I left a cheeky offer for a Butler Safety Razor on ebay and it was accepted.
It looked quite unusual and from the seller's pictures I couldn't figure out how it is supposed to work. The razor is in really good condition, the blades not so, but two of the three look salvageable. The wedge blades are slightly thicker, wider (side to side) and narrower (front to back) than other wedge blades, but not by much.
Here is the assembled razor with one of the blades next to it:
A close up of the head
The head comes apart in two pieces
They slide together like this (bottom view)
When you start sliding them together there is enough space...
... to insert one of the wedge blades:
You continue to slide the two halves together until the blade is held firmly:
Into the opening at the bottom...
...you can now insert the handle and fix the two halves in place:
Although the Butler wedge blades are not the same size as others, using a modern GEM blade with my 3D printed blade adapters is possible:
Unfortunately, due the different spine thickness of the blades, the shaving angle is still a bit wrong. Only with the head flat on the face does the blade barely cut. I need to either make a custom blade adapter for this razor or get a wedge blade or two honed.
Any information about this razor is greatly appreciated.
It looked quite unusual and from the seller's pictures I couldn't figure out how it is supposed to work. The razor is in really good condition, the blades not so, but two of the three look salvageable. The wedge blades are slightly thicker, wider (side to side) and narrower (front to back) than other wedge blades, but not by much.
Here is the assembled razor with one of the blades next to it:
A close up of the head
The head comes apart in two pieces
They slide together like this (bottom view)
When you start sliding them together there is enough space...
... to insert one of the wedge blades:
You continue to slide the two halves together until the blade is held firmly:
Into the opening at the bottom...
...you can now insert the handle and fix the two halves in place:
Although the Butler wedge blades are not the same size as others, using a modern GEM blade with my 3D printed blade adapters is possible:
Unfortunately, due the different spine thickness of the blades, the shaving angle is still a bit wrong. Only with the head flat on the face does the blade barely cut. I need to either make a custom blade adapter for this razor or get a wedge blade or two honed.
Any information about this razor is greatly appreciated.