Thread: Say hello to my little friend.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Knob and tube? Sounds a bit archaic?

It's from the same era as hand tuned carburetors!

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

It's not that old. Mid 1950's, but the wiring hadn't ever been updated. And the asbestos hadn't been removed either. WHEEEEEE!

That's the stuff I pay professionals to do. The main reason we got this particular house isn't so much because it's older, but because of this:

Attachment 231761

1/2 an acre and a view?

Originally Posted by RezDog

1/2 an acre and a view?

More like a tenth of an acre, but we can see from Rockaway beach to the Marin headlands from our back yard.

(That's a wide stretch of Northern California coastline)

Okay. More razor stuff.



George Palmer made fancy, fancy stuff for dudes who didn't even know how much money they had. He made stuff directly for the various royals and their buzzing cloud of hopefuls.

His shop moved around a bit, starting out at 20 St. James Street in the late 1700's, then moving to 1 St. James by 1814. After his death in the late 1820's, his son moved the business to 85 Oxford Street.

It should be noted that the neighborhood was then and is now just a tad posh.

I'll get around to what the Magog stuff is about later. The razor was most likely made in the early 1820's, but I'm still digging. There are some things that make me think it might be earlier.

For now, I'll satisfy Tom's desperate need of more pictures.





As almost always happens with BIG razors in ivory scales, the razor has cracked the scales at the point. In this case it cuts right through the scrimshaw, but I don't expect it to be any problem to fix. At least not once I've got a workshop again.



The manufacturer's stamp. And you can see what a completely original 1820ish crocus polish looked like. Holy moly!




Jimps all the way to the end of the tail on the top and the bottom!

The blade has a few tiny splotches of rust on it, and you can see from the jimp pictures that the razor has actually been used (there's trace rust circles at the pivot), but I don't think it was ever honed but at the factory. The bevel is about half a millimeter wide, and this razor is the better part of 9/8. It weighs a figurative ton, being as thick as the W&B FBU and almost a half-inch longer blade (from heel to point).

I like how the scrimshaw doesn't quite fit on the width of the scales, as though the giant Magog was just too big to fully capture.

Another beauty Zak, custom made for Magog going by the size of it.

Another thing about this razor: it came to me surprisingy sharp for an unused razor pushing 200 years old. It'll cut arm hair at the root.

So I scraped my cheek and it chopped a few whiskers.

The bevel is the width of a whisker.



Also, a nice up-close view of that crocus polish.

Not exactly sure what I am looking at but I'm liking it anyway just because the earlier pics are so incredible and huge that one like wasn't enough.

Originally Posted by WW243

Not exactly sure what I am looking at but I'm liking it anyway just because the earlier pics are so incredible and huge that one like wasn't enough.

You're seeing two whiskers on the bevel edge, and their reflection in the surface of the blade. Due to skin oil, they're both stuck directly onto the metal, so there's no gap between whisker and razor surface. One whisker is at an angle the other is dangling a bit over the edge.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

You're seeing two whiskers on the bevel edge, and their reflection in the surface of the blade. Due to skin oil, they're both stuck directly onto the metal, so there's no gap between whisker and razor surface. One whisker is at an angle the other is dangling a bit over the edge.

Man, no wonder I didn't guess what it was...I thought it was a tiny blackboard, a bit of Santa Claus' beard, a rice husk, and a partial whiteout.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Fortunately, I don't need to repaint the entire interior of the house, but my wife and I are completely repainting the two offices and the dining room.

What? That's not what you meant?

Oh yeah.

The scrimshaw says "MAGOG", one of the two mythical giants who protect London (the other being Gog -- no one really knows how two biblical cities became giants in England).

I think it was made in 1823, but it might well be earlier. GR stamps were well and truly in use during George III's time, as it turns out.

Slightly wrong.

Gog and Magog are old testament characters.

Gogmagog is the giant of London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gogmagog_%28giant%29

The names are often confused. So it's not a surprise to see just Magog. Typical of English folklore names can switch. And this switching of these names happens pretty much in the 1700's. The stories are much older.

Gog/Gogmagog normally has a flail, Magog/Corineus usually has a lance or halberd.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corineus

I personally think it's the Magog/Corineus character you have there. He is the victor of the stories.

I wouldn't worry too much about what character is displayed tho. It's a guildhall piece. And a very fine example, Probably of museum quality with that super wide blade and good scrim work.