Wolf(something), in gorgeous pressed horn scales.

http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...1/IMG_8155.jpg
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...1/IMG_8156.jpg
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...1/IMG_8157.jpg
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...1/IMG_8158.jpg
http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...1/IMG_8162.jpg

"Look there," I said to myself. "A WOLF stamped Shepherd razor in the nicest pressed horn scales I've seen! MUST HAVE."

"Self," I replied. "The scale collectors are going to be on that thing like ants on apples. Ants with fists of cash. Ants that do nothing but buy scales like this and put them in a case somewhere!"

"Oh yeah, well, I want it more. SO THERE."

As it turned out I did want it more, but that required an awful lot of wanting.

I'd made two assumptions when I bought this and they both turned out to be wrong. The first was that it is in fact a Shepherd razor. Weeeell, doesn't look so much like that now. Shepherd's 'WOLF' razors always had a crown above the 'WOLF'. There's no sign of a crown on this and the WOLF (or WOLP) is very definitely part of a longer name or word.

As near as I can tell the stamp is WOL(F/P)??MAN. You'd think that would be enough to figure out it, but I can't so far.

The second assumption I'd made was that it probably dated to 1810 or so.

Ehhh. Not so much. Probably more like 1800. Or 1790.

http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...1/IMG_8163.jpg

The tail is paper thin. That coupled with the cryptic stamp leads me to believe it's earlier rather than later.

My Thomas Scargill has a tail nearly as thin, and my oldest Rhodes & Champion too. The nearest match, however, is a 1790's Cadman BENGAL stamped razor.

I've dug through directories and the list of apprentices in the Culters' Company of Hallamshire and found no name matches for this, which suggests two possibilities. It's a trademark stamp (like OBTAIN, NA KIN, AMTICTS, REMUS...) or it's a family name but not from Sheffield.

In any event, the seller, knowing that the primary audience for it would be scale collectors, helpfully suggested that this would be a great candidate for blade replacement. And yeah. The blade is pretty rusty (though it's not quite as bad as it appears). I don't think it had been opened all the way since it was made. You can't open it completely now.

THERE IS NO WAY ON EARLY I'M REPLACING THIS BLADE.

I WILL SHAVE WITH IT. THIS BLADE.

Mark my words!

Also, any thoughts on what the hell the stamp says would be much appreciated.

Another wonderful find! Blade replacement? that aint no feathers!

I am liking the old blades myself. This one is a nice find ! If I do get serious about collecting someday these are what I will be looking for also. Made more by hand than any other blade is what I like about them.

So, it's for shaving wolfs... I believe there was a razor here on the forum that was for shaving cats before.
Clean it carefully!

I was looking at the stamp some more and realized that the distortion was pretty uniform. So I took a better picture (of the cleaned stamp) and corrected for the distortion.

http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-con...OMAN-stamp.jpg

Definitely helps. The first four letters are WOLF.

So is it WOLFROMAN or WOLFBOMAN?

WOLFHUMAN - that, my friend, is a werewolf blade!

Sorry... couldn't resist. I have no idea what that actually says, but I am very happy to hear you intend to bring it back into use - good luck!

To be honest, the more I look at it the more I think it could be WOLPH**AN

Mind you that last letter could be an M rather than an N

?? :shrug: ??

Manah to the white courtesy phone, please! If anyone would know, it'll be him.

Edit: A google search shows "wolfram" as "tungsten." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfram

I'd go for a misspelled "Wolfhuman", the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about werewolfs are not that they are particular good at spelling!

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Originally Posted by Lemur

I'd go for a misspelled "Wolfhuman", the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about werewolfs are not that they are particular good at spelling!

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Or, apparently, carving swans... The swan on it looks like a dodo-swan-flamingo hybrid!

Thats a beautifull razor,But would hate being the person to unpin that sucker:(

Even the transformation he can't do that good if he needs a razor to get rid of the last fur, and that's sorta their thing ain't it?

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thats a beautifull razor,But would hate being the person to unpin that sucker:(

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A little tape for protection around the pin, carbide cutter in a dremel tool, it would take seconds!

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Originally Posted by Lemur

A little tape for protection around the pin, carbide cutter in a dremel tool, it would take seconds!

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Seconds?? your a good man,Would take me a couple hrs:)

I'll just use a pin vise and bore it out by hand. Though I expect I'll have to replace the collars.

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Seconds?? your a good man,Would take me a couple hrs:)

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Haha, I've got a steady hand for things like that, worked as a goldsmith before.
As soon as the pin head is gone you should be able to push the pin out,
in this case it's probably stuck on the other side so I would "eat" all of the heads and the gently pry it open.
But it's better to be slow than sorry! :)

Beautiful. Now that you have it in person, any closer idea if it's tortoise or horn?

That razor is gorgeous, I love pressed horn scales. The blade will be great, there is plenty to work with :) I have a blade that is absolutely destroyed that came on a set of pressed horn scales and it seems to be faintly labeled "WOLF" as well, with a crown stamp above the "OL".

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Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Beautiful. Now that you have it in person, any closer idea if it's tortoise or horn?

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Definitely horn... And the pictures don't do justice to how perfect they are (other than that small bite near the pivot on the pile side).

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Originally Posted by dfrazor

That razor is gorgeous, I love pressed horn scales. The blade will be great, there is plenty to work with :) I have a blade that is absolutely destroyed that came on a set of pressed horn scales and it seems to be faintly labeled "WOLF" as well, with a crown stamp above the "OL".

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Yep. That's a John Shepherd razor. By the mid 1810's his son George was producing razors stamped 'SHEPHERD'. The WOLF trademark got bought and sold a couple of times, ultimately ending up with Joseph Elliot, though I honestly have no idea if the Elliots ever produced razors with that stamp, but really, the joke is kind of dead when it isn't a Shepherd producing the WOLF.

I really want see it in all its glory lovingly restored and shiny but take your time.
Somewhere I've got a book about "casting horn" and other old skills, hand printed and all.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

I really want see it in all its glory lovingly restored and shiny but take your time.
Somewhere I've got a book about "casting horn" and other old skills, hand printed and all.

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I am really, really seriously considering (if I can do it non-destructively) making a casting off the scales so they can be replicated.

That's very cool! Those scales have some incredible detail. Any chance it's a German razor? The name isn't far off a few surnames that come to mind.

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Originally Posted by EisenFaust

That's very cool! Those scales have some incredible detail. Any chance it's a German razor? The name isn't far off a few surnames that come to mind.

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I honestly don't know enough about early Solingen cutlery to even speculate... However, Sheffield between 1770 or so and about 1810 was producing a lot of trademarks that seem odd now. Stuff like FRANCE or AMSTERDAM. William Brightmore's trademark was LONDON CITY, despite the fact that he was making razors in Sheffield. William Evatt trademarked AFRICA.

This is a slight improvement over the previous trend of everybody in town registering some kind of random squiggle. This is how John Heiffor's mark came into being, and it's by far one of the more recognizable ones. Lot's of other newly freed cutlers were registering some variation of crosses or pipes (smoking pipes, that is, not plumbing... though maybe that's what Heiffor's mark is supposed to represent!) The Cutler's Company had to crack down because there was so little to distinguish between all the variations of the same few symbols.

Maybe its a WolfRam and Hart razor, that were given out as presents to the employees who did the most blood thirsty deeds?

I've used cold setting silicon for museum pieces,
but today and if you want to reproduce them I would suggest laser scanning and then make a mold in steel/brass with a cnc machine.
They were probably made by press casting so you need a sturdy casting form.

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Originally Posted by Voidmonster

I am really, really seriously considering (if I can do it non-destructively) making a casting off the scales so they can be replicated.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

I've used cold setting silicon for museum pieces,
but today and if you want to reproduce them I would suggest laser scanning and then make a mold in steel/brass with a cnc machine.
They were probably made by press casting so you need a sturdy casting form.

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I don't know how much detail you would lost but my thoughts would be a cold silicone mold like that, then a sand cast positive so you can cast the final negative from metal.

Yes, depending on what material you were thinking of for the copies there is different ways how to make them.

A silicon mold gives you close to all details, but some silicones shrink.
Sand casting is depending on so much so it's hard to say, but you can always fix the casting with gravers and such.
If you never done anything like this before you are in for one ride of new knowledge! :)
It's fun thou... go for it I say!

'WOLFERMAN' perhaps? It is a genuine surname, uncommon, but quite a few american instances of it are recorded. Sounds sort of germanic. Can't find any razor makers, though, and only one instance of the name in the UK - so far!

I have reproduced scales like those before - cold two-part silicone cast of the original scales and two-part acrylic. The main problem with such a detailed design is dislodging air bubbles from the details of the mould before the acrylic sets. It helps to 'paint' a layer of epoxy over the mould first, keeping the brushstrokes slow and trying to force the acrylic into every detail, but some small bubbles nearly always escape detection. The best way would be to make the casts inside a vacuum chamber, of course, but it tends to get rather involved and expensive... :)

Regards,
Neil

A true vacuum chamber is king, but any vacuum will make it better, like a vacuum cleaner and a box.
Vibrations is also good!
Have even tried ultra sound with good results.

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Originally Posted by Neil Miller

'WOLFERMAN' perhaps? It is a genuine surname, uncommon, but quite a few american instances of it are recorded. Sounds sort of germanic. Can't find any razor makers, though, and only one instance of the name in the UK - so far!

I have reproduced scales like those before - cold two-part silicone cast of the original scales and two-part acrylic. The main problem with such a detailed design is dislodging air bubbles from the details of the mould before the acrylic sets. It helps to 'paint' a layer of epoxy over the mould first, keeping the brushstrokes slow and trying to force the acrylic into every detail, but some small bubbles nearly always escape detection. The best way would be to make the casts inside a vacuum chamber, of course, but it tends to get rather involved and expensive... :)

Regards,
Neil

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Yes! I think WOLFERMAN is it! Doesn't turn up a single hit from the Sheffield Indexers --not baptisms, burials, census or work -- but considering the trademarks used in the time period, that doesn't mean much. I find myself saying this a bunch lately, but maybe a London outfit?

As to the casting, my intent is to create a proper metal mold that I can use to make more pressed horn scales.

I've had a nasty respiratory bug for the last two weeks and it's really slowed me down, but I should be able to start seriously getting stuff done again soon (like magnafluxing the Regent Street razor, but I'm now pretty sure that's going to be Kens Lewis). Living close to the vasty churning machinery of the special effects industry should mean I've got good resources for mold-making close to hand, and I know some folks in the industry.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

A true vacuum chamber is king, but any vacuum will make it better, like a vacuum cleaner and a box.
Vibrations is also good!
Have even tried ultra sound with good results.

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The more I think about it, there would be some really solid advantages to getting a very high res laser scan done. For one, I could then digitally sculpt back in the one or two small areas where detail has been lost. I might even be able to correct for generation loss that way... Then it'd just be a matter of getting it printed in metal at a sufficiently high spatial resolution. I know that that 0.1mm accuracy is possible from some of the polymer processes, but I'm unclear if the metal casting printers are equally fine. I'd rather scan, sculpt and print a useful mold than scan, sculpt, print, cast, then pour a mold.

I envy you your razor, and I envy your ability to even attempt the making of a mold for reproductin purposes!

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Originally Posted by Voidmonster

... Then it'd just be a matter of getting it printed in metal at a sufficiently high spatial resolution.

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All of the metal laser sintering processes I've encountered have been pretty inaccurate - they generally end up with an 'orange-peel' texture on them too. Great for structural components or parts that can be sanded smooth and polished, but no so good for super fine details.

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Originally Posted by EisenFaust

All of the metal laser sintering processes I've encountered have been pretty inaccurate - they generally end up with an 'orange-peel' texture on them too. Great for structural components or parts that can be sanded smooth and polished, but no so good for super fine details.

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I found a place that does super-fancy CNC with an accuracy of 50 microns. I assume the process involves wheelbarrows of cash.

What I'm considering now is just using Shapeways to make a positive duplicate and cast that. There are just too many upsides to working the file digitally. Like the ability to scale the design for larger blades.

Its amazing what kind of stuff you can get Done for free if you ask. You could get others onboard just for the love of the project. You never know till you ask, and you can only get told no. Good luck !