Thread: Frederick Reynolds - The Celebrated Hollow Ground

Originally Posted by Tathra11

Good stuff David. That has come together very nicely indeed. Great job on fixing up those old scales.

I sanded the scales down to remove any delamination and wonky bits.

Then I misread Mike’s sequence and put them in neatsfoot oil for 3 days while I waited to get to where my tools were. After cleaning the oil off with denatured alcohol, I repaired the bug bites and resanded and polished them. For polishing, I used the abrasive spongy things they use in. manicure shops to sand down nail ridges and put a final polish on the finish. They seem much gentler than high grit sandpaper.

They then went back into neatsfoot oil for another 2 days. So, I guess they were i oil for a total of 5 days.

I was surprised at the generally good condition the scales were in after sanding and sitting in the oil. They were quite flexible.

Next time I try this, I’ll wait until I’m where my tools are and be more patient.

Originally Posted by DZEC

For polishing, I used the abrasive spongy things they use in. manicure shops to sand down nail ridges and put a final polish on the finish. They seem much gentler than high grit sandpaper.

I don't get manicures but I do use those spongy things to make my nails smooth and shiny.

I wonder if I should have said that.

Forget that, I am only joking um HaHa

I'm sure they're very pretty Steve.

Those nail sponges work great for horn.

Waited until I had 3 days beard growth to give it a test shave.

It’s a heavy blade - feels almost like a wedge, but it is hollow ground, maybe 1/2 hollow.


Got a close and comfortable 2-pass shave on my cheeks, but had a lot to clean up with a DE on my neck, but that’s always been a problem for me.

I wasn’t sure if I had tuned the edge fully. The toe end seems keen, but I think there’s more work to do on the heel.

I used a rolling X with one layer of tape across the entire spine. For me, that seems to put more emphasis on the toe than the heel. Have to work on that.

I wonder if I should try a second layer just over the heel. Any thoughts?

All depends on the hone wear, as to how it needs taped.

In essence, your trying to build the spine to original thickness, with tape.

I've had some that had to be taped differently on each side, from bad honing techniques.

Magic marker on the edge revealed that the heel wasn’t getting the love it needed from the hone.

Put about an inch or two of tape over that spot on top of the first tape layer and went back to the coticule and the 12k. That took the marker of the edge with the rest of the blade. I’ll try it out again in a day or so.

Originally Posted by DZEC

Put about an inch or two of tape over that spot on top of the first tape layer...

For a second there I thought you meant you put tape an inch thick on it.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

For a second there I thought you meant you put tape an inch thick on it.

Didn’t do that

Finally got the entire edge the way it’s supposed to be.

I probably could have got there more quickly if I were more expert, but putting extra tape on the heel end of the spine and then going through the Belgian blue => Coti => 12k progression a few times has finally got me there. I finished with CrOx on leather and about 60 passes on my Japanese strop.

The shave was excellent - just wiped the beard away!

The hone wear can stay as long as the shaves are this good