To Restore or Leave Alone

I bought this the other day.
The seller said thus: "I purchased a group of Civil War items at auction recently, and this is part of that collection. The wooden handle appears to be a Gabon Ebony, with some expected age and fading. There is a legible inscription scribed into one side of the handle, it appears to have been wriiten twice over, both read the same "A E Edwards Mr." and "3/4"The blade is stamped "MANUFACTURED BY WADE & BUTHCER, SHEFFIELD" The blade itself is 7/32" thick by 3/4" wide. When unfolded, evrything measures 9 1/2" long."
With this being said the question is do I restore the razor and the scales or because of the history behind it do I leave as is?? What do you guys think??
Attachment 87741Attachment 87742Attachment 87743Attachment 87744

You can see in the 1st photo the writing scratched into the wood..

Looks like all it needs is some neatsfoot rubbed into the scales anyways. I'd leave it as is. Not for the historical reason, but just cause it's not in need of anything requiring a teardown. Then again, I'm rather boring in general, and not prone to taking things apart unless they are broken.

if it were mine, I would use with scales as is! thats a cool piece of history! enjoy!

Are you sure the razor is Civil War period? it looks newer than that to me. Of course I'm no expert on this stuff.

Blade is clean and shiny, the scales are good looking and fully functional, hone it and shave :)

I would make certain of what the scales are made of first, if Horn use Neatsfoot oil, if Wood use a good wax...

All I have to go on is what the seller said. I know it's not 20th century.

What about Tung oil for finish on the ebony??

Oil finishes ie : Tung oil, Teak oil, Danish Oil, tend to get splotchy when applied to old wood with an unknown finish on there.. If you were going to restore it then any of those would be good, but if you are just planning on protecting what is there, my first recommendation is Renaissance Wax and second would be good ole Johnson's paste wax

If asked, I would guess more like 1880-1890 given the blade shape and grind. Scales look like horn from here..... sweet razor, I just don't think Civil War. Get it honed and enjoy it.

Tsunami : How do you know the scales are ebony? They could be horn which would make the time frame more accurate..
Wet a piece of sandpaper & sand a spot on the inside of the scales. If you get a pale sludge that smells like wet dog , they are horn.

Leave as is, hone and shave. I beautiful Wade & Butcher, regardless of the exact age.

The scales look like horn from here too. Later or not (and I think it is because of the hollow grind and longer tail), it looks like it could be a good one.

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

Leave as is, hone and shave. I beautiful Wade & Butcher, regardless of the exact age.

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I bought a Wade & Butcher at an auction. I've heard good things about the steel. The scales are made of wood and have warped to the point that the blade is difficult to close without catching the edge. I am a tinkerer, so I thought I would experiment and make a new set of scales.

Can anyone tell me a source for scale materials? Something really nice like maybe Abalone?

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After a little more research I realize that abalone may be too rare to find. I'll keep looking for other materials.

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Originally Posted by Crotalus

I bought a Wade & Butcher at an auction. I've heard good things about the steel. The scales are made of wood and have warped to the point that the blade is difficult to close without catching the edge. I am a tinkerer, so I thought I would experiment and make a new set of scales.

Can anyone tell me a source for scale materials? Something really nice like maybe Abalone?

>>>>>

After a little more research I realize that abalone may be too rare to find. I'll keep looking for other materials.

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Again the scales may be horn which is prone to warping & was the standard scale material on those razors.
If you're a tinkerer & they are horn you could attempt to reshape them. Fixing warped horn scales - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Laminated veneer abalone can be bought from Masecraft http://www.masecraftsupply.com/Merch...y_Code=LVSACRS

I'm pretty sure the seller already did some cleanup and/or restoration work on it.
To what extent or how well, I can't say.

I ripped a bunch of African pear wood for scale making. I have enough to do a seven day set. I'm thinking of getting some WBs that need restoring and make myself a matching set.

Oh BTW it turned out the scales on the WB that started this thread are indeed horn...

I was just thinking, they sure do look like horn as well.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Again the scales may be horn which is prone to warping & was the standard scale material on those razors.
If you're a tinkerer & they are horn you could attempt to reshape them. Fixing warped horn scales - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Laminated veneer abalone can be bought from Masecraft http://www.masecraftsupply.com/Merch...y_Code=LVSACRS

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I saw that link and how to tell if they were horn or not. Even if I straighten them out I doubt they will every look like anything. I have very little money in the razor, so I thought it would be a good one to learn on.

Thanks. Info much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Tsunami

I bought this the other day. The seller said thus: "I purchased a group of Civil War items at auction recently, and this is part of that collection.

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At every auction I've attended, the auction house will group items into lots when a consigner drops off many small items. My guess is that they put together similar vintage appearance things and then called it a "Civil War lot". They will justify that if there is one legit Civil War item like a mangled button or Minie ball in with the rest. Just part of the game and gaff for new auction goers.

Unfortunately, attribution is everything and without independent verification showing that razor was actually part of a soldier's kit, there is no history attached to it, just their story. (As an aside, the Civil War tale is rampant at gun shows and thrown out a lot to bump up values.) Regardless, your razor looks like a really nice one to me. I am new to this but that one would certainly go in my "keep" pile if I ended up with it.

I gave the scales a light sanding to clean the gunk off. It did enhance the mans name of Edwards

Cool! I have the exact same razor.I can see no differences between mine and yours.Except that my blade is not that shiny at all! I was thinking the scales on mine were horn,but wasn't sure.Maybe they are after all! I found mine at an antique mall for $15

Great buy! Yeah they are horn. It has quickly become one of my favorites

I can deffinitely see a grain, it looks like wood to me. Strange though, never seen old wooden scales, it would have to be very hard wood, and ebony fits in with that.

When I first saw my scales(same as Tsunami's)I thought they were wooden also.But when you hold them up to the light they are somewhat opaque,which made me think horn.

Oh yeah, lol, no wood is opaque. Its horn for sure, I guess I need glasses

HAHA! No. I'm sure your eyes are fine.It's kinda hard to see opaque-ness via internet =)

I've never seen wood that wasn't opaque. :confused:

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Originally Posted by 1800sRazorCollection

I can deffinitely see a grain, it looks like wood to me. Strange though, never seen old wooden scales, it would have to be very hard wood, and ebony fits in with that.

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Here are some old , wooden scales .

None of them are ebony , though .Attachment 88466Attachment 88467Attachment 88468Attachment 88469

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Originally Posted by Jimbo7

I've never seen wood that wasn't opaque. :confused:

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You can see through wood?Or am I wrong on the definition of opaque?:hmmm:Yes,I was.I was thinking translucent.Thanks for setting me straight

Dave,thats one beautiful razor there!Wow! That's a lot of blade bevel! LOL

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Originally Posted by shinyribs

Dave,thats one beautiful razor there!Wow! That's a lot of blade bevel! LOL

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Thanks , you must mean the first one .

It's a Wade & Butcher . if the light hits it right , you can make out what remains of the blade etch which says ,"Wade & Butcher's , celebrated , fine India steel razor" . It's a wedge grind , and the tang is stamped Sheffield , England so it has to date after 1890 .

I didn't do that bevel . Except for cleaning it up with Flitz , it's in the same condition I got it in , and it's butter knife dull . LOL

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Originally Posted by 1800sRazorCollection

I can deffinitely see a grain, it looks like wood to me. Strange though, never seen old wooden scales, it would have to be very hard wood, and ebony fits in with that.

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Horn can have grain-like texture to it, as well.