Antique Vintage WADE & BUTCHER Straight Razor 6/8 New Black Horn Scales RESTORED

Description

This Razor: This is a beautiful, heavy medium to large-format pre-tariff 19th century cutthroat straight razor manufactured by the renowned Sheffield cutler, Wade & Butcher. The blade measures 3/4ths of an inch in width with a nice heavy 1/4-hollow grind. It has a nice clear maker's stamp on the tang and a clean, no-nonsense square tip at the toe. The blade has a lovely curved spine which is matched by its generously curved bellied edge. The beefy custom scales are of a traditional design, made from natural dark water buffalo horn. Scales are held together with understated brass pins and collars with a wedge made from blonde horn. The blade shows very faint residual pitting on the reverse tang. Otherwise, this is a superclean 19th century razor with sexy lines.
The Work: I refurbished this blade by unpinning it, removing all rust, polishing it to a nice sheen. I made custom scales from top quality dark water buffalo horn, pinning it together with understated hand-machined pin-covers with brass pins. Please scrutinize the photos for details. I estimate this razor was made in the 1860s to 1880s...140+ years old and still going strong, ready to serve several more generations!
Wade & Butcher was one of the truly legendary Sheffield razor manufacturers and the enduring quality of their blades even now remains highly desirable.
This razor has an awesome solid feel in the hand and the curved Sheffield belly edge is forgiving on the face. There's good reason these gorgeous old W & Bs razors have a broad and loyal following.
I honed this razor with great care, as I would for my own razors I use for personal daily use
this razor was honed with the following progression with two layers of tape to protect the spine:
Shapton Kuromaku Ceramic 2k
Shapton Kuromaku Ceramic 5k
Seuhiro Kouseki
Maruka Narutaki Asagi
Vintage Scottish Linen Fire Hose Strop
Tony Miller Rough Out Strop
Tony Miller Fast Bridle Strop
My Story: I fell in love with vintage straight razors some years back when I became irritated with the exorbitant cost of disposable razor cartridges. I taught myself to refurbish antique straight razors, utilizing my background in jewelry and sculpture in learning to make custom razor scales, to pin them properly. Over some years I
have gained a reputation for nicely honed shaving edges
. Each of these blades is a journey, with a history. A man's hands created it long ago to last for generations. You and I are part of those generations. I try to be sensitive and cognizant of the historical context of each razor, as well as the spirit and intentions of the original blademaker so that I may bring them back to life for you, my customer.