A W&B day today- your thoughts and thanks

[natchez]

Lunchtime today I go to the local antique/junk dealer to see if he has any hones. He tells me he has some somewhere in a pile of 10 boxes with assorted stuff in them that have not been unpacked. I offered to unpack them in order to have a look, hoping to find something great. Now, the only hone I found was a two-grit Ahconite barber's hone. But there was lots of other shaving stuff, mostly SE and DE stuff, but some straight stuff.

After agreeing with the owner to tag and price all the other shaving items for him, and me handing over $40, two-hours later I left with all the W&B stuff below. Oh, I also got the two-grit barber's hone. Thanks to all of you at B&B I learned enough to be able to price out the shaving stuff.

I posted a photo of the W&B stuff below. The stuff is on a big cake box, so I could get a white background. One of the razors, bottom right is an 8/8. Enough steel for a Volkswagen. The scales are basically shot on all of the razors. The little strop fits in the middle of the two-razor case, which is in fair shape.

So here is my question:

What is the metal bar-type thing in the front of the photo? I have never seen anything like it and could not find anything on the internet or forums that even resembles it. It is marked: W. Buthcher, Sheffield, with the arrow and cross underneath, on the side not in the photo. It tapers from about 5/16" thick down to 1/16" with what appears to be a little lip at the thin end.

 

[natchez]

Here are some more photos of the thing I cannot identify.

 

[Nerdman]

No idea what that is, but it looks cool!!

 

[John C]

Uber Sweet Haul!!

 

[Luc]

No idea what that thing is...

 

[natchez]

Giving it some thought, as it sits here in front of me. I can think of one possibility.

It could be some sort of grinding guide for checking blades as they were being made, sort of a razor jig. If one were hand grinding a blade, it would be useful to have a guide to measure your progress against. The tapered slot seems to me to be a guide of some sort. The tapered shank could be used to check the grind of a wedge. What do you guys think?

I was hoping some of the razor makers might take a look and have an idea.

Anyway, I like mysteries, it makes a dandy paperweight and i suppose I may have the oddest W&B yet

 

[Haiku]

Send bill ellis a pm, see what he thinks.

 

[natchez]

So far, the consensus is that it is a tool of some sort, but no one has been able to say exactly what the purpose is. The search continues.

 

[dpe1098]

Hi guys

The thing is a blade for an antique wooden plough plane I have one in my loft including about 5 of the " things" in various widths.

 

[Haiku]

Hi guys

The thing is a blade for an antique wooden plough plane I have one in my loft including about 5 of the " things" in various widths.

I think you're right on the money. I just looked up plough plane and sure enough, the blade in the plane looks to be exactly like the OP's gizmo.

Learn something new every day around here.

 

[natchez]

Hi guys

The thing is a blade for an antique wooden plough plane I have one in my loft including about 5 of the " things" in various widths.

Terrific! Mystery now solved. Thanks to dpe1098 Now, what do I do with the thing?

Since Dpe1098 solved the mystery, I will PIF something to him(her) if I get a PM with an address. Straight or DE shaver? Or, since you have a plough plane, do you want another blade?