A pair of Hawcroft Renown

UKRob

UKRob

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I worked on these recently - a 2 day set in ivory. One of the blades has a bit of residual pitting but nothing that affects the shave. For near wedge grinds they are surprisingly light - but at just over 5/8" they are not massive blades anyway. Both razors give very comfortable shaves - I think the Sheffield steel being a bit softer helps here - as does the slight smile and curve.

 
Thanks everyone - and welcome to the forum Bjorn and jaycee - Ed I know you've been on here some time.

The pair of razors above make for a nice display with another set I have:



The old Sheffield blades seem to take an edge very easily - however you can also just as easily remove metal from the spine - so I always tape when honing. Even though the picture above is not too clear, the bevel on both razors is really tiny - I honed both again at the week-end and you struggle to see anything even with a 10x loupe.
 
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Yes they're a lovely looking pair Rob. Are those the original scales? There is something rather exquisite about old ivory, although I quite agree with the ban nowadays.
 
shavecraft said:
Yes they're a lovely looking pair Rob. Are those the original scales? There is something rather exquisite about old ivory, although I quite agree with the ban nowadays.
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Yes - both sets are in ivory scales and in both cases I had to remove the scales to clean the insides. Re-pinning them afterwards is a bit nerve racking as there is always the possibility of them splitting.

I can't help but agree with the necessity of a ban - although it does mean that a lot of natural waste is unavailable as well. There is still a source of legal ivory by the way - from Mammoths believe it or not. I understand that it's quite easy for it to be distinguished from Elephant ivory and therefore obtain licenses for sale.
 
Excellent job you did on the scales then Rob. Yes I believe the mammoth ivory is mainly from Siberia? I've been resisting getting into straights since starting with "traditional" wet shaving several years back but not sure I can see that lasting much longer. I have a feeling it may be a birthday request if my good lady asks if I'd like anything in particular.
 
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