Thread: Unexpected Wade and Butcher Find

I am currently traveling and decided to stop by an Antique store in a very small town in Western Canada, They had a large bowl of straight razors, I looked through them some were ok I did not recognize many brand names. But then this chopper caught my eye.

A older Wade & Butcher For Barbers Use Chopper in the box
Its just slightly over 1 1/4"
So does this make it a 10/8 or an 11/8 Size ?

I payed $35 for it, but the scales are broken and the blade has a very small chip right at then end.
I have a few razors I am meaning to restore but just don't have the time atm. But this one I really like. I hope the chip in the end wont be an issue and it will be able to be ground/honed so it will not even be noticed that it was ground down.

I think I have some scales from some other old razors with broken blades but they wont be very wide.
Otherwise I may have to source a Canadian / North American someone that could restore this. Only I really have no clue how much it would cost to do a proper blade restoration.
The rust is very surface and should not leave any pits.

I may have to go back to this store and write down the other brands and do some research on them.

That was a rescale anyway. The chip is a drag but at the end like that you can exaggerate the smile and take it out. The prospective problem may be some of the black tarnish seen at the bevel. Depending on how deep it goes, you may or may not lose more of the width. If it is surface, and you can hone past it to good steel, you're in good shape. If it is too deep, as you hone the edge will fall apart. For the money you won't go wrong, but I hope the tarnish at the bevel isn't the dreaded "devil's spit."

it is a nice find, IMO the chip shouldn't be an issue like Jimmy said you could hone it out if you can do with less of a smile. I'v been looking into setting up a workshop to start making some scales, from what i'v seen if you willing to put in a little time you can come out with a beautifully finished piece.

I am back from my travels and managed to find a second W&B only no chips in this one. Also I am quite positive this one has ivory scales. Its condition is good enough it should clean up without having to repin, and risk damaging the scales. The blade has some marks on it but I would say quite minor for its age. I am currently trying to track down more info on the W&B to figure out a closer date to when this one was made.









I am just getting into restorations so I will be practicing on a few cheap-o's before tackling either of these. Thanks for the thoughts though. I am really hoping I can do a bit of a combination on the first one, exaggerate the smile a little and hone a little perhaps the best of both worlds. The scales I hope to replace with some horn if I can find some in a few of the damaged razors I have picked up. Some are hard to tell if they are polished horn or black plastic though.

wow another nice find, the antique store in my town had a few nice ones. I found 3 H.Bokers and their boxes, I'm also in western Canada and was wondering witch town did you find these in, dose he have more stock in nice of condition because i'm looking for a few lesser name soligins to practice honeing, and, if you dont mind me asking how much you picked these up for. I really like your first find i'v been looking for a wedge and even with the chip its vary nice

The scales do look to be ivory. Usually there would be washers around the pins if they were celluloid. Has 'England" following Sheffield so it is post 1891. Should hone up to be a nice shaver.

Originally Posted by PaPaMarmalade

wow another nice find, the antique store in my town had a few nice ones. I found 3 H.Bokers and their boxes, I'm also in western Canada and was wondering witch town did you find these in, dose he have more stock in nice of condition because i'm looking for a few lesser name soligins to practice honeing, and, if you dont mind me asking how much you picked these up for. I really like your first find i'v been looking for a wedge and even with the chip its vary nice

I found the first one north of Kamloops the other in Red Deer, they only had one other razor that I was not interested in. I was thinking of swinging down to Lethbridge and coming back to BC via Crows nest but everything would have been close by that time.
What is the proper measurement for the Large wade and butcher ? would you say its 10/8 or 11/8 size ? Any reason razors are rated 8/8 etc.. instead of just 1"

What would the reason be for washers on celluloid vs ivory? Must have been a reason for it.