Thread: New scales for old Sheppard's

After some time off with restorations I felt the need to get back on the horse again. Got this nice Sheppard's Cast Steel not long ago and I was bummed to find that the scales are in no condition to hold this razor, although these are probably original to to blade, I've decided to give it a new pair of trousers

I used some dark brown horn from leftover blank and since this razor is probably early 1800 or even maybe late 1700 for the spacer I used a lead spacer. Because I couldn't find a proper lead spacer in my spare parts I decided to make one, so, I used some molten lead from old fishing leads and it worked just fine IMO.

Some before pics:



Process:






And the final result:




BTW, can someone try to date this razor? At first I thought it's a Shepherd but the spelling is different of course, then I thought maybe J.Shephard ,but again, different spelling. I couldn't find any info or photos of this maker

I think it says Sheppard's Cast Steel. I'm not the best at dating razors but would guess it dates back to the late 1700s. Doesn't look like the original scales have any curve. I think that scales started getting curved in the 1810s. - 1820s. I think the blade style says late 1700s. There's gotta be someone here who knows Sheppards well. But to me it looks like between 1790 to 1810.
I would let someone with more knowledge than me answer the question but since no one did i figured I would give it a shot..
Hope this helps. The scales look great!