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Frederick Reynolds 5/8" Salvageable?

I'm completely new to restoration and wet shaving for that matter (have just started using a DE).

I've recently acquired this Frederick Reynolds 5/8" straight razor from an antique store for $37. I'm not exactly familiar enough to determine hollowness, but appreciate any advice. I know there are several guides on how to clean everything up, and I will be consulting them, but I can't tell off-hand if the blade is even salvageable in the first place. $Blade Side 2.jpg$Blade side.jpg$Front.jpg$Name.jpg
 
Hard to tell from the lighting but that looks like a wedge or near wedge to me. It looks like a minor amount of patina or surface oxidation. Small chips in the edge which should hone out nicely. No obvious cracks but hard to tell from the lighting, and that's what you want to watch out for. Nice mellow smile.

I am not an expert on, well, anything really - but in all that thing looks fine to me and should polish and hone up nicely. You got it for a good price.
 
I'm glad to hear that! There are no cracks that I can see. Apologies for the lighting, but unfortunately it was worse if I didn't use the light that I did. My apartment is not well lit, it seems! I will post results when I've gotten through with it.

Thanks the advice!
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I dont see why you cant at least make a shaver out of it. It's a good piece of sheffield steel with no catastrophic damage. I don't know that i would bother with a full restore but you can certainly make it shave nicely.

Unfortunately you can't hone a wedge without tape. Well you can, but tape is the way to do it. It is very important to get the tape centered evenly on the spine, when honing a wedge. Me, I like to hone a wedge without tape until a bevel just starts to come in, then hone with a layer of tape or two layers, depending on the natural bevel angle of the blade, to put a secondary bevel on that is at least 15 degrees and preferably about 16 degrees. Most wedges will have a very acute natural bevel angle because they were originally meant to be honed freehand. Trying to get a good shaving edge with a simple bevel that is the width of the blade is pretty nearly futile, anyway. At least in my experience.

If you hone a wedge without tape, the bevel flat is VERY wide. In fact, with a true wedge, it is the entire width of the razor. Even if the natural angle were in the sweet spot, it would be nearly impossible to get a good shaving edge because ONE poor stroke on the hone can undo literally a thousand good ones. So flat honing without tape is seldom done, usually only to correct a secondary bevel that has grown too wide through normal honing over generations. This is the primary bevel. The primary bevel could be set this way, without tape, but more commonly is set with a layer of tape on the spine, particularly if it is a new or new-ish razor. Then, at the finishing stage, an additional layer of tape is added, to create the secondary bevel. A bevel that is too acute is not a robust one. The edge will topple with use, or even topple when honing. So, this more obtuse secondary bevel is superimposed onto the acute primary bevel. The smaller surface area of the secondary bevel, the keener the edge will seem when shaving. You don't want a big-shouldered secondary bevel. This is what you get, though, after a lot of honing, which is why you might re-set that primary bevel (once) with one layer or even no tape at all.

Sometimes even a third layer of tape is called for, due to the geometry of the blade. However, the compressibility of the multiple layers of tape creates problems. The honing angle changes with the slightest change of pressure. Also you need to refresh the tape often, because as the tape wears, the honing angle changes, too.

A lot of guys do not mess with the primary bevel and don't worry about the width of the secondary bevel. That is fine, if the razor still shaves well. But when you are dealing with 150 year old full wedge blades that saw 100 years of active life, and freehand honing (electrical tape was not even invented until 1946 and probably wasn't used for razor honing until like the 60's) on all sorts of media by all sorts of guys with different skill levels, sometimes you will find one that just doesn't play nice. In this case, the compound bevel is definitely called for.
 
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