Recently I came into possession of an old straight razor belonging to my wifes deceased Grandfather. I've tried to garnish information about the razor but so far only 3-5 posts on the web all slightly different from one another.
Description of the razor is as follows:
Stamped in front of pivot pin is the name R. BLADWORTH. There are no other names, brands or stamps on the razor. Razor, not inc scales . length 5 3/4" (145mm)
Hollow ground (what type? I dunno).
Honed edge 3" (75mm), last 1/2" ground and honed at an upward curve of about 30 degrees to the tip of the blade (I don't think this was due to a damaged razor tip. I think this was purposely ground this way as Gramps was a barber at some time).
Was a 7/8 originally but now has 1/16" worn away. Honed edge has a slight upward curve to it (a smile?).
Scales are black plastic or something similar.
Spacer looks like lead.
Pins look steel.
As my vast knowledge of razors is exhausted (they're used for shaving), I thought I'd be better off talking to the experts.
I've read these razors are "rare", "very rare", "vintage", "200 years old" or "made in the early 1900's", oh yeah, "could be made in the 1950's". If its rare, good I'm keeping it. If its not, thats good too, I'm still keeping it. Is it worth restoring or is it dead. Either way I'm keeping it. Is it good quality? Dunno, you guys are the experts.
Now to answer your question, how does it shave? Ok, considering I didn't know what I was doing or how to sharpen or hone correctly. All I did was strop it on a homemade strop with metal polishing paste on it (Yeah ok, you can stop cringing now). Overall I'd say a great success, no cuts or nicks, throat still intact and reasonably smooth. Better than a tent peg, smoother than a rusty can lid and infinitely more comfortable and less burn than a cart.
Sorry for the poor quality pics, I'm not Bavid Bailey nor was it my camera.
Many thanks in advance.
Yan.
Description of the razor is as follows:
Stamped in front of pivot pin is the name R. BLADWORTH. There are no other names, brands or stamps on the razor. Razor, not inc scales . length 5 3/4" (145mm)
Hollow ground (what type? I dunno).
Honed edge 3" (75mm), last 1/2" ground and honed at an upward curve of about 30 degrees to the tip of the blade (I don't think this was due to a damaged razor tip. I think this was purposely ground this way as Gramps was a barber at some time).
Was a 7/8 originally but now has 1/16" worn away. Honed edge has a slight upward curve to it (a smile?).
Scales are black plastic or something similar.
Spacer looks like lead.
Pins look steel.
As my vast knowledge of razors is exhausted (they're used for shaving), I thought I'd be better off talking to the experts.
I've read these razors are "rare", "very rare", "vintage", "200 years old" or "made in the early 1900's", oh yeah, "could be made in the 1950's". If its rare, good I'm keeping it. If its not, thats good too, I'm still keeping it. Is it worth restoring or is it dead. Either way I'm keeping it. Is it good quality? Dunno, you guys are the experts.
Now to answer your question, how does it shave? Ok, considering I didn't know what I was doing or how to sharpen or hone correctly. All I did was strop it on a homemade strop with metal polishing paste on it (Yeah ok, you can stop cringing now). Overall I'd say a great success, no cuts or nicks, throat still intact and reasonably smooth. Better than a tent peg, smoother than a rusty can lid and infinitely more comfortable and less burn than a cart.
Sorry for the poor quality pics, I'm not Bavid Bailey nor was it my camera.
Many thanks in advance.
Yan.
