Thread: Yard sale jackpot

I posted the first half of this over in the Hones section, because i had a bunch of questions about what i got. If you like stones, you can see the 25 new ones I got over here

Thought I'd finally take the time to share the other half of the haul!
40 new (to me) straights!

Not pictured in the group shots, but pictured individually below, is an additional W&B that I forgot to grab out of the bathroom for the first part of the photo shoot.
Not pictured at all are 2 identical, Chris Johnson's Metropolitan razors that were in excellent shape, with hardly any hone wear and minimal rust. My son snagged those to clean up. I figure the round nose and a matching set will be good for him to start. He lives with his mom, and that'll give him 2 matching blades to use, and not be without when he has to leave one with me for honing....once he gets through the restorations and we move on to teaching him to use them

All lists read top to bottom in the left column, then the right colum

Group 1, the pile my son snagged, in addition to the Metropolitan razors

1. Wm Elliot & Sons
2. England razor co
3. Bonafide
4. Franz Steinhoff Wald Solingen
5. Illegible....?arris-goa? mfg co
6. 42 Honeless france P. F. ferriere
7. Kramm - Hamburg
8. The Bird
9. Henckles 401 Platinum Twinworks (he later returned this one, so it's in my pics below as well)
10. Just says Vanadium Steel
11. (middle) just says Damascus - made in Germany

Group 2

1. George Wostenholm &sons 5/8 quarter hollow - sadly going to lose most of the markings due to the amount of rust
2. Clark & Hall cast steel 11/16 - an old stubby tail, but the plasticscales and double shouldered half hollow grind feel newer than the brand would suggest, I'm guessing a regrind at some point long ago
3. Roberts warranted 11/16 shoulderless half hollow
4. Frederick Reynolds 6/8 half hollow
5. Wade & Butcher 5/8 near wedge - US Battleship etch on blade, sadly too rusted to save any of the etch
6. W&B 13/16 quarter hollow (or less), blonde horn with bullseye washers. The blade is in great shape. Sadly, the scales are delaminating very badly, beyond saving. Will see if i can manage to save the washers at least, when drilling out the pins
7. W&B 6/8 half hollow. Tang is marked Wade & Butcher - Blank for Concaving - Sheffield, Englang - Arrow logo (see more below)
8. W&B "For Barbers Use", no other markings- Near wedge, 8/8 at heel, just shy of 9/8 at widest point. So frustrated, it would've all been original, except someone squeezed it into a regular sized razor box and cracked the rear scale(see more below)

Group 3

1. JA Henckles Twinworks "Platinum" 6/8 half hollow
2. JA Henckles Twinworks (usual info on back of tang, front just has the double man logo on either side of a 401 in a circle, logos painted red. 5/8 hollow
3. JA Henckles Twinworks "50" - 5/8 hollow - looks almost like new. No rust, minor staining, almost no hone wear
4. Bengall 11/16 half hollow. Looks to be MOP inlaid horn scale on the show side... Unfortunately, the two scales don't match, and are in terrible condition. The rear scale looks original, and has "1773" scratched into it. I know Bengall has been around since the mid 1700s, but does 1773 sound possible for that tail shape and that grind? Seems way too early to me?
5. No clue... 6/8 half hollow, looks very well made and in real decent shape, but no signs of any stamps or etching anywhere on it
6. Another mystery... No markings, and ground down into an extreme faux frameback
7. Gold Arrow 5/8 hollow
8. Peres Barrell Brand 6/8 quarter or half hollow

Group 4

1. Genco Fluid Steel 5/8 hollow
2. Robeson Cutlery 9/16 half hollow
3. N. C. O. Extra 6/8 half hollow
4. Worcester razor co (Mass, USA) 11/16 quarter - half hollow
5. A sadly busted SSA Eskiltuna 6/8 half hollow, with "Military Razor" blond horn scales. Scales might be salvageable, blade would lose a full inch for the broken toe
6. Mack 5/8 half hollow, with as much hone wear as rust
7. Poorly stamped tang on this 4/8 half hollow. Logo feels familiar, but i can't place it, a fancy script EoL intertwined in a circle. Tang reads Edward O. La..... top line. Boston on second line. Back of tang just says Germany. Tiny guy, but in great condition

Group 5

The last of them are these 5 H. M. Christianson razors out of Massachusetts 4/8-6/8, from hollow to near wedge. Not familiar with this maker at all, but interesting to see such a range all in one group


And the "glory shots"

Wade & Butcher 15/16
This was the one not pictured in the group shots.
Minor pitting, no active rust, scales are tight and centered. Almost zero hone wear.
Taped and honed on that new brick of a coticule from the other thread.
Will likely clean it up a bit later, but it's a good user for now


W&B 6/8+

Tang on this one is stamped "Blank for concaving"??

Haven't seen that before...?

And my first big ol' chopper!
W&B 8/8-9/8





Unfortunately, there is a little rust on the edge, but shouldn't need to take off tooooo much to get past that.
Looking forward to coming up with some nice scales for this one, when time allows

nice haul. You sure got lucky finding that big chopper.

Thanks!
The whole lot was unbelievably lucky (and embarrassingly cheap), but yeah, super excited about that blade in particular!

Whoever had that collection had great taste in Stones and Razors, nice that it has landed in the hands of someone who knows what they are and will appreciate them.

Thanks man, i hope to do the collection proud over time

There's a handful that won't be worth the time or effort, but some real gems in here, for sure!

Amazing find! that's my kind of yard sale!

Damn-boy! Sweet! Where am I when these sales are happening? There's a whole bunch of nice stuff in there, especially those W/B's. Love that FBU...Cha-CHING. Those things sell for a fortune by themselves. I don't even want to know what you paid for that lot; probably hurt my feelings. Seriously though, congrats on your new additions.

Nice haul. I've been there a time or two, the right place at the right time.

I too have one of W&B's blades for concaving, so yes, their around.

And don't you throw those horn scales away, all can be repaired. Especially the scales from the FBU, you'll want to keep that as original as possible.

If you want any tips on repair of horn scales, feel free to send me a PM

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Damn-boy! Sweet! Where am I when these sales are happening? There's a whole bunch of nice stuff in there, especially those W/B's. Love that FBU...Cha-CHING. Those things sell for a fortune by themselves. I don't even want to know what you paid for that lot; probably hurt my feelings. Seriously though, congrats on your new additions.

Lol i hear ya, this is the first time I've ever found something as big as this!
The funny part is, my son was with me for the day, and he always gives me crap for dragging him to garage sales (even though he always ends up enjoying himself and wanting at least one thing), he told me I was only "allowed" ONE sale that day.
I drove 40 minutes to this one i saw on Craigslist, not knowing there'd be any shaving gear, but because there were some old hand planes pictured.
In the end, i wound up walking out of there with the 25 stones and 40 razors, plus an old Joseph Rodgers & Sons knife with horn handle and sheath (not sure what it is, maybe a grooming tool, or surgical tool, i haven't started researching it yet), a NIB old Rubberset boar shaving brush, and 2 old transitional Stanley wood planes.
In all honesty, the planes weren't in great shape, and were overpriced for the condition....but i bought them as a way to throw the guy some more money. I didn't haggle on anything, and asked 2 or 3 times if he was sure on his prices, and I still felt guilty when I left lol

Originally Posted by outback

Nice haul. I've been there a time or two, the right place at the right time.

I too have one of W&B's blades for concaving, so yes, their around.

And don't you throw those horn scales away, all can be repaired. Especially the scales from the FBU, you'll want to keep that as original as possible.

If you want any tips on repair of horn scales, feel free to send me a PM

Thanks man, I'll get some pics taken of the damage to the one scale and upload them here when I get a chance, and will reach out to you to see if you have any thoughts.
So far, the only un-original thing about this is that someone more recently had sanded the pins up at the pivot end flush with the washers. But i'm certainly not rushing to tear into it just yet.
If the cracked scale can be repaired, that wood definitely be my preference!


Did you find any info on the "blank for concaving"? My google-fu is failing me on that one. I'm finding the occasional posts, but no real answers.
I'd assume it means they made and sold unfinished blanks to other companies to finish, but then it seems weird to me that the company who finished them wouldn't put any additional markings anywhere on it for their own branding

Originally Posted by Kavik79

Lol i hear ya, this is the first time I've ever found something as big as this!
The funny part is, my son was with me for the day, and he always gives me crap for dragging him to garage sales (even though he always ends up enjoying himself and wanting at least one thing), he told me I was only "allowed" ONE sale that day.
I drove 40 minutes to this one i saw on Craigslist, not knowing there'd be any shaving gear, but because there were some old hand planes pictured.
In the end, i wound up walking out of there with the 25 stones and 40 razors, plus an old Joseph Rodgers & Sons knife with horn handle and sheath (not sure what it is, maybe a grooming tool, or surgical tool, i haven't started researching it yet), a NIB old Rubberset boar shaving brush, and 2 old transitional Stanley wood planes.
In all honesty, the planes weren't in great shape, and were overpriced for the condition....but i bought them as a way to throw the guy some more money. I didn't haggle on anything, and asked 2 or 3 times if he was sure on his prices, and I still felt guilty when I left lol




Thanks man, I'll get some pics taken of the damage to the one scale and upload them here when I get a chance, and will reach out to you to see if you have any thoughts.
So far, the only un-original thing about this is that someone more recently had sanded the pins up at the pivot end flush with the washers. But i'm certainly not rushing to tear into it just yet.
If the cracked scale can be repaired, that wood definitely be my preference!


Did you find any info on the "blank for concaving"? My google-fu is failing me on that one. I'm finding the occasional posts, but no real answers.
I'd assume it means they made and sold unfinished blanks to other companies to finish, but then it seems weird to me that the company who finished them wouldn't put any additional markings anywhere on it for their own branding

Never made sense out of it either. Possibly meant hollow grinding.