Thread: curious about this old girl

On a rare road trip I found this old girl. The pictures are particularly bad. The tang simply reads Johnson.

Really nice. Just something about those old ones, no matter what, they look good. Lucky you.

Simply because of geography I don't get much of a chance at hitting the junk and antique shops. The few I've seen have netted little, so finding this old girl has me a little stoked. It was a great buy as far as I'm concerned. I got a couple other items that will be up in the next week or so, as well as some better pictures of this one.

Johnson was a good maker and I have a few of the blades. Actually quite common in this area of the country WI. They usually have five * ( asterisks)around the Hammer logo later in production. A Sheffield maker.
I don't have my books handy but IRQC they were making them from about 1810 to 1835 or so. And could be earlier. There was a great overlap in the shapes of the monkeys' tails. The heel caught on in the early decades of the 19th Century. Can't teach an old forge man new tricks.
Well worth the time to clean and hone, they do take a nice edge! To me that is the most pleasant size and shape for my face. Mine have been in rotation for a few years now.
Have fun, If it cleans,and hones you really have a winner.
Give the scales and blade a soak in Neetsfoot oil for a couple days and then wash thoroughly in a citric cleaner like Mr C or suchlike. The Oil helps both release the corrosion and adds color and life to the scales. Then get to it with whatever your cleanup is from there.
Nice find!
~Richard

Looks like there's some good steel left on that stub tail. Congrats on the find.

So in your bathroom you now got shampoo bottles marked "hair", soap container marked "hand" and a razor marked "Johnson"... scary!

Give it a little TLC and I'm sure it will be beautiful, old horn can be very nice!