RAD Kicks In - First Arrivals

Well, my RAD kicked into overdrive after just getting into this hobby, and I went a little wild on eBay. The first couple arrivals are here, and without delay, the photos!

The first is a Wade, Wingfield & Rowbotham listed as circa 1840. The blade seems to be in decent shape, but there's some damage to the scales (as pictured). I suspect that the scales are celluloid, anyone know how to tell for sure? If they are, I'll likely re-scale, but I'm happy with this deeply stamped, weighty specimen. It may turn into a regular shaver before terribly long!

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The second, very interesting (in my view) acquisition is a paddle strop, just over 13" in length, with the stropping surface being 8.5" x 1.5". The leather is pitted/rotted away, as is the "dark" material. Some research will be required before I begin a restore on this, but I am thinking that I'll re-surface it, and refinish the wood, providing me with a travel strop / razor storage! The sleeve that it is resting on in the first photo says Made and Warranted by John Atwell, South Reading, (Mass. )

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The best part was what came inside! A Wade & Butcher "Diamond Edge Razor". The scales appear to be made of horn, with an inlay of what, I'm not sure. Perhaps mother of pearl? The scales as pictured are badly damaged, and need replacing. I would love to save the inlay, but have no idea where to begin with that! The blade overall is in good condition, but I'm not sure what the deal with the dark black marks near the toe are... They appear bubbled up from the razor. I hope there's not a lot of pitting under it. A bit of rust around the pivot, but I have great hopes that this will be not too bad a restore job, and a great way to get going on restorations! My only worry is trying to preserve the etching on the blade. Any pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

Enjoy the photos!

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good score, pm gssixgun, he can give you some tips on popping and transferring the inlay.

The scales on the Wade, Wingfield and Rowbotham are almost certainly black horn too.

As for the broken scales on the Wade & Butcher, those scales can be repaired and I wouldn't recommend replacing them. The black marks are one of the many forms water damage takes on carbon steel and they will indeed leave pits, but it shouldn't really detract from the main business of the razor.

The parts of the etching under the rust will be lost, but since it looks like those parts are just a dark field (from the etching mask), it should be very possible to sand out the rust without touching the lettering and re-etch the dark areas using a mask of some sort and whatever method you (or the restorer) is comfortable with.

It's a lovely razor, and I'd like to reiterate that the scales are entirely repairable as they are. Horn is an incredibly durable material.

@Voidmonster Thanks for the input... The scales have been split through the pin at the wedge... Would this just be a glue-type repair then? That would certainly beat trying to do anything spectacular with trying to save the inlay. I'm guessing the split may have been due to someone overtightening the pin. I'm fortunate in that the etch is not hidden behind the black marks on this particular specimen. I'm currently working on a restore of a Shave Well/Lather Well razor, and am having great success using a vibration tumbler with walnut media in removing the black marks without damaging the etching.... It's a long process, but it seems to be working.

The Wade Wingfield and Rowbotham Razor scales look & feel like plastic with no sign of grain, but have a severe chemically smell to them. Hence my suspicion of it being Celluloid. Since they're nothing spectacularly special, and have chunks missing, I thought it would be a good candidate to re-handle in the future.

You can see my progress through restoring the Wade & Butcher at http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...re-effort.html

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Originally Posted by Jingles8D

The Wade Wingfield and Rowbotham Razor scales look & feel like plastic with no sign of grain, but have a severe chemically smell to them. Hence my suspicion of it being Celluloid. Since they're nothing spectacularly special, and have chunks missing, I thought it would be a good candidate to re-handle in the future.

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I'll reply about the W&B repairs in the other thread...

The Wade, Wingfield & Rowbotham is probably scaled with gutta percha. It's hardened rubber, basically. The missing bits look exactly like insect damage on horn, and horn can be polished to have nearly invisible grain... But it smells unmistakably like hair, and doesn't smell like much of anything unless you seriously bother it. Gutta perch a stinks if you look at it funny. Celluloid doesn't smell like much unless it's rotting or heated.