John Barber old near wedge

[Matt]

I picked it up a while ago from the online auction. Funny story: the seller had a whole set of three razors, some loom strop, I asked him about this particular razor. He replied to me "- That one alone is worth the price for all the set!" I don't know why I took time to sarcastically reply and wished him luck, and asked to let me know when he would have sold the razor for this price. I forgot about the whole story and he contacted me some two or three months later, asking how much I would pay for it. I explained to him what will need to be done with that to bring it back to life, and we finally made a deal.

So there it is, the most massive of all razors in my humble collection - it's only slightly lighter, than a Wapi with its metal scales. The blade carried great amounts of black rust - getting rid of it all would require removal lots of steel, so I just got rid of most rust, you can see there's much pitting on it (not that I'm great restorer, or have many tools to do it either). But its age justifies it, I guess it's well over a century old? It had old, probably compressed rubber type scales, that cracked upon unpinning, but were really worn and ugly anyway. The text on them said "Celebrated Razor" on one side and "Universally Approved".

There's a asymmetric shank, its surface parallel to the spine on the side where the stamp is, getting narrower on the other - as seen on the picture. I wonder of this is a flaw, or intended. The text on the stamp says "OHNBARBER" Maybe someone can identify it? Cedrick?

I've shaved with it before I spent over 4h getting it back to shape. Took two layers of tape to get a decent bevel and then a third for Unicot. Nothing magical, just a shave. Nothing of the legendary wiping the heavy growth away. Still it was stopping on ATG pass, so that leaves me with my shaving skills. I won't be buying any more razors for long.

regards,
Matt

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[tat2Ralfy]

Lovely old thing Matt

Can't tell you a damn thing about it, apart from that it wants to come and live with me lol

I hope someone comes along to educate us both about it

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Matt]

Oh, most probably it's "John Barber":

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Seemingly, it's damn old! :blink:

 

[Bayamontate]

John Barber's are excellent Sheffield razors, some information below :


JOHN BARBER
Sheffield
1810 - 1834
("Old Sheffield Razors" by Lummus. Antiques, December 1922 p.261-267)

 

[Matt]

Well, now it feels a bit stupid I thrashed the scales. I mean, I still have them, but they're cracked. But they're really ugly now... Ralfy, it could live with you for a while, oh, and also could use some new scales, I even have some horn, lol.

 

[danjared]

Yeah, that's a John Barber. Is that a free mason logo below the name?

 

[Matt]

I would say so.

edit: I've found the "before" picture. Doesn't look that bad as I'd described. But it was a lot of work, anyway. BTW, maybe it's pressed horn, not the rubbery thing? Well, ugly, and broken, anyway. :

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[Toff]

I am aware of three types of scales that looked like that, all were pressed. One type was called composition; actually a form of Papier Maché with a shellac binder.

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Another that I know of was actually leather heat pressed/embossed and glazed with a thinned shellac or hard wax. The last was made from a resin rubber type material called Gutta Percha.

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Cheers
~Richard

 

[tat2Ralfy]

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If it wasnt for the fact that we are currently moving house (into a beautiful early 1800's cottage, that sits in the shadow of a 13th Century Church I might add) and that I shall be without a workshop for a while, I would happily rescale it for in your horn (ooer) and maybe if you dont mind polish it up a little more?

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Matt]

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Wow, that sounds more than terrific! You might find some more razors like this in some hiddden drawers and lockers, keep an eye. Good luck with the whole operation.

regards,
Matt

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Thank you Sir Matt, I must say I am more than a little daunted by it all, we got the keys yesterday, so today operation clean up begins :thumbup:

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Bart]

Pictures, dear doctor.
Pictures is what we need. Don't tell me the house is in Fleet Street...

Matt, that's a lovely old blade. I must admit, that in my eye, the replacement scales don't do it much justice. Not that there is something technically wrong, but they just don't enhance the blade's historic panache, if you catch my drift. You need horn, my friend.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[Matt]

I know I do. I even have a blank generously provided by our Ray. But having never made scales I'm not willing to experiment on it. Although beginner's luck often works...

I put everything together just to shoot pictures of the blade. It's not overly wide, 6/8 at the widest point, but definitely needs a beefier wedge due to the grind.

regards,
Matt

 

[Matt]

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Haha, you've got a sharp eye, good doctor. It really looks like a polished Moon. I'm a lousy restorer (without any workshop :/) This is how it looks reflecting some more distant source of light...

A while ago I bought four abrasive pastes (those hard sticks) at 120, 220, 300 and 600 grades. I was expecting that these grades would correspond to the same grits of paper so would eat metal really quickly. No way. I don't know if those numbers mean something different with pastes or the seller sells shit, but it all polishes more or less. Maybe he skipped one zero at the end, or what? :huh:

So I ended up removing most of the rust with a dremel and a roll of abrasive paper on it and then moved up with papers progression manually. Both time consuming, and not too satisfactory...

regards,
Matt

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[Jim1]

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legendary indeed!
It bugs me when people use this kind of description. If you peruse other forums you know what I'm talking about. "The whiskers were wiped away from my face like freshly-fallen snow from the windshield of a speeding Ferrari." "The blade sliced through my whiskers like a hot katana through a drop of single-malt Scotch." This kind of hyperbole is usually only used by those who feel a need to brag about (or justify) the insane expense they've incurred to sharpen a razor. See, e.g., many Japanese stone and/or escher users.

Something tells me that if they shaved in front of witnesses they would look an awful lot like me. I have still yet to see a guy mow down the hair on his chin, against the grain, in a single motion, like superman mowing his lawn.

In fact, if they can do this, the only assumption I make is that they must have a she-beard.

 

[Matt]

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That gave me a good, loud laugh.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Hahahaha "She Beard" hahahaha

 

[Pithor]

With all the people bragging about their BBS shave every time, with one pass + touch-ups, I wouldn't be surprised if at least half of the actually carried 'she-beards' that could be sneezed off by our cat.

As for the legendary 'Sheffield whisker melters' plus those Ferrari windshields: I must say after shaving with about four sharp Sheffield (near) wedges, it most likely is a case of poetic hyperbole - whose beautiful metaphorical desriptions I can most certainly appreciate - which I have taken with a big ass grain of salt from the start. I did notice that, yes, there is less feedback while shaving when compared to shaving with, say, a frame-back Swede, but the end results were pretty much the same.

And to not have this thread derail completely from the OP's post, I found a lovely John Barber a little over a months ago. It has this notch on the toe end of the spine and is, I suspect, still in it's original carved horn scales. It's a real looker, even though some previous owner had shined it up a bit too strong for my taste, it doesn't seem to go well with the age and remaining pitting on the blade.

So far, after two attempts, I have failed to hone it up properly. Have to give it another try one of these days, since I have had quite a bit of honing practice lately. Either way, legendary hair nuking aside, they are very nice to look at, and I don't doubt once I get the edge on mine that it'll be a really good shaver.

 

[Matt]

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Tape, tape and, again, tape. "Tape is your friend" to shamelessly quote myself, especially with wedges-alike. Took me two layers to establish an ok bevel, then applied third for UniCot. Good luck. :thumbup:

regards,
Matt

 

[Pithor]

Tell me about it. I always hone with tape, but noticed that for full or near wedges tape is inevitable/mandatory. Today I succesfully honed up a stubtail full wedge bengall, already had a bevel set with two layers of tape (even though I thought I messed it up last time, which was a pleasant surprise), dilucoted (first dilucot ever) with the two layers of tape, got a great edge. I meant to put on a third layer, but completely forgot. It doesn't seem to have mattered much in the end.