I've fallen considerably behind in my razor restore production schedule, but am hoping to find some time in the coming weeks both pre and post-Christmas to make a dent in the backlog. I had prepped about 10 blades a month ago or so and most have remained as shown here — cleaned-up but without any scales... The blade at top left is an 8/8 hollow-tipped Sheffield 'Tally Ho' blade from F. Fenney. For this one, I chose some scales made of golden translucent horn. I had some time yesterday for some sanding and polishing of this set of scales. Hand-sanding starting at 300 grit up to 1500; then micro-mesh up to 8k. For this razor, the wedge will be of amber and the hardware all brass. Making progress.... more to come!
That old Sheffield blade will be perfectly suited to those scales great looking blade that's going to look superb once finished, what washer set up are you thinking of Kevin?
Jamie, with these large Sheffields, I'm partial to double or triple-stacked domed brass. At least that's where I'm currently leaning.
Very nice, I've yet to find a really nice tally. Love that wosty right under it too, looks like a good shaver with some good weight. I have a wade I keep putting off since I can't decide on the scales. I have wenge, cocobola, Nicaraguan rose, bloodwood, yellowheart, purpleheart, black walnut and a few others I can't name by memory. Some bone too but don't enjoy the smell of working with it, do need some more horn soon. Where did you find the amber?
Had some time today this rainy morning to get this big Tally nearly finished up. Shaped the brass-lined amber wedge and prepped for final assembly. 'Pardon the dust' shop photos….. Next stop: off the the hones….
The ebay market price for the big-bladed (7/8"+) Sheffield razors has certainly skyrocketed and there doesn't seem to be an end. Finite supply, growing demand = $$$ The trick is to find 'em for a song elsewhere, perhaps in less than ideal condition & then purdy 'em up…
Honing Regimen and results for this razor: Bevel-set: raised a slurry using a DMT on the Chosera Pro 1k. Three series of laps (using a loupe to check evenness and lightly touch for keenness of bevel edge), thinning the slurry with water each series. One of easiest edges to set I've come across. Love this Sheffield steel. AHT: arm hairs popping off at the base all across the edge. Time to move on... Progressed up the Grit scale: Sharpening continues with Naniwa Super Stones 3k > 5k. Same raising of slurry; diluting as I progress through the laps. Edge feeling very sticky. AHT: Slicing through hairs halfway up. On to the polishing…. Series of three final Naniwa Super stones: 8k > 10k > 12k. Used the DMT to level stones; very little slurry. A series of laps on each stone, blade-weight only. Dilute to just water. Natural Finisher: I used the Apache strata natural. Thin slurry raised with the DMT; progression of very light strokes, gradually thinning until only water. AHT: 'tree-topping' arm hairs; HHT: not a test I regularly do (tough to get consistent results); hair caught and cut easily across the entire edge. Strop: 50 laps on linen/1oo laps on leather; HHT: hair pops off across the blade. The Shave: First off, this is a LARGE razor. Full-hollow, so it resonates rather loudly throughout the shave. No resistance, no pull—just ever-so-smooth passes. A standard 3-pass shave with near-BBS results. This is perhaps one of the smoothest-feeling razors I've had the pleasure of using. Just a real NICE straight razor shaving experience. It is shaves such as this that make me glad I decided to take the SR plunge!