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Recently I had a Joseph Rogers 'The Royal Razor' turn up to me, and I think it may have Ivory scales on it, but I'm not 100% certain.
The razor is heavily pitted but shaves beautifully! I'll let the pictures do the talking to start with, but if you need more info I will give what I can.
Luke
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They do look like ivory, but the light in the pics is makes it hard to say for sure.
Take a pic in bright sunlight at an oblique angle.
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by Zephyr
From those photos, I agree.
A beautiful razor, just needs cleaning.
You'll find JR&S are some of the finest shavers out there.
Yep! that sure does look like Ivory. I have a matching pair of 5/8 JR&S in Ivory.
Here are some pics taken in sunlight.
Thanks for all the feedback so far! :)
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Nice looking stuff for sure,But Ivory???
may be Galalith?
It may be as thin as the scales are and the absence of washers, hard to tell without having them in my hands.
If it has tiny little pores in the material, they are bone. If they have a faint grain pattern to them and no little pores, they are ivory. But they are definitely one of the two.
From what I have seen so far ivory scales are always thin whereas bone is usually thicker, but as posted above pores usually indicate bone.
exactly the reason for me thinking that they are ivoryQuote:
Originally Posted by nun2sharp
no pores, it's definitely not bone, feels different to bone. There could be a grain there but it's a bit hard to tellQuote:
Originally Posted by sheffieldlover
Without grain it could very well be a men made product to mimic ivory!
Looks like bone to me.
we need better pics than the last set
close up of the pin area will confirm or rule out bone.
My bet would be white cow horn,have had some wackers in same material and they looked identicle to the above,sort of translucent.
This was going to be my next question... was / is there much 'faking of ivory'?Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
How can you tell if it is Galalith?Quote:
Originally Posted by Haza
Looking at it up to the light there seems to be a pattern of long lines running the length of the scales with a slight curve to them. Some spots you can see it others you can't.
Is this the grain of ivory (never seen ivory grain before)?
I'll see if I can get a picture of it along with a good close up of the pin area.
I think ive heard they made scales out of milk somewhere, they also used milk to do the floors a long time ago. didnt know the name was Galalith so i added the link, so thx for helping me with the name for it and also the guy asking here. THX. named: Galalith: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galalith
Ivory grain is pretty much just like wood grain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mcduck
if you have straight line my guess is manmade material.
Yes,today it is rampant.But not for razor scales.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mcduck
I couldn't get a picture really showing what I see in the scales properly, so I hunted on Google for it instead. This picture is NOT my razor, but it is a JR and the scales are almost identical to mine, however the pattern (grain?) in these ones is much more pronounced than mine.
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I have a Wade & Butcher with scales similar to the one above, and were told they were ox bone.
They could very well be ivory,what people want to see is a pronounced grain pattern like you see on Helji 32s etc,But, that is known as gem quality Ivory and today it is very expensive ($1.50/Gm ++) It all depends on how it is cut.
On a tusk section you have the shereger lines, they are only about half an inch deep.
If you have say a 3 lb section of tusk,you have to slab it in such a way as the lines are present in the scale sections,you end up with a core of plain white ivory, usefull but not gem quality,will post a pic shortly.
This slab is about 1/4 thick,imagine it being 7in. long,you slab the outer sections that have the cross hatchings (sheregar lines) than you have highly grained, gem class ivory for scales,the rest is common ivory.
I rarely cut ivory in that manner anymore for scales,is far to expensive.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/schreger.jpg
This is what you end up with,good stuff for sure,but to me it is waste,still very pricey waste tho:)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3.../tuskheart.jpg
Looks like bone to me. Can you take a nice tight closeup of it with good lighting?
+1 on the request for a good macro in good lighting. My guess is ivory based on what I see now. I have 5 ivory razors and as a material it is really unmistakable in the hand. It feels like glass. Bone has distinctive specks of dark coloration where the living tissue had veins of nerve fibre and blood vessels running through it.
The second photograph in the first post has graining that looks an awful like ivory.
Yeah I am not of the opinion that it is bone, I have some camel bone here, and it is nothing like that (no pores as someone else put it).Quote:
Bone has distinctive specks of dark coloration where the living tissue had veins of nerve fibre and blood vessels running through it.
Horn? - Not too sure as I don't have any horn to compare it to.
Here are some more photos (of my razor) Trying to show the pattern I see. It sort of fades out towards the middle of the scales (talking pin to pin) and is more visible at the toe end of the scales not so much at the tang / pivot end.
Sorry that the photos aren't as good as some here on the forum, unfortunately I don't have much experience with macro. But I guess I should learn now!
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I take back the bone, Ivory it is, IMHO
I'm gonna say ivory too. Been watching this thread and the last pics convinced me. The way the scales are pinned along with the wedge, the thinness, and FINALLY a good pic of the color.
NICE razor.
Here's a couple of JR's of mine.
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...SET/JRSET6.jpg
Thx for the last pics,nice Ivory scales.
Thanks guys, sorry it took so long to get decent pictures! at least I know 2 things now.
1 How to take acceptable razor shots
2 what ivory looks like as scales
Luke
Beautiful ivory scales!
Big +1 here. Unmistakable!Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
