Thread: Fredericks celebrated razor with a barbers notch, back from the dead

I am out of town on business for a couple of weeks so I brought along 6 razors to sand on, most of them big wedges. This is a Fredericks Celebrated Razor, Sheffield razor. There was some blade etching on it but it was barely visible after years of abuse, it read The Keen Edge. The blade had some heavy corrosion, rust, caked on 140 year old shaving soap in some rotting old horn scales. I went to work on the blade with 120 grit sandpaper. I slowly worked my way up to 2000 grit wet paper which is where it is right now. Once I get home I will give it the buffing treatment on the wheels to give it a mirror shine. The blade is nearly flawless now, there is two very tiny pen point pits left in one spot. I need to make a special set of scales for this one. I also worked up a nice Wade and Butcher for another SRP member.

that is awesome job on bringing the dead back to life my hat is off to you.

Where did you get/find this razor?

Do you know the story behind it, who did it belong to, etc?

that last pic is creepy

great work. you must have a lot of time when you travel. I have been sanding on one for my brother, I'm using some 100 grit paper, damned if it isn't taking forever to get some staining out. gonna order some flap wheels for my dremel :-)

Red

A close friend, who shall remain nameless, said of your blade, "Not bad"! What kind of nonsense is that! I told him that that is like saying of the "Mona Lisa", "Nice painting"

Originally Posted by JMS

A close friend, who shall remain nameless, said of your blade, "Not bad"! What kind of nonsense is that! I told him that that is like saying of the "Mona Lisa", "Nice painting"

Surely you would not make the case it is bad!
I think that is an excellent restoration

Speak of the devil!

Originally Posted by JMS

Speak of the devil!

Join the dark side, Mark!

Not sure who the previous owner was, or the history behind the blade other than it was abused. The lack of ‘England’ on the tang put it in the mid 1800’s. The imports to the USA after the late 1800’s were required to carry the country of make, not just the region. There was very little hone ware on the razor, it may have seen a stone two or three times but the ware was pretty much nonexistent. I would guess the blade is around 6/8, I don’t have a tape measure handy, it may be a large 6/8 or a small 7/8. I picked it up on eBay probably a year ago. I had a handful of big wedges sitting in the project box waiting for their chance in the sun.

I have another Frederick Reynolds to work on but the original scales are in very good to near perfect condition. I am keeping that one in the original translucent horn scales. It also has a light blade etch and I wish I could salvage it, but it is barely visible. It reads Silver Covered With Steel across the top of the blade. In the middle Manufactured by Frederick Reynolds Sheffield. Across the bottom of the blade Prince Alberts Royal Patent Razor. The blade is not in bad shape but simply using MAAS to try to take of the years of corrosion is not cutting it. I have another wedge that was made here in Philly that I sanded out, it is a smaller 5/8. If I get through all of them I have another Greaves and Son 7/8 chopper to work on.

The photos are bad, took them with my phone. The starting product looked worse and the final (or semi final) product looks better.