Thread: I just opened the mail...

Originally Posted by Dzanda

...and was happy to find these:

An 8" (!) Swaty in great shape!

Attachment 165334

A Savigny Warranted (I like the tang)

Attachment 165335

A Hilger & Sons. I like the etch and scales (they're badly warped, but don't interfere with the blade)

Attachment 165333

[All photos from eBay]

Now I know who beat me on the swaty awesome 8" isn't it

Mea culpa!


And yes, it is!

Originally Posted by Substance

Now I know who beat me on the swaty awesome 8" isn't it

Zak...that BRAND reminds me of the "device" John Weiss invented to insure his certain death... I dug up the info when I owned the London Bridge Set by Weiss as well as one other Gentlemen's set...

From John Weiss Wiki entry:

John Weiss had a morbid fear of being buried alive, and to guard against this eventuality fashioned an instrument to penetrate his heart when the coffin was closed. Detailed instructions to this end were left in his will. John Weiss died on 26 December 1843 and was buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas' Church, Brighton with his surgeon Benjamin Vallance in attendance to carry out his wishes

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Can you get a better picture of the Savigny's tang? My guess is it's most likely 1830's. Definitely a regrind, and while I agree with the others that I'd rather have a razor in its original grind, a lot of period regrinds are amazing shavers.

Savigny was a London outfit. They primarily made surgical equipment and had a really cushy government contract or two. They were also one of the first companies whose razors were advertized by name in the states.


February 3rd, 1801 - City Gazette, Charleston, SC

The company was probably founded around 1720. Despite the name, the family is quite British, and the company still exists. They were a major deal with London's Worshipful Company of Cutlers.

There's all kinds of skullduggery about steel formulas and alternate founders and whatnot, but by the time your razor was made it was all pretty straight forward. They were a company producing cutlery in London.

They also made this brand for army deserters.







(The screw in the end is blue because it still has ink on it -- branding in this case was a tattooed capital letter D, with serifs)

You can read more about the tool here.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

*SNIP*
Can you get a better picture of the Savigny's tang? My guess is it's most likely 1830's. Definitely a regrind, and while I agree with the others that I'd rather have a razor in its original grind, a lot of period regrinds are amazing shavers.
*SNIP*

Here you go, there's nothing on the tang's backside; I tossed in a view that demonstrates the grind:

I'm hopeful that this will turn out to be a good shave...despite some uneven hone wear, the bevel and edge are in surprisingly good shape (there's a tiny bit of a frown toward heel), though my arm hair has nothing to fear from it for now. My biggest concern is that the horn scales are really bug eaten, and there are some areas that are pretty darned thin and fragile appearing.

Originally Posted by gugi

*SNIP*

What are you gonna do with the swaty? You know the regular ones recommend only 5-6 laps, on this one you'll be done before you start

I think you're right! I just compared it to my Velvet Edge barber's hone:

It's a good thing that I have big hands!

Originally Posted by Dzanda

Here you go, there's nothing on the tang's backside; I tossed in a view that demonstrates the grind:

I'm hopeful that this will turn out to be a good shave...despite some uneven hone wear, the bevel and edge are in surprisingly good shape (there's a tiny bit of a frown toward heel), though my arm hair has nothing to fear from it for now. My biggest concern is that the horn scales are really bug eaten, and there are some areas that are pretty darned thin and fragile appearing.

I bet it hones up and shaves great.

If you feel like fixing the scales, I suggest grinding up a broken piece of horn scale until it's a powder. Pack that powder down into the cavities, then very carefully drip thin cyanoacrylate glue onto it. It'll wick down in incredibly fast and harden almost instantly to a consistency that's a good deal tougher than horn or CA glue by itself. Than you can sand that down and dye it (I use India ink, but I've been told RIT dye works even better).

Once you've done the process a few times, it's pretty easy. If you need some practice pieces and donor horn, gimme a shout and I can send you some.