Some big Blades in Shell (Herder, EAB)

[Joe Edson]

I finally got around to doing some personal blades that I knew I'd be keeping. I know a lot of people aren't fans of shell, but I am. I'm not a huge fan of wood so there.

First up is a 15/16 Rich Abr Herder #14 half hollow. I bought this blade over 6 months ago for the costly sum of $24 shipped. I had a very small amount of red acrylic backed Abalone shell remaining and had to use a small blade (length wise) to even squeeze some scales out of it. I had to use the entire width of my shell blank to even make scales for this and they are still shorter than my preference. Wedge is black G10.

I'm really intrigued on this as I've read that the Filly and Palmera #14 blanks all came from one place, and I wonder if this is from the same blanks. I'll say this - I honed this up to a La Veinette coticule edge and it is most definitely one of the best edges I've encountered. It rivals my Palmera 14 easily and is now a top 5 shaver in my collection. I will never part with this one.




Next up is a 15/16 Erik Anton Berg full hollow. You don't see swedes this large too often and when I saw it I had to buy it. Blade had some deep scratches and some pitting so I had to start at 80 greaseless and even then there are traces remaining. Scales are black acrylic backed real Abalone Shell. Wedge is a Royal Blue G10 lined Forest Green G10 spacer.