Thread: 2 more Ohio-made razors added

NOTE: I guess "Ohio-Made" is inaccurate... only the Clauss would be Ohio-made... the other two are just branded for Ohio companies.

I have not been at this as long as most of you all, and am learning a great deal from this forum.

Since beginning, I have acquired 2 Bokers, 1 Wostenholm, 1 Clauss (purchased yesterday), one that was branded for Smith Bros. Hdwe. Col, O (my first purchase; it had no scales, so I made some from Rosewood) and one that was branded for Shefleich & Co. St. Louis, USA , and a blade branded for Mann & Co. Columbus, O (it is stamped LIMITED Made in Germany). The two last two were purchased today).

The first photo includes the three Ohio-made razors. (TOP: Smith Bros. Hdwe. Co. Col, O in Rosewood), The Mann blade (marked LIMITED Made in Germany, Mann & Co. Columbus, O) will soon be set in the ebony scales that the Boker 346 is wearing (see next pic), as I have original Boker scales coming for that one, and BOTTOM, Clauss w/ covered tang, marked Clauss, Fremont, O.





The last photo shows all of my razors, except an eBay razor (marked FAULTLESS), which was listed as a W&B razor.



TOP L: Boker, branded for Schmidt & Zielgler in Remscheid, and marked "OUR BEST," with ivory covered tang and scalloped spine. Boker dates it at 1900.
TOP R: H. Boker & Co. No. 346, Germany; and marked "EXTRA HOLLOW GROUND, Fully Warranted," set in ebony scales (made by me)
MIDDLE L: Geo. Wostenholm & Son IXL, Sheffield, ENG
MIDDLE R: Branded by (?) for Shefleich Hdw.Co., St. Louis, U.S.A.
BOTTOM L: Clauss, Fremont, O w/ covered tang (blade etched with "Clauss" and "Trade Mark" (ADDED YESTERDA)
BOTTOM R: Branded by (?) for Smith Bros. Hdwe. Co. Columbus, O; and marked "OUR VERY BEST" Concaved; set in Rosewood scales (made by me).
BOTTOM: Branded by (?) for Mann & Co., Columbus, O; and marked "LIMITED" and "Made in Germany" (ADDED TODAY)

All told, I have $89.00 in all of these (mind you, the two Bokers were given to me by a friend)

That's a respectable collection, especially for a new guy but I can't help but notice that there's a lack of Swedes.

Yes, a good start, but alas, not a single Wade and Butcher?

More for me I guess.....

Baxxer, Thank you! Actually, I have stumbled onto all of these except the Wosterholm IXL. I had been watching it on the bay.

I would love to add a Swede (or 3) to my collection. What names should I watch for?

Nice collection sir !!!!!

Welcome to the SRD forum.
It appears that you have done very well with your $89.
I hope you have deep pockets though, because SRD really stands for straight razor disease.
It looks like you will be infected for awhile!!

Phrank, I actually have bid on a few, as my barber put me onto them. I had bought one on the bay that was listed as a W&B, in a W&B box, but when it arrived, it was not a W&B, but simply stamped "FAULTLESS" with no other markings. Scales were obviously plastic. The seller was gracious enough to refund the purchase price.

In short, I am STILL looking for a reasonable price on a W&B

Pretty much any Swedish blade is guaranteed to be a great shaver as long as it is in good or at least decent condition.

The most coveted Eskiltuna maker is probably C.V Heljestrand, excellent shavers and the MK series are in my opinion some of the most beautiful razors around.

I own several Heljestrands, Klas Törnbloms, Hellbergs and also an SSA that I haven't had a chance to try out yet, thus far, I'm more partial to the Heljestrands and the Törnbloms(from my stable of Swedish and English blades), if you want a bigger bang for your buck I'd go for a Törnblom(or any other more obscure brand) since you can usually get them for a better price than a Heljestrand.

Some other Swedish names to look out for are in no particular order and not exclusive to; Engström, Erik Anton Berg, Dahlgren and Söderén.