Thread: McPherson Bros "Hamburg Ring"

McPherson Bros was a Scottish cutler who produced what I like to call "Bastard Razors." The steel was sourced from Sheffield, ground in Germany, then resold back in Glasgow, Scotland.

I have one other McPherson "Frass Razor" and it is easily one of my favorites. This one just came in the mail today and looks to be in fantastic shape. Just a light cleaning and she'll be all set!

13/16 Full Hollow
Blade says "The Hamberg Ring, Try Me"

Looks like a classic to me. I have one or two that look like it.

yup looks nice

Nice razor. We have had threads about the 'Hamburg Ring', and razors with Sheffield steel but 'ground in Germany.' IIRC the Germans had perfected hollow grinding so that advertising a razor as ground in Germany was a good selling point. Also the term 'Hamburg Ring' ........ I originally thought it pertained to the style of grind, but IIRC it refers to a ring of cutlery houses in the vicinity of Hamburg. It could be the other way around, or ..... none of the above.

Yours must have been made before WWII because after the war ground in Germany wasn't such a great advertisement. In that other thread Neil Miller pointed out that there was a lot of ill will back at that time.

Here is my McPherson Brothers, Glasgow, but Made in USA ! I can't prove it but the 'Fluid Steel' would suggest it is a Genco made piece.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Nice razor. We have had threads about the 'Hamburg Ring', and razors with Sheffield steel but 'ground in Germany.' IIRC the Germans had perfected hollow grinding so that advertising a razor as ground in Germany was a good selling point. Also the term 'Hamburg Ring' ........ I originally thought it pertained to the style of grind, but IIRC it refers to a ring of cutlery houses in the vicinity of Hamburg. It could be the other way around, or ..... none of the above.

Yours must have been made before WWII because after the war ground in Germany wasn't such a great advertisement. In that other thread Neil Miller pointed out that there was a lot of ill will back at that time.

Here is my McPherson Brothers, Glasgow, but Made in USA ! I can't prove it but the 'Fluid Steel' would suggest it is a Genco made piece.

That's some pretty interesting information, much appreciated.

As for your razor, that's really neat. Now there's another McPherson I need to find.

Interesting thing, even though yours may be a later US made McPherson, they reused the same etching that is on my other one. But instead of "Frass Razor" yours says "Fluid Steel".



Some minor bad news. I went to un-pin the razor to clean tarnish off of the tang, found a crack on the scales by the pivot.

Tomorrow will bring new scales. I have a few gorgeous pieces of hardwood I can put to use.

I have a McPherson Brothers USA "shorty".
Junk shop find with a cracked blade.
Great shaver.
I always wondered about it.
Thanks for the info.

Shh, keep it a secret. I don't want them all getting bought up!

Originally Posted by Arbroath

Interesting thing, even though yours may be a later US made McPherson, they reused the same etching that is on my other one. But instead of "Frass Razor" yours says "Fluid Steel".

Looked up 'Frass' and it is the excrement from larvae. Didn't make sense applied to the razor, so I went to the Oxford English Dictionary. Frass is derivative of the German Fressen. To devour. So I guess that razor of yours will 'devour' the whiskers' .......

Originally Posted by Arbroath

McPherson Bros was a Scottish cutler who produced what I like to call "Bastard Razors." The steel was sourced from Sheffield, ground in Germany, then resold back in Glasgow, Scotland.

I have one other McPherson "Frass Razor" and it is easily one of my favorites. This one just came in the mail today and looks to be in fantastic shape. Just a light cleaning and she'll be all set!

13/16 Full Hollow
Blade says "The Hamberg Ring, Try Me"

Not sure why but I seem to have an incredible urge to tr that razor!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Looked up 'Frass' and it is the excrement from larvae. Didn't make sense applied to the razor, so I went to the Oxford English Dictionary. Frass is derivative of the German Fressen. To devour. So I guess that razor of yours will 'devour' the whiskers' .......

Ok, that's nothing short of awesome