Frederick Reynolds still one of the best

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I have always believed that Frederick Reynolds razors were one of the best quality blades ever made but I have read many times that they are difficult to set the bevel and difficult to hone.

I have three Reynolds blades and Wednesday I decided to pull one of them out of the old pile and see if I can hone the damn thing.. Turns out that it honed up beautifully once the bevel was set. My shave this evening was yet another joy to experience. This Reynolds is scaled in black micarta and shaves magnificently.

I have two more Reynolds to hone. Hopefully they will shave just as well.......................

People will wake up one day and realize that there's a lot more to antique Sheffield razors than Wade and Butcher. Frederick Reynolds and Wostenholm both made sensational shaving razors.

My Freddie, I set the bevel on my King 1k, and then used a coticule with heavy slurry and diluted down to water, and the edge turned out great. It was one of the easier blades I've honed. but, It was also very true, without a twist or bend in the blade, which can make honing more of a challenge. I really love my Freddie. :)

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

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I have always believed that Frederick Reynolds razors were one of the best quality blades ever made but I have read many times that they are difficult to set the bevel and difficult to hone.

I have three Reynolds blades and Wednesday I decided to pull one of them out of the old pile and see if I can hone the damn thing.. Turns out that it honed up beautifully once the bevel was set. My shave this evening was yet another joy to experience. This Reynolds is scaled in black micarta and shaves magnificently.

I have two more Reynolds to hone. Hopefully they will shave just as well.......................

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What was your process. I have one that i thought i had it ready to go and when i went for a test shave it didn't cut anything. After going over the edge with my 60x loop i noticed it looked like the bevel may not have been set on one side. I used 1 layer of tape to hone it. should i go for 2? oris there something else i should know for these?

Im getting ready to go shave with mine. I had to use 3 layers with it because it had some wide hone wear. It was even thankfully but still wide. The first time I honed with it, I used my standard progression. Set bevel on diamond 1k and then coti with heavy slurry as mentioned above and then I used my Trans black arkie. Well it shaved but not a lot and only WTG. So I am thinking maybe the ark was too hard for it so I am going to try it with just a coti edge and see what happens. It is a beautiful blade and definitely my favorite as for looks but not yet in the shave department, at least not till I crack the code on honing it.

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Some pictures of mine. Sorry for the quality. Poor lighting here at work and a camera phone. I feel like the grind is ever so slightly uneven looking down the point.

well, I just shaved with it. It was not the best feeling shave but not bad at all. A little crisp I would say. I had the same thing happen to me as the last time, which was it did not take nearly as much hair off as my hollows on the first pass, which made me think it was not sharp. But I knew it had to be. From every indicator besides the shave it had to be. So I finished up doing a full 3 pass shave and smooth sailing from there.

I think it was my technique that was lacking as this is my first wedge and second time shaving with it. There were a few spots where I missed and don't usually, but there were some spots were I usually have trouble but dang if it aint BBS there. I also didn't use my normal coti to finish it. I used one that I don't really use and don't know it too well and I think it is softer as it auto slurries within 5 laps. So that may have had something to do with it. I foresee many great shaves with it in the future once i get the beast tamed.

I LOVE my Freddy R's. I'm not a pro honer by any stretch of the imagination. I've never had any problems setting bevels and honing my any of Mr Reynold's creations that are in my stash.
This one is one of my favorites.
as it looked when it came from the bay.
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...ds/FRsmall.jpg

Here it is now.
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u.../FredR001S.jpg

Along with its brother
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...DS002small.jpg

The one in the back was the first razor I ever set a bevel on and honed. Used an old two sided AHCONITE hone. Edge looks like garbage under magnification, but it shaves good. Needs a trip down the water stones, but I leave it as is just for old times sake. :)

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Originally Posted by UAcowboy

What was your process. I have one that i thought i had it ready to go and when i went for a test shave it didn't cut anything. After going over the edge with my 60x loop i noticed it looked like the bevel may not have been set on one side. I used 1 layer of tape to hone it. should i go for 2? oris there something else i should know for these?

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I always black the edge with a Sharpie Marker
to make sure the bevel is properly set.
Two layers of tape and the progression was:
Chosera 1k
Sham's natural 3k
Naniwa 5k
Naniwa 8k
Naniwa 12k
Gokumyo 20k

I have a few FR razors and they are my favorite sheffield razor. I have a few Sheffield razors to choose from but these come out on top always. One of the other beauties about the FR's is that they are not hype priced. Great shave and great value makes for two thumbs up from my view!

Here's my "rat razor".

Stained, not overly used, solid as a rock. Ran it across the hones, took a great edge in no time.
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...YNOLDSRAT1.jpg

Looks rough, bevel looks better in real life than it does in the pic, that was the "before" pic. Shaves GREAT. :)

I I put mine to the hones again last night, this time with 2 layers of tape. The toe now shaves great but from the middle back not so much. It has no hone ware to speak of but the spine has a slight but noticeable increase in thickness starting about a quarter of an inch from the heel going towards the scales. I am thinking that might cause this. Thoughts? I think I will look at having a pro look at it and just see if I am nuts.

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

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I always black the edge with a Sharpie Marker
to make sure the bevel is properly set.

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Great tip, thanks.

Thursday I shaved with this blade, then took it to two different shops for the barbers to use. There were no complaints from anyone. Very great razor............:beer2:

I've never had the pleasure myself, but I remember one guy, back maybe 5 or 6 years ago saying the Reynolds were impossible to hone and he'd never buy another. I guess I've heard that about Joseph Elliot too. Just shows to go ya ........ like my Grampa said, "believe half of what you see, and nothing that you read."

Thanks for the write up guys, now I'll have to get one ........ but I'll wait a few months until the prices go back down ! ........ :rofl2:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've never had the pleasure myself, but I remember one guy, back maybe 5 or 6 years ago saying the Reynolds were impossible to hone and he'd never buy another. I guess I've heard that about Joseph Elliot too. Just shows to go ya ........ like my Grampa said, "believe half of what you see, and nothing that you read."

Thanks for the write up guys, now I'll have to get one ........ but I'll wait a few months until the prices go back down ! ........ :rofl2:

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Was that slartibartfast who complained about honing the FRs??

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

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Was that slartibartfast who complained about honing the FRs??

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Nope it was someone else but I don't want to embarrass him so I'll never tell ........ :ziplip:

Yeah...Who was that? Even had 'No More Reynolds' under his name! Good steel in them, from my experience. Last one I had going, It shaved wonderfully. Then a friend wanted it too bad! ;)

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Originally Posted by JimmyWetshaver

I have a FR Hamburgh Ring that is a darn good shaver. In fact this thread has me wanting to dig it out and use it so I think for tomorrows shave I will! I dont remember it being difficult to hone at all but it is more of a modern grind than many of the FR blades are.
I did work on a beautiful FR for a friend with a worked spine & Eagle Etching on the blade that presented some challenges on the stones but ultimately came out very nice. I know to this day it is one of his favorite razors. I keep looking for one like it to purchase one like his for myself but all the ones I have seen for sale want pretty ridiculous prices. Sooner or later ill grab one. Really An older FR with horn scales has been on my want list for quite some time.

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You mean like this

Vintage Pre 1900's Frederick Reynolds Straight Razor | eBay

I am not selling this item nor do I know the person who is but this thread got me wanting to look at some FR's and I saw this one. Its only at .99 as of typing this. I wish I could throw 275 at it and snatch it right now.

Yeah good thing I got mine for 15 bucks. It has an etching of George Washington and says "champion of liberty". I saw another one just like it with really bug bitten scales for 150 on the bay. I think I did good.

Yup. IIRC, I got my second and third razor, an FR and Geo, respectively for under $30.

They both took bevel sets and honed up really nicely. Sheffield steel. I was pretty impressed. But not knowing anything from anything, I had to take ya'lls opinions that I'd gotten a pretty good deal and some nice blades.

In hindsight, SRP was right again.

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Originally Posted by JimmyWetshaver

Yeah thats the one. See what I mean about the price tags of the ones I have seeen? Crazy. I mean it is a beautiful rzor but to pony up almost $300 I just cannot justify.

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That sale is not going very well... To put it mildly. I've bid on that before it ended the last time, nowhere near the buy-it-now price (and I'm guessing the reserve is similar). Now, 10 bids at the time of this writing and 15hrs to go and the thing is at $6.50!

I find the psychology behind eBay shopping very interesting at times like this. I bet that razor would still sell for big bucks if there wasn't for the reserve and the (very steep) buy-it-now ... From personal experience, I've been trying to get a FR for a while willing to spend a relatively large amount of money on similar razors, but the big choppers always go over my budget. I'm talking about auctions with no reserve, of course.

P.S. Oh, I just realized this may be my first post here.. So, HI EVERYONE! ;)

Here's mine, a FR smiling rattler/faux frame back, my 1st Sheffield that I picked up for $50 a few years ago on the Bay. It is probably my best shaver, though I was still learning to hone at the time (still am really!), so I had a devil of a time trying to set a bevel on its extremely soft steel while learning the rolling x-stroke at the same time. But it now takes a stunning edge, and shaves like butter.
http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/f81943cb.jpgI

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/94270678.jpg

In fact, I'm on the hunt for another one like this to restore for my son for Christmas if anyone knows where I can find one.

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Originally Posted by Srdjan

That sale is not going very well... To put it mildly. I've bid on that before it ended the last time, nowhere near the buy-it-now price (and I'm guessing the reserve is similar). Now, 10 bids at the time of this writing and 15hrs to go and the thing is at $6.50!

I find the psychology behind eBay shopping very interesting at times like this. I bet that razor would still sell for big bucks if there wasn't for the reserve and the (very steep) buy-it-now ... From personal experience, I've been trying to get a FR for a while willing to spend a relatively large amount of money on similar razors, but the big choppers always go over my budget. I'm talking about auctions with no reserve, of course.

P.S. Oh, I just realized this may be my first post here.. So, HI EVERYONE! ;)

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First off, Welcome!

Second don't give up hope. looks for lots ending on the weekends. I just picked this up with as part of a lot of 2 for $35.
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It is a 7/8 wedge. I honed it sunday and used it monday morning. It was amazing. Just keep and eye out and you will find one.

I just dug out another Frederick Reynolds from the bottom of the pile. This one will present a problem on the honing bench. The blade is twisted and the bevel is narrow at the heel on the front side and narrow at the point on the backside.
When it is finally honed, the bevel will not look the way I would want but I expect it will shave well in spite of the bevel.

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