Thread: Found some old straight razors! Looking for some insight on them!!

Hi, I am an antique collector/picker. Came across a bag in an old farmhouse that had these inside. Some of the writing is hard to see but hoping with the expertise on this site we can identify the ones that are hard to read, and maybe learn about them. Tried to provide close ups of the hard to read ones, I'll try my best to help! Looking forward to everyone's information. Thank you.

The eagle razor and uncle sams fav show some promise. They other look a little too heavy in the rust but you can give it a scrub and check it out. Uncle Sams Favorite looks like it may have the reminants of of a Joseph Rogers stamp.mmhard to tell from those pictures though. Rub the stamp a little with some 1000 grit sand paper.

i think if you found that bag 50 years ago you might have been in luck.
Not so today,.....sorry

I think one or two of them are worth cleaning up to use but not for show pieces.

Third from the bottom is a W&B Bow razor. The Bow was in production from 1830 to 1919 or there abouts.
They, like all W&Bs, are good razors. I doubt if this one is salvageable. But, you never know till the sandpaper hits the metal.

I would give them a soak in Evaporust first. The last two might be saved but not without a good bit of work.

The W&B box may be your only shot.

Nice haul. Not great, but if ya didn't pay much, still plenty to be happy about. If your camera has a "Macro" setting (represented by a small flower), that usually helps a ton when trying to get close-up pics of razors.

The first is another Bow razor. Almost missed the tang stamp.

The second is a George Wostenholm & Son. The blade is almost certainly shot. The scales are celluloid, and breaking down chemically, causing the wicked rust seen. You aren't required to toss it, but the scales will continue to gass-off, causing corrosion to nearby metal.

Third is a Durham Dublex Demonstrator, a hair shaper used by stylists & such. Little-to-no collectable interest.

The fourth appears to be a "Hollow Ground" Wade & Butcher. Some extra fine (0000 grade) steel wool can help clean some of the rust off, with little risk to the razors.

If you are not experienced in restoration of fine antiques, you could send the more promising two out to be worked on. There might even be a forum member in your neck of the woods!

Thank you everyone for the information! I definitely want to try to clean them up a bit. I can't be too picky, considering they were free and they are cool.

Free? You did great! Even if you only get one decent razor out of them, you will learn a bit about restoring metal if you dive in. A little elbow grease and you will be able to see more ad tell if they are worth putting hours into them.

I'd be delighted to find that Uncle Sam's Fav. I'm wondering if that's a Joseph Rodgers, looks like the beginning of the stamp on the tang? That one has potential to clean up and shave again. Thrill of the hunt!!! Nice score

The Eagle Razor is an Imperial. I have that one and think its one of my favorites. Mine is a 13/16".

Yours look like it might be a bit smaller. I still think you got a couple that could be cleaned up and put to use learning how to S.R. Shave.