Thread: Revenge of the RAD

Ok finally found time to hit a couple new antique shops within a 45 min drive of me and OH BOY! Now I submit for your viewing pleasure my acquisitions of the day(wish my photography skills were better)!
Pic #1 is an Ashton Jackson & Co. beneath the name it says "Unique & Inimitable" with "American Razor" beneath that. Pretty sure this one is going out for a professional resto to do it justice.My first full wedge, notice the heel is quite a bit smaller than the toe, is this hone wear or were these oldies made that way? Couldn't find anything on it in the wiki.
Pic #2 is a Gunkel B.S. Co. St. Louis Mo. Made in Germany, the backside of the tang says Cyclone.This razor appears to have never been honed.
Pic #3 is a M.Jung New York Made in Germany, the backside says 80 Reg Us Pat Off., and also appears to have never seen a strop or hone.
Pic #4(I saved the best for last imho) is a Carl Monkhouse Blackie. Unfortunately the scales are warped and shot, the blade pinged out of it when I picked it up the first time, there is a very small nic on the edge and very light hone wear. I peed a little when I picked it up and saw what it was. The black wash is still on the tang and shank, and the red diamond is still bright red. Please enjoy.

Nice haul

Yes, a lot of old Sheffield razors are wider at the toe (or just before the toe) than the heal. Also common on Swedish framebacks. No idea why in either case, though...

Wow, nice catch.

Nice score! I have several razors that are smaller at the toe and do not show any excessive hone wear. I also believe they were made that way. The Gunkel B.S. and Yung are great finds and rare to find in that condition. You'll like the shaves off your Blackie, I have several and enjoy them all. I've also see where the scales shrink so that is not uncommon. You may be able to un-warp the scales with a hair drier and some wedges to hold them in place while you cool them slowly. If the scale wedge gets in the way while closing the razor just carefully run a hacksaw blade between the scales on the edge of the wedge till there is some clearance. Enjoy your finds!

Aren't antique shop finds just GREAT!?

Nice acquisitions!!! Now you need to put them back into service!!!

I intentionally left out what I paid for these razors, to avoid making anyone sick.Let's just say they were stupid cheap. The scales on the Blackie have a crack all the way across the tang pin section and some old initials scratched into them so I'm not going to bother trying to save them. There were a lot of old unmarked hones in this shop too, but as my knowledge with them is nil and void I left them even though I was greatly tempted. I did buy one that had finisher written on the price tag. It's an 1 1/4 wide by 5 3/4 long and dark gray almost black, with a very very slick shiney surface. I wish there were more pictures of hones in the database but even so it would be hard to distinguish an old coated hone.There's a Weltmeister Solingen razor there still that I didn't have the funds for, but had a beautiful ornate worked spine, and had to be at least a 7/8. I passed up on a W&B bow that looked like it had been cleaned up, there was a lot of deep pitting on the blade still.

Originally Posted by Strikur

There's a Weltmeister Solingen razor there still that I didn't have the funds for, but had a beautiful ornate worked spine, and had to be at least a 7/8.

Such a tease!!!!!

Congratulations on your new acquisitions! I tried to look up Ashton Jackson, but came up empty. It looks like it may have been made pre 1840, and I am guessing in Sheffield. Maybe someone (Manah, got your ears on?) has more information. The M. Jung will prove to be a good shaver-there are a couple in my herd that perform well.