Another "date this Wade and Butcher" thread

[Jonah]

I just got this in the mail and I was hoping someone could help me with the date. I know it's a pre 1890's as it only has the Sheffield stamp without the England following. The only markings are on the tang stamp which reads "Manufactured by Wade and Butcher Sheffield." Outside of that there isn't any other kind of identiftying marks. If I remember correctly, W&B started getting big on hollow blades around the 1870's. I figured it might be earlier than that since it isn't anywhere near a hollow. So, anyone have an idea on this?



Thanks a bunch.

Cheers

[Voidmonster]

They continued producing meaty wedges well after 1900, actually.

However, those large washers on the scales are a slightly better indicator. Unfortunately, the whole span from about 1850 to 1880 is very hard to get precise with. In the absence of some other stamp or etching that can help pinpoint (like with razors made for a particular store or person), a guess is as good as you can do, and 1870 is a good guess.

[Martin103]

From what im seeing i agree with +- 1870 a picture of the tail might yield different results.

[Jonah]

As embarassing as this sounds, I didn't look at the blade with a very careful eye and missed that there is an etching. It is incredibly faint and I can make out a shield, and what looks like some lettering going around the top of the blade. Nothing else shows up well on the camera. Does this help at all?

[Voidmonster]

As embarassing as this sounds, I didn't look at the blade with a very careful eye and missed that there is an etching. It is incredibly faint and I can make out a shield, and what looks like some lettering going around the top of the blade. Nothing else shows up well on the camera. Does this help at all?

I agree, it looks like a crest of some kind with writing around it, but it's not legible to me.

You might take a piece of 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper, wrap it around a broom handle and use that to lightly sand the surface. Go slow and gentle and you might make the design pop out a little more.

[Jonah]

This is a rough sketch of what the etching looks like

The lettering above the left shield/crest looks like it spell "George" but it is hard to tell. I'll probably do as Voidmonster suggested but I'll start on the heel and see if that clears anything up. I'm mighty curious as to what it could be.

[holli4pirating]

I never use sandpaper for stuff like that. I prefer 000 or 0000 synthetic steel wool with MAAS. It will get of the black stuff (with patience) but won't remove metal. But, then again, I am overly cautious with many things.

[Jonah]

I have some 000 steel wool as well as Mothers. I thought about going over it with the Mothers but I wasn't sure if it would remove the etching. I haven't done anything to the blade yet and I'm definitely still open for suggestions.

[JimmyHAD]

Robert A Doyle's book says that etching of that type began around 1830 and became popular. George might be Washington ....... they made a lot of razors with USA attractive etchings since they imported many of their razors. Not sure when they slowed up on full blade (belly) etchings ?

[Voidmonster]

Robert A Doyle's book says that etching of that type began around 1830 and became popular. George might be Washington ....... they made a lot of razors with USA attractive etchings since they imported many of their razors. Not sure when they slowed up on full blade (belly) etchings ?

I'm pretty sure that etching was this one:



It's a bit hard to make out (I nabbed it from an auction archive site), but you can sort of see that it's a sideways portrait of Washington. There aren't any coat of arms on it.