Thread: Frederick Reynolds still one of the best

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.

Originally Posted by mrsell63

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.......................

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.

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.


Here it is now.


Along with its brother


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.

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?

__________________________________________
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!