“listen: there’s a hell
of a lot of pink orgone energy next door; let’s go”
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Disposable items lead to a disposable economy and disposable workers. That’s not a society that lasts and a socialist who thought beyond the next meal should be able to understand that.
Actually tried to read one of King Gillette’s books explaining his socialist ideas once upon a time. Didn’t make it very far.
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That’s pretty. I remember seeing another post of yours that had to do with a home made knife I think. Do you go through the whole forging / folding process when you make these? Not sure how much time you spend doing such things, but it may make an excelent crafts thread.
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Believe it or not, that break at the pivot is entirely repairable. The scales (handles) are made of water buffalo horn.
What I would do (and have done many times) is cut off the jagged end with an angled cut, then cut another piece of horn to fit. Superglue bonds horn extremely well and should last for a very, very long time. Once they’re bonded it’s just a matter of shaping the added piece to match, drilling a new pivot hole and then polishing it.
Yours dates to 1870-1890, give or take a bit. They’re quite desirable (though my tastes are more esoteric), and make fantastic shavers. Most beginners would want a smaller razor until they’re more familiar.
Wade & Butcher was an interesting company. Founded in 1818 by Robert Wade and the brothers William and Samuel Butcher, the actual company ceased in 1825 when Wade died. His wife Jane continued making razors under his name until she died in 1829.
However the company mark was so valuable that the Butcher brothers continued to sell goods under that name. Their main business was steel refining, but razors (and files and chisels and pocket knives) were quite lucrative.
Meanwhile, Robert Wade’s son (also named Robert) went to work at the company as a sales agent and moved to Philadelphia. He married into high society, but his wife died shortly after giving birth to their daughter. A few years later remarried and moved to Rittenhouse Square.
One of his granddaughters made national news when she left her husband and children to go live in the wilds of Alaska (this was incredibly bold in 1920), when she got back she got a divorce, had an affair with Buckminster Fuller then married William Starling Burgess, lead designer of the Dymaxion Car and (arguably) inventor of the New Times Roman typeface.
Those razors are surprisingly heavy because of how thick the spine of the blade is. I have a few that are bigger, but only one that’s very noticeably heavier.
(The black-handled razor is a similar Wade & Butcher, though a bit larger than an inch wide)
The Palmer razor was made in Sheffield for a London reseller named George Palmer. It dates to about 1815, and unusually has the stamp for King George III (the crown with the letters GR below “George Rex”). The ivory scales are scrimshawed with an illustration of Magog, mythical protector of London.
It’s a surprisingly nice razor to shave with considering its enormous size.
The earliest razor I have is this:
Dating to the mid 16th or early 17th century. Probably German. However, once you get back beyond 1750 or so, it’s very, very difficult to learn anything about them. I haven’t shaved with it yet because I’m still researching to find out what the period-appropriate scales would be. Most likely they were tortoise shell (which isn’t made from tortoises, it’s made from hawksbill sea turtles and that’s why it’s no longer legal to make anything from it), but I can get modern synthetic that is a pretty good match just as soon as I know how they were shaped. It looks to be capable of taking an edge! That’s the condition I got it in, complete with the crudely painted wood scales – probably replaced in the late 1800’s so it could be used in some sort of display.
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OH GOD. Its old/bad advice. In my experience, and based on what I’ve read from other (presumably better shaving experts) you should never shave against the grain with modern cartridge razors. I know it makes my face explode, but I’ve got shaving issues. But generally speaking shaving against the grain causes a lot more ingrown hairs, razor bumps/burn, and irritation, . But it does get a closer shave. Basically shaving against the grain makes that angled cut through the body of the hair in the other direction. Allowing less of it to protrude from the skin, so closer shave but leads to that increase in ingrown hairs and irritation (sharp, newly cut hair in the skin rather than above it). You can mitigate this, as you’ve found, by shaving first with the grain, then against. Which clips the hair short as possible in both direction, as close to the skin as possible. Leads to a smaller, less sharp tip to the hair, shorter hair overall, and more hairs that are below rather than above the surface. Still causes more breakouts and ingrown hairs. And more passes generally means more irritation, as do shorter faster strokes.
Its old advice because it actually works quite well, with far fewer problems. And is sometimes actually necessary with old school wet shaving for safety razors and straight razors. Where the much sharper, thinner blades, and frankly over all closer nature of the shave further mitigates the issues. But so far as I know its still considered really bad for your skin unless you need a very close, military grade shave from a cartridge or disposable razor. It was common with the Marines I know (first with, then against). But the constant ingrown hairs got to most of them, and they switched to quick with the grain shaves. Followed up with powdered depilatory commonly used by guys who shave their heads. Just as close, less fucked up faces.
I used to use one of their products after a shave, facial moisturizer later re-branded as after shave lotion. Worked wonders.
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Well, personally I haven’t had issues using the “with then against the grain” method, and I’ve been doing it for years.
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Lucky you. It makes my face look like I’ve been hit by buckshot. But like I said my skin doesn’t get along with shaving in general, and my approach is more about mitigating the damage that finding something that works.
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Funnily enough, that was the exact scenario that came to mind when I read @nungesser’s comment…
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Is that second picture supposed to be a cloudbuster?
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Rapiras are the bestest, cheapest razors, IMO. I use a cheap shavette straight razor that takes half a safety blade. I don’t cut myself that often, or that badly, and it’s cheap as anything.
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Pffft.
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You got 19 years on me. But that’s about how I do it: Mondays & Thursdays.
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If I use a blade, or even an electric shaver, I tend to get folliculitis caused by ingrown hairs because my beard is stupid.
I use hair clippers.
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Lemme tell ya something, bustin’ makes me feel good
The Cloudbusting machine in the video was designed and constructed by people who worked on the Alien creature and bears only a superficial resemblance to the real cloudbusters, which were smaller and with multiple narrow, straight tubes and pipes, and were operated while standing on the ground. (source)
Reich and cloudbuster
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Somewhere I have Reich’s son Peter’s disturbing autobiography, and I think it has cloudbuster photos in it, but I haven’t looked at it in 40 years. I’d dig it out, but it is probably dull by now.
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@Zak_Jarvis, thanks for the advice and the very detailed history of the company.
I had considered replacing the scales (one of a long list of someday projects), but not repairing them. I’ve seen some tortoiseshell-looking and swirly-finished acrylic that wouldn’t look out of place on this razor. If I understand you, you make a scarf joint and superglue it? The back scale has some flaking issues as well, but I assume superglue would penetrate well enough to fix that. Are suitable pins and roves available? The main problem would be catching the water buffalo.
It’s interesting that, while knife collectors want their toys absolutely unmodified and with any patina intact, razor collectors seem fine with mirror polishing and even complete handle replacement.
Here’s the W&B with my other straight razor, a slim German-made Ideal. It’s at the other end of the spectrum for size.
That old German razor is cool. Pity about the skills of whoever made the handle. 
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Exactly. A simple scarf joint with the thinnest end on top. CA (cyanoacrylate, or superglue) will easily fix delaminations too. The trick is to get the thinnest formula and a precision applicator (places like Rockler and Woodcraft carry them for about $4). Press down the part that’s coming up, and then carefully use the applicator to wick the glue into the crack.
With joins like that, since the scales are rounded, I don’t worry too much about a flush fit anywhere but the surface, and I cover one end of the horn I’m gluing in powdered horn shavings. The glue and the horn dust form an incredibly tough bond – pretty much exactly like Pykrete. Be a little careful with that though because CA curing is exothermic and if the powder is very fine it might combust.
If the two pieces don’t match, you can use any commercial hair dye to color the whole piece. Horn is just hair that got overenthusiastic about hanging out together, so if it’ll permanently dye hair, it’ll permanently dye horn.
Almost all old Sheffield razors are pinned using 1/16th inch brass rod, or occasionally nickel silver (which contains no silver). The decorative washer is harder to come by. The easiest way is to find another razor that’s in bad shape but has one or two good washers on it and then carefully remove them (pin vise is good, safe, and very slow – I use a dremel and an engraving bit or specialized machining bits on a drill press).
This eBay vendor has what you need.
I’ve never seen your model of Wade & Butcher in anything but black horn scales, or later vulcanite (like your mustache razor).
There are razor collectors who only want original condition, but there’s also a very large, vocal community who views them as tools to be used.
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Its a difference between collecting from a sort of antiques, as it is, show its age sort of direction. And collecting from a “use it” approach. Even if your not using it the value in straight razors is in their ability to be used. Same for tobacco pipes. They have their highest value when restored, reamed out, polished, any flaws corrected to make sure they smoke well. As with kitchen knives. Collecting those you typically want any chips, pitting, or rust polished/ground out. But for carbon steel you want to patina around because it renders the knife more usable. And takes a long while to establish.
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Two more things I didn’t know before today. Thanks for the information.
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I am full-to-bursting with quasi-useful trivia. 
Vulcanite was also called Ebonite, but is maybe most properly gutta percha. The same stuff they use to fill your teeth with a root canal!
Fun fact: a US senator was nearly beaten to death with a gutta percha cane on the floor of the senate.
It’s a nice material, but a royal pain to fix if it breaks.
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