So I noticed a bunch of nice, big Fred Herder "NOS" razors on eBay with new bone scales a couple weeks ago in the $90-150 range. I bought two. They arrive, and they're pretty nice blades. I do some googling and manage to track down the source to a knife store in Tennessee. They're selling the patina'ed old razors along with a set of inlaid bone scales and a pin to assemble them as a "DIY set" for a very low price... reviews are mostly positive. Hard to sharpen and assemble, but no one saying they're trash or not tempered or anything. (I ordered some to see if they've been picked over to the point where nothing good is left or not and will update when they get here).
But anyway, the ones I bought (from a reseller who restores them and auctions them off... similar blades from another seller are listed BIN for $90) are here and I've sharpened one up.
The Good:
Scales are on tight and being thick bone are definitely sturdy and very attractive.
Blade closes centered and lies perfectly straight on the hones.
There is no obvious grind, wear, or other issues.
They are VERY thin ground, but not wafered out the way some overly restored blades can be. I suspect the blades were patina'ed but not rusted up terribly.
They sharpen and strop up and give a decent edge according to HHT
Because of thin grind the bevel is very thin even though the razor is only ~16 degrees.
Possibly because of the grind, the razor thin bevel, or the nature of the steel, this razor was like a Bass drum for feedback, every little ridge and ripple was amplified from the stone through the razor far more than normal.
That said, this is from one example (haven't done much with the second yet) that was resold at a HIGH premium to the original cost... I ordered more direct from the source to see if they need to be picked through to get decent quality blades like this.
The Bad:
There IS some pitting that was polished out/over. If you look closely at the blade, even the naked eye can see the tiny flecks scattered around. It doesn't seem like it's on there enough to compromise the blade or require the edge ground back, but "NOS" is not exactly true. These are heavily restored blades.
Scales are thick... they feel VERY similar in dimensions to Gold Dollar scales (but aren't flimsy plastic like GD's are) which I'm not overly fond of as it makes stropping feel a little awkward.
The steel is hard... one of the hardest razor steels I've encountered. Even with the bevel as thin as it is and practically zero spine-wear, this steel took 2-3x more than an avg hollow ground razor on my DMT 8k, and after more than 5x avg time on a combination of a mystery slate, a PDSO and a Thuringian... I switched to an arkansas to finally start making noticeable progress. This may be a positive for some people, but it's definitely something to be aware of. These are (as some reviews mentioned) a bit more difficult to hone than most razors.
Also, note that there are dozens of folks reselling these (and I assume each has their own restorer), so I can't definitely say that every one up there will be assembled or polished as well as my two are, but if so... they seem a pretty good price even from the resellers... and if the ones direct from the supplier aren't too terrible, a just crazy good deal from them.
I'll report back on the shave in a day or two when I can test them. And when the unrestored razors get here, I'll post up about them and (depending on their condition) possibly post in the deals forum.
But anyway, the ones I bought (from a reseller who restores them and auctions them off... similar blades from another seller are listed BIN for $90) are here and I've sharpened one up.
The Good:
Scales are on tight and being thick bone are definitely sturdy and very attractive.
Blade closes centered and lies perfectly straight on the hones.
There is no obvious grind, wear, or other issues.
They are VERY thin ground, but not wafered out the way some overly restored blades can be. I suspect the blades were patina'ed but not rusted up terribly.
They sharpen and strop up and give a decent edge according to HHT
Because of thin grind the bevel is very thin even though the razor is only ~16 degrees.
Possibly because of the grind, the razor thin bevel, or the nature of the steel, this razor was like a Bass drum for feedback, every little ridge and ripple was amplified from the stone through the razor far more than normal.
That said, this is from one example (haven't done much with the second yet) that was resold at a HIGH premium to the original cost... I ordered more direct from the source to see if they need to be picked through to get decent quality blades like this.
The Bad:
There IS some pitting that was polished out/over. If you look closely at the blade, even the naked eye can see the tiny flecks scattered around. It doesn't seem like it's on there enough to compromise the blade or require the edge ground back, but "NOS" is not exactly true. These are heavily restored blades.
Scales are thick... they feel VERY similar in dimensions to Gold Dollar scales (but aren't flimsy plastic like GD's are) which I'm not overly fond of as it makes stropping feel a little awkward.
The steel is hard... one of the hardest razor steels I've encountered. Even with the bevel as thin as it is and practically zero spine-wear, this steel took 2-3x more than an avg hollow ground razor on my DMT 8k, and after more than 5x avg time on a combination of a mystery slate, a PDSO and a Thuringian... I switched to an arkansas to finally start making noticeable progress. This may be a positive for some people, but it's definitely something to be aware of. These are (as some reviews mentioned) a bit more difficult to hone than most razors.
Also, note that there are dozens of folks reselling these (and I assume each has their own restorer), so I can't definitely say that every one up there will be assembled or polished as well as my two are, but if so... they seem a pretty good price even from the resellers... and if the ones direct from the supplier aren't too terrible, a just crazy good deal from them.
I'll report back on the shave in a day or two when I can test them. And when the unrestored razors get here, I'll post up about them and (depending on their condition) possibly post in the deals forum.
