Double thumb notch old straight

**johnmrson** · 02-27-2011, 12:25 AM

I spotted this on ebay this morning with a Buy It Now of $25. I almost broke the keyboard on the laptop making sure I bought it as fast as I could. I don't even know who the maker is. Looking at the shape of the tail, it's quite old. Depending on what the condition is like when it comes it, I might look at getting it professionally restored.

It also comes with an old honing stone.

**honed** · 02-27-2011, 12:34 AM

WOW!

Would have been worth a new keyboard

I've seen those double notches on some old Sheffield blades, but it's a rare feat for sure.

The stone is a scythe-hone by the way.
Probably not fine enough for razors, but will put a mean edge on a knife once you get the hang of using it.
And of course very useful for putting the final edge on a scythe.
But scythes hey-days seems to be far gone...

**mdunn** · 02-27-2011, 01:39 AM

you dog!

any makers mark on the razor?

**johnmrson** · 02-27-2011, 04:04 AM

Originally Posted by mdunn

you dog!

any makers mark on the razor?

I don't know yet mate. I'll wait and see when it turns up.

**DogHair** · 02-28-2011, 09:11 AM

Nice score. Can I assume we'll be getting more pictures later?

**johnmrson** · 03-01-2011, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by DogHair

Nice score. Can I assume we'll be getting more pictures later?

Absolutely. As soon as it arrives I'll post up some pictures.

**johnmrson** · 03-09-2011, 12:00 AM

Well, it arrived today. I can't read who the maker is. Once I've hit buffed it with greaseless compound I might get a better idea but I guess I might never know. I'll certainly be able to turn it into a very useable blade though.

**johnmrson** · 03-09-2011, 01:26 AM

I've cleaned up the tang around where the name is and all I can make out is BEI (by the looks of it). That's all of the name that has survived. I've looked at it under the microscope and I'm not going to get any more than that unfortunately. There might be a C a couple of letter after the BEI but there's too much degridation to tell.

**grump** · 03-09-2011, 02:45 AM

Very interesting shape, I can't wait to see what it looks like cleaned up.

**touchdowntodd** · 03-09-2011, 06:28 AM

very cool and i agree, odd shape

id love to see it cleaned up as well

RAELLY makes me wanna work on this W&B i recently got

**johnmrson** · 03-14-2011, 05:33 AM

Well hopefully it looks a little better than it did. I'm pretty happy with the result. I managed to get some of the shine back and I'll easily get a shaveable edge off it.

**dalecooper51** · 03-14-2011, 05:51 AM

Nice Work.

**Wid** · 03-14-2011, 07:29 AM

I'm curious; how common is that blade shape? I have one old Sheffield with the same shape of blade sans the thumb notches.

**dakotaev** · 03-14-2011, 08:32 AM

Nice job John it looks great.

**Antique Hoosier** · 03-14-2011, 08:39 AM

Now that is a survivor! I really like the escutcheon plates on the scales as well. Nice catch and save.

**mathuisella** · 03-15-2011, 04:58 AM

i really like that blade :)

**natchez** · 03-15-2011, 05:33 AM

You always have the neatest stuff! What a wonderful old blade and a fine job of resurrection.

Here are some possible makers, I searched the manufacturers database using just the "BE" you could see, and pre-1850:

ROBERTS, SMITH & CO
Sheffield
In business in 1828

WADE, ROBERT
Sheffield
1810 - 1818

BENGALL, a very early one.

But, you may never know