Thread: Wade & Butcher FBU????????

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

With all this abbreviation talk on that one thread, I was hoping someone would call me out. The little kid in me thought it was funny.
Neats foot oil
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Yellow/Green vintage thuringian



Phrank, do you think this was the original grind?

I think it is the original in the sense that it has been re-ground like this one, but as I was mentioning to Sharpton, I have two of these FBU's, one is a wedge and the one like yours is a hollow...here's the one ( a hollow grind) that I have that looks like yours only with the spike point not muted...I'm sure it's the same type of blade.

It just smacked me right in the face! Take a look at my pics, I believe the whole razor was thinned down from a wedge. These would be the original scales, and you can see where they have run them into the grinding wheel creating a flat spot on both scales, at the pivot end. You can also see where they stopped on the tang, close to the pivot as well. Phrank, on your hollow ground the grinding stops right where the heel meets the tang, mine is further down onto the blade. The whole blade length seems shortened too, and is not in proportion with the rest of the Razor. Someone definitely was grinder happy. But, alas, they did a super job.

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

It just smacked me right in the face! Take a look at my pics, I believe the whole razor was thinned down from a wedge. These would be the original scales, and you can see where they have run them into the grinding wheel creating a flat spot on both scales, at the pivot end. You can also see where they stopped on the tang, close to the pivot as well. Phrank, on your hollow ground the grinding stops right where the heel meets the tang, mine is further down onto the blade. The whole blade length seems shortened too, and is not in proportion with the rest of the Razor. Someone definitely was grinder happy. But, alas, they did a super job.

I think you're bang on...it just struck me the other day when I found the FBU above, I had them confused and when I organized some blades, I found the one in the pic...then pulled out the other one, same blade, same tang stamp FBU, one a wedge and this one a hollow???

Think you have a winner....

No matter, it is going to be a great shaver. I tend to agree with the regrind FBU bet though.

Looks to me like it said Wade & Butcher, For Barbers Use.......................no doubt about it!! I too believe it's a regrind.
Great score Harry!

You mentioned doing a "three day bath in NFO". I have soaked whole razors (scales, blades, and all) in neatsfoot oil but I have a hard time getting them "dry" afterwards. They continue to ooze oil for days and weeks after. I have switched to just lightly coating the scales with NFO, using my fingertips/Q-tips/pipe cleaners/etc. and letting the razor sit out, re-applying NFO every day for a few days. I would rather soak the scales so the oil really gets in around the pivot and wedge. Do you have any suggestions for wiping down razors once you take them out of the NFO bath?

Originally Posted by goldragon

You mentioned doing a "three day bath in NFO". I have soaked whole razors (scales, blades, and all) in neatsfoot oil but I have a hard time getting them "dry" afterwards. They continue to ooze oil for days and weeks after. I have switched to just lightly coating the scales with NFO, using my fingertips/Q-tips/pipe cleaners/etc. and letting the razor sit out, re-applying NFO every day for a few days. I would rather soak the scales so the oil really gets in around the pivot and wedge. Do you have any suggestions for wiping down razors once you take them out of the NFO bath?

I've only ever soaked about 4 or 5 razors in Neats foot oil. I've never had the problem you speak of. All I do is wipe them down with paper towel, fold it and run it through the scales as well. I then blast it at the pivot with an air duster to remove any access there as well. Continue to wipe down until it's dry.

This razor has been heavily reground, reshaped, reprofiled, you name it. Probably had a barbers notch, which was lost when all the mass of the blade was taken off. In regrinding it was very common to grind on the rest of the blade too, hence taking off the makers mark (if it was done without un-pinning, if you unpin it you should see a very different looking area of metal that was covered by the scsales). You can tell right away by the finish of the metal and the muddled lines on the tang.

I think you might be able to get a little more of the makers marks with some 2500-3000 wet or dry sandpaper. Then take pic. I have done that before & it worked!

Lots of the ones reground thin from old wedges lost the barber's notch in the process. One reason we don't see super-thin grinds with notches is the support for the notch is simply not there. It would definitely weaken the end of the blade.
If done right, They are awesome!