Thread: The Butchered Blade

Yes yes, thank you Mike, if I ever get to it! Lol
I hope the stacked piano keys work out.
I've wondered about the makers marks on ivory, I know very little of scrimshaw, so making clear letters...?

Clipped from wikipedia:

Scrimshaw is the name given to scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory. Typically it refers to the handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses. It takes the form of elaborate engravings in the form of pictures and lettering on the surface of the bone or tooth, with the engraving highlighted using a pigment, or, less often, small sculptures made from the same material. However the latter really fall into the categories of ivory carving, for all carved teeth and tusks, or bone carving. The making of scrimshaw began on whaling ships between 1745 and 1759 on the Pacific Ocean, and survived until the ban on commercial whaling. The practice survives as a hobby and as a trade for commercial artisans. A maker of scrimshaw is known as a scrimshander.[1] The word first appeared in print in the early 19th century, but the etymology is uncertain.

I liken it to etching out the letters and inlaying ink or pigment with very tiny scraping tools and great glasses, hehe.

I have a few scrimshawed razors. This one looks quite detailed;

Yet looking at it under magnification, crude pin-scratchings filled with ink. I actually restored some of it I erased as cleaning up the scales. (walrus ivory)

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I have a few scrimshawed razors. This one looks quite detailed;

Very nice..
Never knew Barlow made razors.
My #1 pocket knife as a kid.
Wished i still had um.
They all grew legs and ran away.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Turned in early-ish last night. Brutal week with work and insurance companies.

Yes, Steve's seem to have the centre spine of steel I presumed most do. The one I acquired appears to set into a solid one piece unit originally and has no steel pivot hole connection to speak of.
I have one called Regal that is similar. It's an 'on deck' project.

The original may have been solid, but seeing as how I will be cheating a bit and starting with two halves, thanks to Tom, I will remove inner ivory to fit the razor mooring points, then epoxy it all together prior to drilling the pivot. Then do the tang profiling last.
At least , that's my plan at this point.
Wonder if they had the makers mark in the ivory sides? Like scrimshaw kind of etching.

That JR is still going to be an awesome project MikeT.
Cheers.

Exactly. That is the only way you can do it really. I suppose you could use a solid piece & drill into it to a certain depth & finish with an end mill. The two halves is a much simpler way. My Rodgers are solid & are most likely slotted to almost the pivot pin.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Yes yes, thank you Mike, if I ever get to it! Lol
I hope the stacked piano keys work out.
I've wondered about the makers marks on ivory, I know very little of scrimshaw, so making clear letters...?

Piano key should work fine for this job. I know it is note enough to make scales though because I have thought about it in the past & they aren't suitable for scales but for this, they should be.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Yet looking at it under magnification, crude pin-scratchings filled with ink. I actually restored some of it I erased as cleaning up the scales. (walrus ivory)

That's a beautiful razor Tom. I found a Barber on the bay that was from the Civil War & has scrimshaw work on it plus the lieutenants name on the back plus with the date too i think. I would have to look at it again. I love it a lot.

And outback, I have a couple of James Barlow straights & are another part of history! They're great razor's like all other Sheffield's.

It sold! It's a beautiful razor:

1861 Civil War Straight Edge Razor Lt James Curley Masonic Emblem Antique | eBay

Well Bill it has a little rust I don't think it was that serious but my eyes are due for new prescription lenses also. I may have overlooked something but for the age, I think it is authentic. It seems I haven't had a life the last couple weeks. Just got a phone call & my brother from another mother says he needs my help, then he wants me to come back over later tonight!!!!
Sorry for the venting guys.

Gee Steve that Union Forever scrimshaw on that razor could still be very popular in British Columbia. Unions run the province. There was a wild cat support strike a few years ago that stopped the entire province dead for a week. Powerful things around here.

I was under what I thought was the understanding that the materials used for scrimshaw were materials already available on the whaling ships. Specifically for the filling in / darkening of the scratches soot and some sort of fat/oil, both of which were readily available on the ships.
Inks were also used but less often on the ships and more often on land.
This soot/oil combination is what was also used for tattoos, as tattoo inks like Indian ink were not available.

My sources could be wrong. I got this from various books, I love old whaling stories. A lot of interesting factoids were collected by these authors of old..