Thread: Tapered blades.

I propose that some makers did not make tapered blades, plus the opposite.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Sorry I think I assumed a tone of surprise in your comment.

No worries. I happen to own a razor that was made by another company that is tapered. Yea it was made that way not Honed down by a previous owner. Even the spine is tapered to some degree to help with honing I would assume. It was restored by a member/mod on here.

Originally Posted by Suticat

No worries. I happen to own a razor that was made by another company that is tapered. Yea it was made that way not Honed down by a previous owner. Even the spine is tapered to some degree to help with honing I would assume. It was restored by a member/mod on here.

Yeah they tapered the spine to keep the geometry. A lot of French and early Sheffield razors are tapered opposite (the toe being wider than the heel), and the spine tapers the opposite way to match that. To add to the list of those in this thread I have had a James Johnson and a Jepson's. Nearly all of them have the etch "An Excellent Razor".

So you guys are on the same page after all. With the tapered blades, I guess they must have come out through one firm or another, and gotten some traction in the market. Typically other firms jumped on the bandwagon to get a piece of the action. I wonder what the timeline of manufacturing was on those. I mean from when they began to when they were dropped out of production ?

Edit : just saw the above post mentioning the older blade taper with the point end wider than the heel. I've got a couple of stub tails like that. I've yet to run up on the reverse tapered blades. I used to think they were a result of improper honing until the Voidmonster and the Science Guy figured it out.

Good day gents. I have one here by Fred Fenney. I believe it is stamped Fredr short for Fred. Frederick Fenney was apprenticed in 1813 & was a razor maker by 1822. He did not get the Tally Ho with the Running Fox trademark until 1833 so I assume this is prior to that. At first the spine didn't look tapered but after getting out my digital calipers, it measured 4.98mm thickness at the toe & around 5.38mm at the thickest part of the heel. It has the etching on it, "An Excellent Razor" at the spine like the others do. At first I couldn't see any hone wear so I put my loupe on my eyeglasses & I see a very faint hone hint of hone wear on it.

Originally Posted by engine46

Good day gents. I have one here by Fred Fenney. I believe it is stamped Fredr short for Fred. Frederick Fenney was apprenticed in 1813 & was a razor maker by 1822. He did not get the Tally Ho with the Running Fox trademark until 1833 so I assume this is prior to that. At first the spine didn't look tapered but after getting out my digital calipers, it measured 4.98mm thickness at the toe & around 5.38mm at the thickest part of the heel. It has the etching on it, "An Excellent Razor" at the spine like the others do. At first I couldn't see any hone wear so I put my loupe on my eyeglasses & I see a very faint hone hint of hone wear on it.

Did you get that Monday on the bay?

Very interesting thread this is... I just want to add an example of a Marshes & Shepherd with the etching "An Excellent Razor" similar to several others shown here. I found this one a few months ago with broken scales so I made some new ones. It's 7/8 at the heel down to 5/8 at the toe. I've been using it quite a bit and I have to say that I love the design of the tapered blade. After a few times shaving with it it became quite natural to use the narrow toe for some areas and the wider middle/heel for other areas. I have no extra difficulty honing or stropping it as I don't do anything different than what I would with any other smiling blade. Really quite a joy to shave with.

Originally Posted by xiaotuzi

Very interesting thread this is... I just want to add an example of a Marshes & Shepherd with the etching "An Excellent Razor" similar to several others shown here. I found this one a few months ago with broken scales so I made some new ones. It's 7/8 at the heel down to 5/8 at the toe. I've been using it quite a bit and I have to say that I love the design of the tapered blade. After a few times shaving with it it became quite natural to use the narrow toe for some areas and the wider middle/heel for other areas. I have no extra difficulty honing or stropping it as I don't do anything different than what I would with any other smiling blade. Really quite a joy to shave with.

Spectacular - been looking for a tapered blade for awhile, yours and Engine's about - outstanding....beautiful job on the scales....and a thumb notch always makes a razor for me.

I love the Tapered Blades! I just finished restoring a R. Hibberd taper and I am working on an Ashton & Jackson tapered blade now.

I got one like xiaotuzi's not long ago, a Marshes & Shepherd. The scales were broken but I am going to fix them.





I can't wait to see your restore Mike.