# old straight razors



## brown down (May 22, 2014)

got this a few weeks ago along with about 6 or 7 old sheffield english one. I can not for the life of me find anything about this maker! the handle has some crazy carvings on it. It says Navaja Especial Grantida I am assuming thats spanish????
Blade is in rough condition.

also If anyone knows anything about Japanese swords my grandfather brought one home from WWII doesn't have a handle still sharp as heck!

Reactions: Way Cool 5


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## Schroedc (May 22, 2014)

I don't know a whole lot about the swords but I do know that while many were mass produced during the war years there were still quite a few really old ones that saw their way onto the battlefield and can be worth a bundle. The sword should probably get looked at by a good appraiser,


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## Tclem (May 22, 2014)

That is translated to mean " special knife grantida"


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## Molokai (May 22, 2014)

Maybe that old katana is Honjo Masamune


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## El Guapo (May 22, 2014)

Hey Jeff, where do you go to find your blades? Do you just find them at antique malls and stuff like that? I think it would be fun to make myself a straight razor.


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## brown down (May 22, 2014)

snapped a few pics. there are no maker marks that I can see its got a bit of a patina so there may be marks I am just not seeing
Kevin needs this for his snake problem

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## robert flynt (May 22, 2014)

If the sword is of any value it will have a makers mark on the tang that an expert can be identified but looking at the condition of that one there is a lot missing and the blade is in really bad shape. Also there is a high end knife maker by the name of Tim Zawada who makes and collects straight razors. See his work at www.tzknives.com . He might be able to tell you something about the maker.


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## brown down (May 22, 2014)

its a wall hanger at best, still way cool my grandfather brought it back from the war. come to think of it I have a knife he made out of steel off a battleship a destroyer and another war ship when he served. I will have to ask my father what the third ship was ! not sharp at all but still holds that history value and he made it!!

My father got these with a gun purchase. I am not into razors, altho I shaved my head and man what a great shave! I think I am gonna take a couple that are in great shape. 

I just checked his site out and will def be in contact with him to find something out about that razor. I am guessing its horn of some sort I doubt its ivory, maybe mother of pearl?


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## ghost1066 (May 24, 2014)

Jeff the chances of your sword being anything but the mass produced model is slim. By that time sword making in the old form was pretty much outlawed if I remember correctly and the Japanese military started to produce the newer swords by the truckload. A maker's mark will be easy to see usually on the tang portion of the handle. Just a quick look it is missing the guard (tsuba), both halves of the handle (tsuka), the pegs to hold them in place (mekugi) , the pommel (kashira), a small ornament (menuki) and the wrapping (many times shark skin). 

I tried to take a look at your razor but for some reason it would only show me one pic that wasn't very big. I would almost bet it is ivory from the looks of the age and the carving done on it. My second guess would be bone but I see no pores that would indicate that. Possibly horn probably not mother of pearl which means it will turn out to be MOP just because I sad not.

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## ripjack13 (May 25, 2014)

I know @jumbojohnny works with straight razors. Maybe he can offer up some ideas...

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## jumbojohnny (May 25, 2014)

Straight razor --> I would need to see pics of the makers marks or the stamping by the pivot. Some light brillo will clean enough rust away to read. Nicely detailed handle - looks like celluloid. Likely around 1930-50's. I can tell you more if I can see the tang (pivot). The blade does look rough, but depending on how bad, it may be able to be brought back to life with some elbow grease. I would like to see your other razors if you have pics.

Ivory would not be carved to that detail, as you would need a thick piece and it would be very fragile. Bone would be the better substitute, but the detail is too consistent for hand carving. For these reasons I am confident that the material is pressed plastic. Still very nice.

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## brown down (May 27, 2014)

sorry guys my internet was down. I will get pics up of the sheffield ones by tonight!

so my father got these through a purchase of some antique firearms. the guy he got them off of was in his early 80s. these were his fathers so I am only assuming they are pretty freaking old! @jumbojohnny , so are you saying its carved plastic or pressed? The only thing I am worried about as far as taking brillo or steel wool to it, if its worth anything it may not be once I do that? they are called ornamental handles at least thats what they are labeled on freebay and some sell or are Listed for around $250 but that depends on the markers mark I can't really see too well lol

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## brown down (May 28, 2014)

the comb is going back to him, it was his fathers from when he was in service. there are the original boxes one or two of them are in good shape and to be quite honest I am not even sure they are in the right boxes! is there any way to fix chipped edges on straight razors. or should I turn them into some skinning knives? maybe small field knife for gutting? I have a really bad habit of permanently misplacing knives and the one day I rifled hunted last year I lost my best buck knife!

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## jumbojohnny (May 29, 2014)

The first razor up top with the detailed scales - no need to brillo the scales, just the razor near the pivot to that you can get a better picture of the maker name or stamping. As for the material, I would put my money on pressed celluloid. The scales really wont matter as much as who is the maker. Sometimes its better to dress another razor in those scales. Pricing is always condition sensitive, big chips and cracks kill razors, rust can be removed, scale can be built - but broken is broken. Big piece of advice - NEVER BRING A DREMEL TO MEET YOUR RAZOR. They will not get along and the razor always loses.

Second razor - Wade & Butcher, a popular company. Looks to be 6/8" wide, maybe 5/8" likely from the 1850-1899 range, with some light sanding it can look new again. The scales are blank horn - likely cattle or oxen - are in good condition and should clean up nicely.

Third razor - G. Johnson 3/8" maybe, blonde cattle horn scales - dyed to resemble tortoise shell. Likely from the early 1900-1930s. 

Fourth razor - Joseph Allen & Son - 5/8" plastic scales, likely from the 1920-1940's

Fifth razor -- Broken, its never going to be used for shaving again. Skinning knife maybe, but I would put a solid handle on it first to provide better stability for use.

I cant make out the others, but to the last couple pics - the really rusty ones. They may be dead for shaving, but they may be able to be saved. I would like to see closer pics of the top razor. I would like to take a whack at cleaning up and putting a new pair of pants on that one. I don't mind sending it back in the event that it is not for sale/trade. I would like to see better shots of the blade edge to see how badly the pitting is, any wording for stamping, and your measuring tape to some me that blade width.

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## ripjack13 (May 29, 2014)

Nice one Jack. Thanx for your help in here.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ghost1066 (Jun 1, 2014)

@jumbojohnny Great information on the razors. Did they use bakelite for some of the handles? I know they used it on so many things it would seem likely they would but would like to know the right answer.

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## brown down (Jun 1, 2014)

wow thanks for the help! I just got home from a weekend fishing trip and I am exhausted right now I will snap some pics and post them up tomorrow. I will ask my father what he wants to do with them. He doesn't use a straight razor so I wouldn't doubt he would part with it. thanks again for your knowledge. I will clean the blades up and see if I can find any maker marks on them and get some good pictures. my picture taking skills are crap to say the least. Its not the cameras fault hah

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## jumbojohnny (Jun 4, 2014)

@ghost1066 - yes bakelite was used often for scales and brushes. Most often because bakelite had its own curly, swirly, and "accidental" pattern to it, the scales would not usually be covered with paint or stains. They would press the bakelite for details like the on above - just not that brown layer to hide the pattern. If they wanted brown, they would just make and use brown bakelite. I like the brushes that were made with bakelight.

@brown down - I would proceed with some 400 grit wet dry paper. Not enough grit to do any damage, and not too high to polish the rust. I understand the camera issue...I am not a fan in front or behind one. As for what your father wants to do with them...dont even ask. Send one of them out to me, let me clean and restore it - then present it as a surprise gift to him. Shaving with them has become increasingly more popular these days.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 5, 2014)

@jumbojohnny 
I found my old straight razor. I'll have to take pix to show ya. I even have the original box...

have you sent out the razor yet?

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## brown down (Oct 5, 2014)

@jumbojohnny i put those in a box and forgot I had them sorry... what would you like in exchange to get one cleaned up?

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## jumbojohnny (Oct 6, 2014)

Marc - I have been so neglectful of my postal responsibilities. I have been playing with my new machines too much. I have the label ready to go and will mail the razor in the morning. 

Brown - I haven't really been doing many clean ups, but I can squeeze one in. I like the top rusty blade in the last pic and the Wade & Butcher. Send me these and I will clean one and send it back...Without knowing the rusty blade maker, the W&B is a more costly blade $30-45) and therefore would likely be the one coming back. I have some various woods to make scales with, or faux ivory, micarta, G10, or horn -- If you have something else in mind, please let me know.

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## brown down (Oct 7, 2014)

the rusty one without a handle in the last pic is also a wade and butcher blade. So if I understand this correctly, I send you these two, you keep one for yourself and clean one up the other one and send it back my way? there are three wade and butcher ones not including the rusty one without scales. just so I have this correct you want the old one with the string wrapped around the handle? or the one with the marks on the blade?


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## ripjack13 (Oct 7, 2014)

Sounds good man...thanx.


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## jumbojohnny (Oct 7, 2014)

brown down said:


> the rusty one without a handle in the last pic is also a wade and butcher blade. So if I understand this correctly, I send you these two, you keep one for yourself and clean one up the other one and send it back my way? there are three wade and butcher ones not including the rusty one without scales. just so I have this correct you want the old one with the string wrapped around the handle? or the one with the marks on the blade?


 

Its hard to tell which are the best condition with the rust. How about this...Send me all of your razors that you may want cleaned up. I will certainly clean the better W&B...check out all the others and see what I can do with the best few. I will keep one, we can determine which one later. Think about scale material - If you have some wood that you want me to use, send it with. I have some amboyna burl, ebony, black walnut, cherry burl, and red mallee burl left.

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## brown down (Oct 7, 2014)

you got it man thank you so much for this i appreciate it!! pm me your addy and I will get this out in the mail. what are the size requirements for scales for straight razors? I have a boat load of timber that can be used for this or down the road for you using personally. If you are going to go through all of that I would like to include some insane timber for you as well!!!

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## ripjack13 (Oct 8, 2014)

Ok..I finally took some pix of mine...




















Pretty sure it is plastic handle.

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## jumbojohnny (Oct 9, 2014)

Marc - plastic handles for sure, but very nice ones! Designed to mimic bones. 

Likely 1920-1940's range. Blade looks like it has some pitting, but as long as it is shallow and not on the edge, it can be a shaver. By the comparison to your thumb, I would guess the size is *5/8"* or 6/8" wide, hollow ground. 

Centaur is the maker, but it was a small firm and info is hard to find. The company below was the distributor of the razors and they had company name stamped on one side.
SPERRY & ALEXANDER: New York City-based importer/reseller of Solingen, German-made blades. Sperry & Alexander was located at 30 Warren Street, New York City

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