Thread: Wade and Butcher Improved Tang

I just found this one and I want to clean it up. Notice the engraving on the tang. It appears to be electro-etched. Any ideas as to whether or not I will be able to de-rustify this baby and not remove the engraving?

If you don't want to risk losing etching on the blade, it is always a good idea to start twith the least agressive method, and then only go more agressive after more consideration.

I once had a blade that I wanted to preserve as well as possible, so I startd with my dremel, a buffing wheel and polishing compound.
That is an easy way to remove rust and polish the blade.

You will not be able to remove pitting this way, but you will also not damage the etching.

Poona described a method recently where you remove rust by rubbing it with some crumbled up tinfoil. That worked GREAT! Then you polish as Bruno described...

Thank you Bruno and Mastermute. I did clean this one up with a Dremel and a soft plastic brush wheel. It worked great.

Wait, so the standard maker's marks are stamped, the blade looks acid etched and the tang is electro etched?

Very strange.

It's normal for tangs to be stamped because that is the quickest and cheapest way to make a mark. Some custom makers etch their marks, but those are of course not mass producing razors.

So even if a mass-produced blde has etching on the blade face, I'd still expect the tang to be stamped.

Originally Posted by Bruno

It's normal for tangs to be stamped because that is the quickest and cheapest way to make a mark. Some custom makers etch their marks, but those are of course not mass producing razors.

So even if a mass-produced blde has etching on the blade face, I'd still expect the tang to be stamped.

Bruno,

When you say "stamped", do you mean pressed by mechanical means with sufficient force to displace the substrate and leave a permanent mark? Or are you referring to a sort of pad printing where the markings are an application of some indelible ink?

I was employed by a medical device manufacturer where we made many stainless steel objects that had much labeling on them. The methods of applying that labelling were:

• Engraving (by a CNC milling machine)
• Pad printed (for plastic parts like urological telescope eyepieces)
• Electro-etched (date codes and other markings where the aesthetics were unimportant.

On this razor the blade appears to be mechanically engraved. I don't know how they would have done this a hundred years ago but the steel is definitely removed and the engraving filled with some sort of paint. The Wade and Butcher markings on the tang appear to be mechanically stamped into the steel. The "Improved Tang" mark on the tail looks chemically etched (electro-etched)and is easily buffed off. I am hoping to keep it there because the labelling is cool but I won't obsess about it.


Thanks,

Brad

Stamping can be done a few ways. You can create your makers mark as a one piece and hammer it in or you can hammer in 1 letter at time. Hand etching was still done up to the 50s in some cases. In my print shop we have hand etched dies up to around 55.

Acid etching is another way of doing it. Not sure how they did it before but you would coat the whole blade in a photo sensative resist, block out where you want the etch to be and expose then wash. The resist will stay where it was exposed and leave bare metal where you blocked it out. Wash acid of choice, we used ferric chloride, over the exposed part. Practice and experience will get you the right depth. You then wash the acid and resist off the blade and there ya go. As for the paint. Not a clue.

I just saw this old post, and was interested in your thoughts on the razor? Is it good to shave with? Is this a sought after model in W&D or a more entry level model. I ask because I have seen for sale and trying to get a feel for price / value.