Thread: Grinding down a blade

Seems like the further you go back, the more dramatic the blade taper. I think the more modern razors were straight because it was more efficient to manufacture.
Appears to be original and I wouldn't do anything more than shining it up as others have suggested.

Here is an older razor with a more exaggerated taper towards the tang. Not mine, unfortunately.

Yes, that's the early 1800s kind of blade I was refering to.

To provide an example of seemingly the same period as your W&B, there's this one for example

Thanks for the replies

Would anyone hazard a guess as to the period when this W&B may have been made?

Here's another, it tapers to the toe, and was made that way.



Leave yours alone, you'll definitely ruin the geometry of the blade, as it was intended to be.

That's a nice razor, BTW

That was a popular style of blades in the 19th century. Here's one made in the 1850s with the same general shape.

Many of them had elaborate etchings. One word of warning about that. Even very light sanding can remove the etching. A metal polish like 3M Marine Metal Restorer and Polish works well and won't remove the etching.
I wouldn't change the shape of it were me.

Originally Posted by Gimli

Thanks for the replies

Would anyone hazard a guess as to the period when this W&B may have been made?

I'd venture second quarter of the 19th century

I'd agree with that. The one I posted pics of I know from the etching to be from between 1854 and 1856. Yours looks contemporaneous with it so I'd say somewhere in that time period is probably pretty close

I looked on strazors.com at both W&B and G Wostenholm. There were razors produced wider at tip than at heel. I would leave it.

If it were mine, I would go with a light cleaning on the blade and a deep clean with some minor repairs on the scales, hone it and be happy. The nice even grey on the steel comes from a century of care, I would be careful to preserve that, it’s not easy to create.

Just do a light restore, if you don’t like the way it feels or shaves trade it or sell it for one you like the geometry better on. Making it straight will most likely screw up the geometry as well as the value taking a large hit. If your razor was in poor shape my opinion might differ but yours looks to be in fairly solid condition.