I saw this Weiss & couldn’t pass it up. John Weiss was an Austrian born in the late 1700’s who came to England and made a name for himself patenting & making surgical instruments. The company John Weiss & Son Ltd still exists today and has a 225 year history. A cool story was his belief that steel improves in quality if it is naturally rusted in the earth. He made razors, buried them for 3 years, recovered, tested and felt they were vastly improved. He felt so strong about this he purchased 15 tons of the old London Bridge, and manufactured instruments, tools and razors with that steel. With a potential history like that, I had to swap the razor into more suitable, more regal scales. I’ve had these MOP scales for a few years, taken off an old Joseph Rodgers, so they should be period and region correct... but really they just look cool. Quick changeout, using double stacked brass to get a similar look to the wedge end and here we go. First time pinning MOP, so I was sweating a little, but no mishaps with the hammer. I got lucky with the fit... really close and looks like it came this way. Now, I think I have scales to match the blade... pretty happy. Enjoy your projects. Tom
Thank you Gary... much appreciated. I’m sure I made it less useful, but I really enjoy the change in look.
Didn’t want the razor to be lonely, and needed to round out the scale materials. An older Weiss in horn and a newer Weiss & Son in ivory. Obviously I can’t get enough of this blade shape. Can’t imagine they are too far apart in time... late 1800’s, I assume. Both could be rescales, as the stamp on the ivory one is pretty worn, so seems like a pretty nice restoration, and the pinning at the pivot of the horn is different. Original or not, both are nice examples of a cool maker. Look pretty nice together. Happy hunting. Tom
Thanks Gary. Weiss is such an interesting character. I’ve read that he was afraid of being buried alive, so his coffin was outfitted to pierce his heart upon closing.