Country of origin Geo. Wostenholm Pipe Razor

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Mon May 17, 2010 12:44 pm

The blade doesn't say so, but I seem to recall that someone said Wostenholm was in Sheffield. Is that correct, or is this a German blade?

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Mon May 17, 2010 12:54 pm

Wostenholm was a Sheffield company for certain. I can't say anything about individual blades because I know nothing about them.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Mon May 17, 2010 1:19 pm

This confirms my prior understanding. Thanks.

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Mon May 17, 2010 2:34 pm

Very much Sheffield, founded by George Wostenholm and a supplier of pocket knives and bowies that wound up on cowboy gunbelts.

mpisarcik · Post by **mpisarcik** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:12 pm

I often think of them as the "working mans" Sheffield blade due to the popularity/cost of nice W&B's.

ferroburak · Post by **ferroburak** » Sat Sep 04, 2010 2:34 pm

Sheffield razors had their steel from Sweden and some of them were ground in Germany.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sat Sep 04, 2010 3:08 pm

ferroburak wrote:Sheffield razors had their steel from Sweden and some of them were ground in Germany.

Very, very rarely. It was called Sheffield Steel for a good reason!

Chris

ferroburak · Post by **ferroburak** » Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:44 pm

drmoss_ca wrote:
ferroburak wrote:Sheffield razors had their steel from Sweden and some of them were ground in Germany.
Very, very rarely. It was called Sheffield Steel for a good reason!

Chris

I remember reading that Sweden was producing most of the cast steel of the world in the 19th century. British Empire was also producing steel in India(which was a dependency of British Empire.)

I also think German razor craftsmanship was better (and older too) than Sheffield as US razor companies preferred German manufacturers over English ones for import.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:28 pm

No, Sheffield was the first large scale center of cutlery manufacture ( including razors )...Solingen only developed later. 'Silvered steel' for straight razor blades was first produced in Sheffield in the 1840s. The main German contribution was the proceedure of hollow grinding the blades and came along latter; most classic Sheffield blades of that time were wedge shaped. Of course, to this day, some straight razor shavers still prefer the wedge design.
Regards,
Gordon

ferroburak · Post by **ferroburak** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:02 am

bernards66 wrote:No, Sheffield was the first large scale center of cutlery manufacture ( including razors )...Solingen only developed later. 'Silvered steel' for straight razor blades was first produced in Sheffield in the 1840s. The main German contribution was the proceedure of hollow grinding the blades and came along latter; most classic Sheffield blades of that time were wedge shaped. Of course, to this day, some straight razor shavers still prefer the wedge design.
Regards,
Gordon

Cast steel is an innovation that is beyond cutlery.

For my statement related to German craftsmanship you can check here:

http://www.worldknives.com/info/knives- ... ny-43.html

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:17 am

You might find it enlightening to read this overview of early steel making processes. While 'cast steel' is sometimes used as a synonym for crucible steel, the name went through a phase of popularity simply as a marketing ploy long after nearly all steel was being made by the Bessemer process. You'll find razors as late as the 1860's - 70's with Cast Steel stamped on the tang. Then read up on the paragraphs about steel production in Sheffield here.

It's true that the majority of iron ore was mined in Sweden, and some of it was converted into pig iron for export. The actual amount of steel made in Sweden was relatively small, though some of it very good, especially as far as razors are concerned that from Eskilstuna. Damasteel from Sweden is used today in some Livis.

Chris

matt321 · Post by **matt321** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:28 pm

From Wikipedia:
A razor blade starts, at the Thiers Issard factory, as a shape called the blank supplied by the steel manufacturer. Thiers Issard traditionally has used Sheffield silver steel, long considered a superior quality carbon steel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiers_Issard

Does this mean the TI steel comes from Sheffield mills?

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:43 pm

Yes, TIs used Sheffield steel, but did the lead-hardening on site. It's been some years since I bought a TI (seems to me that I have enough of them!) and I believe they introduced a new steel with the Silverwing. I don't know where it comes from and they aren't saying.

Chris