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Joseph Rodgers 10/8 razor, possibly an earlier model?
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Hey, I was the one to get this Joseph Rodgers from the 'bay recently and must say that I am just tickled pink with it. The seller had listed the razor as "1-7/32-inch wide" but as you can see in the photos below I found it to be a true 10/8 and even a shade more. Total weight is 3.55 ounces or 100g, compared to 4.35 ounces for my other 10/8 Rodgers.
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The blade has more of what I consider to be the classic Sheffield style with the slight smile to the edge and swayback to the spine compared to my other Joseph Rodgers 10/8 razor (which I have seen other examples and know some of you have). I believe this razor must be an earlier production, evidenced by the lack of "England" on the tang stamp.
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Also, note that the tang stamp has a weird curve to it; ScienceGuy had this to say about it, "What's most interesting to me is the distortion of the stamp - it looks as if the stamp was applied and the blade was given a last shaping before hardening." Compared to my other 10/8 Rodgers, this one has a smaller tang, more rounded spine, thinner lighter scales, and a thinner grind, more half hollow versus the quarter hollow of the other.
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The scales are just top notch, no cracking or delamination caused by drying out. The horn is the deepest black with just a hint of brown translucency at the tips. Scales are perfectly straight with no warping and the blade closes dead center with good tension on the pivot throughout the arc.
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The third razor in the photos is my largest Joseph Elliot which is just a hair under 19/16 and a more traditional near wedge grind.
I polished the razor up and honed it yesterday and took it for a test run today. I hadn't shaved since I won the auction so I had a good five day beard going, haha. The razor was quick to set a bevel (used one layer of 3M Super 88 tape along the spine) with a thin, even bevel along the entire length of the blade. Actually, near the round tip on the back side of the blade, the bevel didn't want to quite set. I tried some exaggerated J-strokes on my Chosera 1000, using a good bit of down force, but gave it up once it started cutting some arm hair (but not easily popping hairs like the rest of the edge).
I found it didn't matter as the shave went great; the blade is LOUD, very audible with that thin grind on the lower part of the blade. I will definitely be using this razor for the next week as I like to play a game where I see how much of my face I can shave before the lather falls off, pretty sure I can get half my face with this one!
Imgur album of the photos in slightly higher resolution
Imgur album of my first 10/8 Rodgers
