Wade and Butcher 5/8 full Restoration

[angelix]

I just finished (and tested...) a very nice W&B 5/8 Wedge straight, restored with a big help of Neil who took care (goooood care!!!) of the blade.

This is an old of purchase of mine, I got it from Ebay last year with the intent of getting it just shave ready (no deep restoration) so that I could experience a wedge without spending too much, but once I got it in my hands I though it was too nice just to do a "clean & hone" and decided to send it out to "The Strop Shop" for a full monty.

It happens that Neil got sick and had lots of backlog, so I asked him to simply prepare the blade and forget the scales as I had a set in Black Buffalo Horn nearly ready to fit (needed drilling and some adjusting).

Note that the blade had an etching, unfortunately it was so faint it couldn't be saved (it looked better in picture whilst to the naked eye it was barely visible)

I could not wait until tomorrow morning, so as soon as It was finished I went ahead with a testing shave.

And what a shave!!!! I think is my best ever.

I am not sure if it is the steel, the blade shape, the grind, the Honing (thanks Neil that was a great job!!) or all the above together, anyway it was the most enjoyable shave I had in a long time.

Now this little W&B has become my reference razor.

Ah yes, I forgot, this is the first set of scales I have ever made starting from a black piece of horn.

As always any comment or constructive criticism is more than welcome

Here are the pictures

Before

and After

 

[UKRob]

What a fantastic result. The scales look very good - even though they are a first attempt and I like the touch of detail on the spacer. One small piece of advice - make the spacer more wedge shaped in future as this will introduce a bow in the shape of the scales and help the tang fit into the scales easier. On some blades it does not matter too much because the tang and spine are the same width, however many blades taper from the spine towards the pin hole which can cause the tang to rub when the blade is closed.

 

[pugh-the-special-one]

Strangely enough I haven't long finished restoring a Wade & Butch wedge exactly the same as that one I made a set of Ebony scales for the razor. http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-17414.html

Jamie

 

[angelix]

What a fantastic result. The scales look very good - even though they are a first attempt and I like the touch of detail on the spacer. One small piece of advice - make the spacer more wedge shaped in future as this will introduce a bow in the shape of the scales and help the tang fit into the scales easier. On some blades it does not matter too much because the tang and spine are the same width, however many blades taper from the spine towards the pin hole which can cause the tang to rub when the blade is closed.

I actually used an original Lead spacer over 70 years old from a razor that had with the scales broken; why not recycle? :icon_razz:

I added the two small spacers (cut from an old credit card) just to give a little more width and allow the razor to sit better within the scales

I do understand what you mean about the scales hitting the tang, I will keep an eye on this on my future restores; this is a VERY good point, thanks!!!!!!