Thread: Wostenholm Duo

This is a pair that's been a long time in coming.

I got the first of these about a year ago off eBay, when I'd still buy absolutely anything if it was old enough and I could get the winning bid. This morning the package arrived from ScienceGuy and there was the second one. A brother-razor who walked a different path, didn't get the point honed down, didn't get buffered.



They're small razors. Not flashy or heavily ornamented, but the one I got a year ago (the heavily buffed one in the shiny scales) took an incredible edge.

These were probably made sometime in the 1820's or 30's, and to my eye it looks like they could've been made on the same day.

I think I'm going to fix up the scales on both (the pile side of the 'new' one is busted at the pivot), clean the blades a little (including restoring the factory glaze to the tang instead of that buffer-mirror) and make a nice box to carry them in.

The one I got from ScienceGuy has a crack near the point. He sold it to me for cheap because of that, and I figured I'd either grind it out or see if I can get it laser welded. With the thickness of the blade it could probably just be used as-is, but I'm going to look into laser welds. They both need new pin collars, but I think I've got that covered.

And that weird pale spot on the scales of the 'new' one? That's a 'defect' in the horn. It's perfectly formed as scales and the translucency makes it look like it's been sanded down. I'll keep that.

Very interesting Zak, other then wear one might think they were manufactured from the same batch for sure. Are you going a little Star Wars on us with the laser welds? And Please dont tell Sharptonn but there is evidence of numbers written on the scales of the bottom razor on pic 1.

It also looks as if the top one may have been re-pinned at some point. You can see evidence of the larger washer around the wedge pin on the top photo and maybe a half faint outline around the pivot pin in the second pic. Of course my untrained eye may be seeing a buildup line... There is noticeable build up, but under that, the scales dont look as polished in a round pattern.

Originally Posted by PierreR

It also looks as if the top one may have been re-pinned at some point. You can see evidence of the larger washer around the wedge pin on the top photo and maybe a half faint outline around the pivot pin in the second pic. Of course my untrained eye may be seeing a buildup line... There is noticeable build up, but under that, the scales dont look as polished in a round pattern.

The one with the horn defect was definitely repinned. You're right - you can see the outline. It should have a steel washer like the one at the wedge end. You can't quite tell from the pics but there's a weird stacking going on with I think the old under-washer and the newer collar.

I don't have any of the photos to prove it but ..... somewhere out there is a 7 day set, ivory scales, wooden cased Wostenholm (I assume) travel razors. The only logo they had was the pipe stamped on the tang and it was an old style mark. In "Collecting Straight Razors" Doyle says that these diminutive razors were only made in the early 1800s and that they are rare.

I got them off of the bay about 10 years ago and regrettably sold them when I got rid of my then collection in '06. Probably the same size as those beauties.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I don't have any of the photos to prove it but ..... somewhere out there is a 7 day set, ivory scales, wooden cased Wostenholm (I assume) travel razors. The only logo they had was the pipe stamped on the tang and it was an old style mark. In "Collecting Straight Razors" Doyle says that these diminutive razors were only made in the early 1800s and that they are rare.

I got them off of the bay about 10 years ago and regrettably sold them when I got rid of my then collection in '06. Probably the same size as those beauties.

I would have loved to see those. These aren't exactly small travel razors though, I would call them mid-size. And from what I understand there were quite a number of manufacturers named "Wostenholm". There was no pipe on mine so I assumed it was one of the other companies.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

I would have loved to see those. These aren't exactly small travel razors though, I would call them mid-size. And from what I understand there were quite a number of manufacturers named "Wostenholm". There was no pipe on mine so I assumed it was one of the other companies.

To complicate matters IIRC there was also more than one mfg that used some sort of pipe symbol. The guys in the know, manah, Neil and Martin could probably tell which one is which.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

To complicate matters IIRC there was also more than one mfg that used some sort of pipe symbol. The guys in the know, manah, Neil and Martin could probably tell which one is which.

I think this is the one you're talking about: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ml#post1020699

Originally Posted by Martin103

Very interesting Zak, other then wear one might think they were manufactured from the same batch for sure. Are you going a little Star Wars on us with the laser welds? And Please dont tell Sharptonn but there is evidence of numbers written on the scales of the bottom razor on pic 1.

I know! There are multiple marks on that one! Numbers, hash marks, scratches THAT MIGHT BE A CODE!!!!111! or not..

Seriously though, this seemed like an excellent razor to test the whole 'laser weld' theory of fixing blade cracks. They're not super rare, it didn't cost much and the crack it's got just seems well suited to the fix.

Originally Posted by PierreR

It also looks as if the top one may have been re-pinned at some point. You can see evidence of the larger washer around the wedge pin on the top photo and maybe a half faint outline around the pivot pin in the second pic. Of course my untrained eye may be seeing a buildup line... There is noticeable build up, but under that, the scales dont look as polished in a round pattern.

They were definitely both repinned. The first one I got had been rescaled, but the seller was totally upfront about it, and the scales he put it into are functionally very, very close (though it has a lead wedge and the other doesn't.)

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I don't have any of the photos to prove it but ..... somewhere out there is a 7 day set, ivory scales, wooden cased Wostenholm (I assume) travel razors. The only logo they had was the pipe stamped on the tang and it was an old style mark. In "Collecting Straight Razors" Doyle says that these diminutive razors were only made in the early 1800s and that they are rare.

I got them off of the bay about 10 years ago and regrettably sold them when I got rid of my then collection in '06. Probably the same size as those beauties.

I've got one of those little travel razors in bone scales carved into that wavy pattern. I haven't ever honed it though.

As for Wostenholm and the pipe mark... Well, Wostenholm didn't use the pipe until 1843, and he didn't use I*XL until 1826. So if they were really early razors with pipe marks on them, they weren't Wostenholm.

There's a lot of bogus information about George out there. The 'Standard Guide' razor collecting book claims the Wostenholms owned the pipe mark back into the 1700's, there's the story that the Bowie knife found on Jim Bowie at the Alamo was a Wostenholm knife (it may have been, but it's not very likely since Wostenholm wasn't really even making Bowie knives before 1840 or so.

Then there's the story about his house, Kenwood, being named after Kenwood village near Oneida, NY. I've been digging around on that one -- it looks like it originates with Harold Bexfield in his book A Short History of Sheffield Cutlery and The House of Wostenholm. All the previous sources say that Wostenholm patterned his subdivision on Boston (and there is a Kenwood street in Boston, which is tree-lined in much the same way as the area built up in Sheffield). There are some features of the central house and its relationship to the roads and pond of Wostenholm's Kenwood which kind of resemble the area where the Oneida Community built their mansion. But the problem with that idea is that when Wostenholm started building his version, there was nothing in Kenwood, NY. It was a swamp and the main inhabitant was a guy named Sands Higginbotham. He had a hotel and h e was bending every ear to get development happening, but the hotel was in Oneida, not Kenwood. Noyes and his group didn't start building at Kenwood until 1860 or so, by which time Wostenholm's estate was a done deal.

So! Complicated. Muey complicated.