Thread: H Birke Meat Chopper

Originally Posted by engine46

Zak, you're right, after I cleaned it off with some 1k grit Wet or Dry the first letter looks more like an M especially when looking at it in person it looks like an M more than it does an H. The last letter could also be an S. It just might be the way the stamps were made back then.

Sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but I can clarify the issue of the name of the razor. It's H. Birks . I have one like that.

No problem. That is what it is & I was trying to find mine. I just saw it not long ago but I can't find it now but as Zak said in post 4, "The name on the tang is most likely Birks, rather than Birke, as there were lots of Birks running around in Sheffield and no Birkes."
My eyesight is bad & I need a new eye exam. I need a new prescription for my eyeglasses.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

What usually happened is just that the stamps got worn with use, so letters became less distinct over time, or in that case, it looks like it was struck a little too deeply. If you ground about 1/10mm off the surface, the letter would be clearer (I don't recommend doing that though!)

The first letter looks really an awful lot like an M or an H and there aren't any directory listings for an M* or H* Birks.

Now there was a famous Henry Birks, jeweler from Montreal, but the timeframe is wrong for him to have commissioned razors (he was working in the 1860's), and his father's name was Richard. So that's a dead-end. An end that wasn't really ever even alive.

However the apprentice registers show that John Birks apprenticed one Henry Birks (son of Richard -- John's brother?). Henry was freed in 1795, which has him working in a likely time-frame.

There were two other Henrys apprenticed. The first was freed in 1720, meaning he would have caught a nasty case of dead by the time your razor was made and the other never completed his apprenticeship (which began in 1804, to Jonathan Shackerley, a knife maker).

In the apprentice rolls, there are no M* Birks.

So, my best guess is Henry Birks, around 1810.

Originally Posted by engine46

Zak, you're right, after I cleaned it off with some 1k grit Wet or Dry the first letter looks more like an M especially when looking at it in person it looks like an M more than it does an H. The last letter could also be an S. It just might be the way the stamps were made back then.

I did a little bit of research and it seems to me that it is very possibly that this razor is indeed made by “Henry BIRKS” (7, 1786, F1795),
son of “Richard BIRKS”, Owlerton, cutler (deceased), to “John“, razor maker.

Henry (F1795) had 2 brothers, Richard (F1791) & William (F1791), their father Richard, Owlerton, cutler, was deceased ≤1791. It seems to be too much of coincidence that the two brothers Henry & Richard were apprenticed by William & John Birks, razor makers…
It seems to me the latter are “William BIRKS” (F1774/1783) & “John” (F1786), sons of “William BIRKS” (F1748, †1783). I wouldn’t be surprised if “Richard, Owlerton, cutler”, was a brother of “William BIRKS” (F1774/1783) & “John” (F1786)…

https://historyrazors.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/birks/

Yeah, I could tell it said "H. Birks". That is a nice piece of Sheffield history. I'd love to have it. That stubby tang tells me it is quite old. I agree with the early 1800's, for sure. Big, fat wedges/near wedges are probably my favorite ones. I'll post my 31/32 size W. Greaves and Sons later.

Damn! That is a great razor.