I recently bought a Wade & Butcher at the local flea market that had the name stamp almost off the tang and only partially readable. This got me to thinking. Having been a knife maker since before 1980 until last year, I have always been concerned about quality control. That included my name stamp. If the stamp didn't go on properly, it had to be ground off and re done. Of course a razor factory made and stamped blades by the thousands and likely wouldn't take the time to do that. Question is how important was it. And if the makers mark was not of crucial importance then what was. I noticed that this particular blade is really hard also. Could it be that it was a second and they sold them anyway? That doesn't seem good for business. Was the company in trouble and quality suffered. I have seen others over the years with the makers mark messed up. I have a Torry like that now.
Just an observation.