Woohoo I have a 1 of a kind!!! ;)

Geez, I need to take a look at my W&Bs. I thought I had some that were both 'Celebrated' and 'For Barbers' Use'. I'll take a look and get back to this thread.

Well, They are out there!. What I feel you have is the Big Celebrated! You could call it "for str8shvr's use" ;) .....get it on.....Tom

Zack, I love the responses you are getting thus far, everyone is searching for the answer and still no real clue, so far, so good, it just may be.....One of a kind!


signed, Nameless in Kansas City

there you go all the nameless and lender of the true for barber's use blade is the big horse Nun2Sharp! Guy sharpens all my razors and let me tell you they are all perfect when they come home!!!

Dont know if there is enough room there for a barbers notch to have been removed... but what do i know ;)

I have seen W&B "Celebrated" with and without the 'Barber's Use' and with notch point and square point. Your square point does look a bit short when seen next to the notch point but hard to say looking at the photos. Enjoy the shave. Nothing like shaving with a razor made in the 1850s. If they could talk what tales they could tell.

Edit, from the way it fits in the scales I would say it has not been shortened. And pardon me for saying so but that ain't no horse .... looks like a Missouri mule to me. :rofl2:

I don't see any problem. Nice razor with square point.
Only one thing, the blade is hollow ground. Such blades began to make since 1870s.
I had the similar W & B "For Barbers Use".

I won a stub tail WB in excellent condition! This will be my earliest razor (or a old english...not sure).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170691079329

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170691079329...84.m1439.l2649

Jcsixx did that one get to you as you had hoped? 125$$ sounds like a lot for that blade but if your going for old I guess you nailed it ;).