Thread: My Great-Grandpappy's Razor!

I dunno if any of you read my mention of this on the beginners forum, but when I told my dad I had started using a straight razor he dug this out & said I could have it. I remember seeing the razor once about 20 years ago, but I just stopped by my parents' house & picked it up. I couldn't be more excited, holding my great-grandfather's razor in my hands & seeing how good the condition is!

Please excuse the image quality, that's my cellphone at work again....







My wife did some Internet searching & apparently W. H. Morley & Sons was known for using exceptionally hard steel in their razors, making them difficult to hone but good at holding an edge for a long time. Backlighting the blade there are no visible nicks, just a slight smile at the ends. It really looks like it just went from being a daily shaver one day into storage.

Now to get it honed, can't wait till it's ready for a strop & a shave!

NICE. And there's nothing like a bit of family history to make a razor that little bit more special.
I have 3 of my grandfathers razors.

Originally Posted by nzFuzzy

NICE. And there's nothing like a bit of family history to make a razor that little bit more special.
I have 3 of my grandfathers razors.

That makes it a LOT more special for me! I love having old family things around me. I'd rather have this razor than any $2,000 Damascus masterpiece (or whatever they cost)

Morleys are great! Slightly smiling is desirable. Nice you have that and are going to use it. He would like this, I assure you.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

That makes it a LOT more special for me! I love having old family things around me. I'd rather have this razor than any $2,000 Damascus masterpiece (or whatever they cost)

Me too!!

Dang those pictures are awful lol - but it sure looks like a great razor to me. It'll take nothing to get it back up and running!! To think your granddad shaved with that as your dad watched... Too much!!

Would you ever consider having it re-scaled or polished? Think about it before sending it out to be honed - cuz if you do - you might as well get it all done at once.

Man that first shave with it will be awesome! Congrats!

Thanks all for the friendly comments.

I want to keep it like it is. Aside from a 1/2" crack in the far end of the scales (not the pin end) its really in good shape. I'll probably just take a syringe & shoot a little epoxy just to make sure it doesn't grow. The hinge pin was surprisingly snug. I was expecting it to be a little loose from years of use, but it's pretty obviously been repeened on one side.

I'm assuming these are not the original celluloid scales. They're very obviously handmade by someone who was either in a hurry or didn't care about appearance because you can clearly see all the sanding/file marks, lots of flat facets & edges on it, not at all what you'd expect on a quality product. It also seems to have been made of a single piece, with a saw cut slot to straddle the blade. You can see the saw grooves like it was done yesterday. Was that a normal construction method back then?

As for the blade, I really like the aged look of it. I may knock a little off with a paper towel & toothpaste, but I don't want a mirror shine. Old blades should be allowed to look old in my opinion. There's only one tiny rust spot near the tip. As closely as I can examine with the naked eye there were no nicks, so it should be a fairly straight-forward hone aside from the slight smile.

overall I'm excited to have another piece of family history in my collection, excited to be able to eventually use on a daily basis something my great grandfather used the same way, and disappointed that I'm not good enough at honing to tackle it myself & instead will have to send it to someone. I may save that till I get an opportunity to meet one of the senior members & watch them do it. I'd enjoy that.

Edit: Looking at it from the end, I was surprised at the profile. The last quarter inch or so at the business side is all paper thin, it's like they ground it as thin as humanly possible about halfway down from the spine & just held that all the way to the bevel.

Morleys are great shavers. I have three and they all took an edge well. Besides having a sharp razor the knowledge of its history will make every shave special. Congrats!

nice, i have a few thinks from my granddad, it makes it more special.

Ken, you are a very fortunate individual. thanks for the pics!

I'll try rigging up my good camera for some better shots next weekend. I'm leaving on another job in about 45 minutes, so that'll be the soonest I can manage.