Thread: a tortoise pressed scales razor

Thanks for sharing your razor, the scales really are quite amazing.

I wish I knew Bill!

I have seen carved wooden moulds used to impress buttons, but only two sets of dies used for horn-pressing: both were steel/iron, but they only had basic scale shapes, no carving.

The early die-sets were cramped together by hand, but there is evidence of later presses being operated by steam power.

However, the main requirement of a die-set is that it is made from a harder material than it is impressing. Some of the old scales die-sets were three-piece affairs: upper and lower stout steel plates with the screw-tightening attachments with a plate in between. If the inner plate was used as a cutter, ie having apertures to cut both sides of a razor scale, then it could be double height and incorporate an insert made of a more easily worked material - say brass or such like. These would be the pieces that were worked on by the die-maker to press intricate patterns into the hot, plastic horn. Putting a sheet of hot horn on the hot sole plate and
topping this with the aperture plate containing the dies and then the top plate (all heated) would produce a set of pressed horn scales in one go. The plates were usually heated and the horn would get to the point where it would run - I have read of it seeping from the sides of the press. So nothing got wasted, I presume. That was certainly the case with pressed horn buttons, that were punched out in sheets of buttons at one go. In fact 'pressed-horn' is a misnomer with regard to buttons, as they generally used animal hooves treated, cut and worked up into a plate using wet heat - hooves are softer and more malleable than horn by all accounts.

All that is just guesswork, though. I don't think that there are any surviving examples of elaborately worked dies for razor scales, but they did exist. In fact some must have been made from steel, as there are examples of pressed-wood scales that have exactly the same designs as the pressed horn scales.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the art of the die-maker especially with regard to horn pressing was held in such high esteem that a guild of horn-pressers enforced a rule that practitioners could not emigrate, thus taking their skills abroad for others to garner. With such a degree of secrecy it is not surprising that much of the art is lost to us. There is one often quoted book about the Sheffield Horn Industry by Wilmot Taylor, but it is long out of print and commands outlandish prices when available.

Regards,
Neil

Great info,Thank you.One would think the making of the dies was a laborious Process and you would see many more scale examples with the same exact stampings.
Not just a one off,would love to see a set of those dies.

Here are some pressed horn. The butt-plate came from my grandad's shotgun. It sat in a corner for years and the beetles had a field day! Luckily, I found a nice replacement.
It seems some, such as the Sheaf Works, were pressed harder than others, making them a bit too dense for the bugs. I have several Sheaf Works with no damage at all.

I would guess that "bug bites" are more a result of how/where the razor was stored rather than the density of the horn. I have have seen many typical horn scales that have made it unscathed over the centuries. They were probably stored in their coffins or some other impervious case that kept out the carpet beetles. But, all things considered, I don't mind a little decorative gnawing. It kinda gives an old razor a little character.

Regards - Walt

Wow, how did I see this just now. I recently got a razor with the same scales. http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...n-cossack.html

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Wow, how did I see this just now. I recently got a razor with the same scales. http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...n-cossack.html

Many many thanks ScienceGuy, ever is usefull teke more than one vision about the things. Nevertheless I´m getting (I say one, you say ten...then I say three, you say eigth...jejejeje...) anothe razor with the eagle in brass, a bit diferent, over horn scales and with the rest seems 1800-1830. Not the samecause I think in this case the eagle could refers USA independence war, I´ll show it you in the next days, as soon as I´ll restored the scales, are a bet crashed ad eated, you know? Many thanks and regards

Wow! Stop by SRP and get a science/history lesson all in one! Very good information and many thanks to everyone for sharing.

Sure. I liked a lot with the new about UK uses cosacs in the war against france. All our history is into our more simple usefull objets, Etno-archeology, isn´t it? regards