Working Man's Fred

A Frederick Reynolds 7/8' near wedge with homemade replacement scale. From Ebay.

At some point in this razors life, it belonged to someone who had access to some shop tools, a hand saw or even a table saw. The original scales got broken and needed to be replaced. The razor may have been a gift from a loved one that cost a days wages or a hand-me-down.

Using the materials he had at hand, a scrap piece of lumber and a brass bolt, he set to work. He cut a piece of pine to lenght, ripped it to width and then plowed a dado down the middle for the blade. Some hand sanding and back into use.

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I thought I should respect the original efforts and honor the history.

The blade polished up nicely and the hone wear on the shoulder seemed to even out with hand sanding. Took it up to 12k and Flitz.

The scales are walnut in 6 coats of Minwax Tung Oil Finish, nickel/silver pins and for a touch of tomorrow, a G10 wedge. Recycled brass bearing washers.

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My first time using nickel/silver and it will have to be a pretty special piece to use it again. I ended up using the hammer in the picture to do the bulk of the peening after several hours with the 4 oz. produced little progress. I used the tools at hand to get the job done like the original owner. Wedge could have been slimmer and the finish reveals some shaping flaws upon close examination.

Looking forward to honing it and seeing what kind of shave I'll get out of it.

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Turned out really nice great job Enjoy!

Every interesting how the hone wear almost appears to disappear !! Nice work.

Nice work. Big difference from start to finish.

looks great !! ...

Nice job! Great save! You know, you can anneal those pins on the ends and they peen ever so much easier!

that is a nice and respectful save of a classic blade. I have heard that type of home repair as "Depression" scales. No-one had money and they did what they could with what was available.
Thank you again!
~Richard

That is a really nice job.
Good looking razor.
Enjoy

Thanks for the tip on annealing the pins. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

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Originally Posted by DGilloon

Thanks for the tip on annealing the pins. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

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Give a shout! Easily done. I will show you how.

Been doing some research on the site about annealing and while brass annealing is pretty well covered, nickel/silver hasn't been discussed in as much depth.

Can a nickel/silver rod be heated over a kitchen stove and if so, what color would you look for? Quench or cool?

Sure! I use a propane torch. Make your pin and dress the ends flat. get a cup of water handy. Hold in the middle of the pin with needle-nose pliers and just kiss the end to the blue of the flame for a 20 count and dunk it. Flip and do the other end. Just the ends, as you don't want to anneal the whole pin. If you do, it will bend easily! Brass usually takes only a 10 count.

Thank you. You're not looking for a color change in the rod, just a heating?

Since you are just touching the tip to the flame, you will not see much in that regard. I tried more, but the whole rod seems to anneal. Not good. I tried less and it did not seem to work as well. A 20 count and quench seems to be about right. I think a propane torch and a natural gas/butane stove flame should be in about the same heat range. Tiny taps and the pin will mushroom when tapped around the edges and the occasional tap on the top. A must when peening ivory or bone collarless! :)

Again, thank you for sharing these tricks of the trade. Peening made fun again!

Just what I need. More tools, only these have an element of pyro.

Dude !!....What you did to ressurect that razor....I christen thee....'The magician" :tu