Those big Wade and Butcher FBUs get a lot of appreciation and rightly so, but what about all those other great blades from Sheffield, the home of the straight razor?
I currently have five Sheffield straights and they are all superb shavers:
Bottom left:
S.Hibbert & Son 5/8 quarter-hollow with leather scales.
I guess this would have been a mid to late 19th century budget razor, but the small blade with the heavy grind makes it very comfortable and manouverable, and the boiled leather scales give it a great feel in the hand and very well balanced. Even the cheaper razors were awesome!
Bottom right:
Abram Brooksbank "Defiance" 9/16 half-hollow with big horn scales.
This must be the earliest in the collection, probably 1860s and another very comfortable, manouverable and well balanced razor.
The half-hollow blade says "Extra Hollow Ground" reflecting the level of grinding technology at the time.
Abram Brooksbank went on to become Mayor of Sheffield, and his Malinda Works sure made a fine razor.
Top left:
George Butler "KEEN" 11/16 full-hollow with ivory scales and tang. The blade shows a depiction of Shakespeare and a quote from Love's Labours Lost: "KEEN as is this razors edge invisible"
A very beautiful high-end razor from the Trinity Works in the mid to late 19th century.
Top centre:
Taylor's Eye Witness 6/8 full-hollow with celluloid scales.
Lots of corrosion on the tang but another magnificent shaver from the late-19th century Eye Witness works.
Taylor named his works from another Shakespeare play, Henry III: "No eye hath seen the like", and Taylor's Eye Witness still make cutlery today.
Top right:
Kropp 5/8 full hollow.
A cheap and widely available razor from the 1930s, arguably the Golden Age of razors.
By this time, Sheffield was falling far behind in razor manufacture to Solingen, which had much better mechanisation and industrial structure, and the high level of competition between Sheffield, Solingen, Gillette, GEM, Schick and Durham Duplex led to the production of some amazing razors.
This Kropp is one of them!
So come on, let's give this outstanding craftsmanship the appreciation it deserves.
if you've got some pics, history or mini-reviews of your vintage Sheffield blades then post them in this thread and we'll share the admiration.
I currently have five Sheffield straights and they are all superb shavers:
Bottom left:
S.Hibbert & Son 5/8 quarter-hollow with leather scales.
I guess this would have been a mid to late 19th century budget razor, but the small blade with the heavy grind makes it very comfortable and manouverable, and the boiled leather scales give it a great feel in the hand and very well balanced. Even the cheaper razors were awesome!
Bottom right:
Abram Brooksbank "Defiance" 9/16 half-hollow with big horn scales.
This must be the earliest in the collection, probably 1860s and another very comfortable, manouverable and well balanced razor.
The half-hollow blade says "Extra Hollow Ground" reflecting the level of grinding technology at the time.
Abram Brooksbank went on to become Mayor of Sheffield, and his Malinda Works sure made a fine razor.
Top left:
George Butler "KEEN" 11/16 full-hollow with ivory scales and tang. The blade shows a depiction of Shakespeare and a quote from Love's Labours Lost: "KEEN as is this razors edge invisible"
A very beautiful high-end razor from the Trinity Works in the mid to late 19th century.
Top centre:
Taylor's Eye Witness 6/8 full-hollow with celluloid scales.
Lots of corrosion on the tang but another magnificent shaver from the late-19th century Eye Witness works.
Taylor named his works from another Shakespeare play, Henry III: "No eye hath seen the like", and Taylor's Eye Witness still make cutlery today.
Top right:
Kropp 5/8 full hollow.
A cheap and widely available razor from the 1930s, arguably the Golden Age of razors.
By this time, Sheffield was falling far behind in razor manufacture to Solingen, which had much better mechanisation and industrial structure, and the high level of competition between Sheffield, Solingen, Gillette, GEM, Schick and Durham Duplex led to the production of some amazing razors.
This Kropp is one of them!
So come on, let's give this outstanding craftsmanship the appreciation it deserves.
if you've got some pics, history or mini-reviews of your vintage Sheffield blades then post them in this thread and we'll share the admiration.
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