Frederick Reynolds, Civil War Era?

[Papasauls]

I picked up this Frederick Reynolds at a local antique store that seems to me to be in pretty good shape. It was marked as "Civil War Era". I have no idea how to date this thing. Was hoping someone might have some info or could point me in the right direction on determining a time frame for date of production on this thing.

Restoration questions... 1. If I want to clean and polish it up, is it worth it to remove the blade from the scales to make sure I get the entire blade cleaned and polished, or would it make more sense to just do the best I can without removing them?
2. The pitted area on the spine, would it be better to take that all the way down to completely remove the pitting, or would that cause a problem with the geometry of the spine?
Again, thanks in advance, and I really am appreciative that I have a community of folks with similar interests to lean on and talk about this rabbit hole that I've decided to wander down. Preciate y'all!

 

[global_dev]

Frederick Reynolds was a razor manufacturer working between the 1840s and 1870s.

without the england stamp it’s pre-1890.

I wouldnt take it apart, maybe some dental floss into the pivot area

and i also wouldn’t get rid of the pitting, not an issue, and honing will take care of it. Removing it would cause a weird looking honewear area (at first) until it honed down past it.

 

[Papasauls]

Frederick Reynolds was a razor manufacturer working between the 1840s and 1870s.

without the england stamp it’s pre-1890.

I wouldnt take it apart, maybe some dental floss into the pivot area

and i also wouldn’t get rid of the pitting, not an issue, and honing will take care of it. Removing it would cause a weird looking honewear area (at first) until it honed down past it.

Thanks again global_dev! You've already been a lot of help with this thing. Preciate it Bud!

 

[global_dev]

Thanks again global_dev! You've already been a lot of help with this thing. Preciate it Bud!

no prob. Working from home has given me more free time to chat!

 

[Njguy1977]

Its not civil war era since its not a snub tail....but given the thickness of the tail I would give it a rough date of 1850's to 1860's....Frederick Reynolds made different models and dating them is difficult since they never used any makers marks. The scales you have are horn and the inlay that's in the middle of it is genuine silver and should polish up nicely to a shine when you do so. The blade its self is a faux frame back and should take an edge nicely.

Larry

 

[Njguy1977]

Silly me...im thinking Revolutionary War....its possible that your blade is dated for then but hard to tell since there is a large swath of years for razors of that model...civil war was from 1861 to 1865.

Larry

 

[Legion]

Yeah, 1860's is accurate. Marking it "civil war era" is just a way to drive up the price to people who collect such things, but their estimate of the date of manufacture is about right.

Personally I usually leave razors of that age together, unless there is a structural problem, and just clean them to the point they are stable and hygienic, then hone. But that is me, and YMMV.

I don't mind patina on genuine antiques.

 

[Papasauls]

Its not civil war era since its not a snub tail....but given the thickness of the tail I would give it a rough date of 1850's to 1860's....Frederick Reynolds made different models and dating them is difficult since they never used any makers marks. The scales you have are horn and the inlay that's in the middle of it is genuine silver and should polish up nicely to a shine when you do so. The blade its self is a faux frame back and should take an edge nicely.

Larry

Thanks for the information! I don't know much about the history, but I love learning about it. My original plan was to stick to American producers, but I saw this in the local antique store and couldn't resist due to its condition. Very excited to get this thing into shaving shape.

 

[Papasauls]

Yeah, 1860's is accurate. Marking it "civil war era" is just a way to drive up the price to people who collect such things, but their estimate of the date of manufacture is about right.

Personally I usually leave razors of that age together, unless there is a structural problem, and just clean them to the point they are stable and hygienic, then hone. But that is me, and YMMV.

I don't mind patina on genuine antiques.

Thanks for the input Legion! Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think I'll just get it into good shaving shape and leave it at that. I'm pretty impressed with the condition that this thing is in for its age. It doesn't appear to have been used or honed much, if any at all. That's coming from someone who has ZERO experience judging this sort of thing. The only wear that I really notice on it though is the tip of the spine is uneven, but I don't know how that kind of wear would even happen. Again, thanks for the input!

 

[Papasauls]

Its not civil war era since its not a snub tail....but given the thickness of the tail I would give it a rough date of 1850's to 1860's....Frederick Reynolds made different models and dating them is difficult since they never used any makers marks. The scales you have are horn and the inlay that's in the middle of it is genuine silver and should polish up nicely to a shine when you do so. The blade its self is a faux frame back and should take an edge nicely.

Larry

Also, as for taking an edge... I've never honed a straight razor but definitely want to learn. I've always sharpened all my knives myself, so I'm not a complete novice with a stone, but this is a different level. I've been researching stones for honing, but have yet to go ahead and pull the trigger on anything. So many choices out there and so many opinions to go along with it. By the way, you wouldn't happen to be Larry from Whipped Dog would you? If so, thanks so much for the Cattaraugus Cutlery I just got from you! So far I'm loving it. Only had a few shaves with it, but it's been great. No cuts or knicks or even any razor burn so far, so I call that a winner! Still getting used to the feel of it, but it gets more comfortable every time I pick it up. I've only made single pass shaves with it, but honestly I haven't felt that i really need to go over anything after the one pass. This FR seemed a bit too big for shaving with compared to the Cattaraugus when I first got it, but every time I pick it up it feels better and better. The extra weight seems to make it feel more stable maybe??? And that larger tail seems to add to that feel of stability. We'll see once I've managed to get it into shape I guess. Thanks again for the knowledge and for my Cattaraugus Cutlery razor. I love it!

 

[Njguy1977]

Also, as for taking an edge... I've never honed a straight razor but definitely want to learn. I've always sharpened all my knives myself, so I'm not a complete novice with a stone, but this is a different level. I've been researching stones for honing, but have yet to go ahead and pull the trigger on anything. So many choices out there and so many opinions to go along with it. By the way, you wouldn't happen to be Larry from Whipped Dog would you? If so, thanks so much for the Cattaraugus Cutlery I just got from you! So far I'm loving it. Only had a few shaves with it, but it's been great. No cuts or knicks or even any razor burn so far, so I call that a winner! Still getting used to the feel of it, but it gets more comfortable every time I pick it up. I've only made single pass shaves with it, but honestly I haven't felt that i really need to go over anything after the one pass. This FR seemed a bit too big for shaving with compared to the Cattaraugus when I first got it, but every time I pick it up it feels better and better. The extra weight seems to make it feel more stable maybe??? And that larger tail seems to add to that feel of stability. We'll see once I've managed to get it into shape I guess. Thanks again for the knowledge and for my Cattaraugus Cutlery razor. I love it!

Nope, not the same Larry but always glad to help someone out here. As far as honing, best advice I can give is buy a throw away cheap blade to learn on at first. I started with a 5 dollar Clauss plane jane and to be honest I always go back to it from time to time and enjoy my shaves off of it so much I'd never get rid of it. Its always sharp and ready to go and in fact I experimented last night with it on a new trans Ark. and surgical black Ark I have. As far as honing setup, beginners always should start with Slash's honing compendium that's posted on this board. I started with a piece of 3"X10"X3/4" piece of acrylic slab from Tap plastics and used the non stick backed lapping film and a 10X Jeweler's Loupe (very important to have!!). That setup up got me through at least a year of practice and perfecting an edge plus the setup only cost me 40 dollars between the film and acrylic slab. As I got further into this hobby then I dove into naturals because I wanted to keep this up.....right now I have at least 800 to 1000 in stones and equipment. In all honesty I've run out of things to sharpen so now I'm getting into buying razors with the intent to lightly restore and sell on our board at a reasonable price to our board members and new straight razor shavers. If you need help or advice on anything ask here on the board or feel free to shoot me a private message here.

Larry

 

[LJS]

Also, as for taking an edge... I've never honed a straight razor but definitely want to learn. I've always sharpened all my knives myself, so I'm not a complete novice with a stone, but this is a different level.

The smile on that F.R.razor might be a little challenging to learn to hone on. There is a lot more difference between honing a razor and even a very fine knife than most people think. But at the end of the day it is all abrasives and steels. It is just that a razor requires microscopic perfection from a macroscopic human and getting that perfect simply takes some time to do well. Best of luck!

 

[Legion]

Personally, I find honing razors easier than freehand honing knives. The angle is always constant on a razor. You just need to understand the grits, when to go higher, and have a light touch. Knives, to really get a good edge, need a constant angle maintained by muscle memory. That is more tricky, IMO.

 

[Papasauls]

Nope, not the same Larry but always glad to help someone out here. As far as honing, best advice I can give is buy a throw away cheap blade to learn on at first. I started with a 5 dollar Clauss plane jane and to be honest I always go back to it from time to time and enjoy my shaves off of it so much I'd never get rid of it. Its always sharp and ready to go and in fact I experimented last night with it on a new trans Ark. and surgical black Ark I have. As far as honing setup, beginners always should start with Slash's honing compendium that's posted on this board. I started with a piece of 3"X10"X3/4" piece of acrylic slab from Tap plastics and used the non stick backed lapping film and a 10X Jeweler's Loupe (very important to have!!). That setup up got me through at least a year of practice and perfecting an edge plus the setup only cost me 40 dollars between the film and acrylic slab. As I got further into this hobby then I dove into naturals because I wanted to keep this up.....right now I have at least 800 to 1000 in stones and equipment. In all honesty I've run out of things to sharpen so now I'm getting into buying razors with the intent to lightly restore and sell on our board at a reasonable price to our board members and new straight razor shavers. If you need help or advice on anything ask here on the board or feel free to shoot me a private message here.

Larry

So

Nope, not the same Larry but always glad to help someone out here. As far as honing, best advice I can give is buy a throw away cheap blade to learn on at first. I started with a 5 dollar Clauss plane jane and to be honest I always go back to it from time to time and enjoy my shaves off of it so much I'd never get rid of it. Its always sharp and ready to go and in fact I experimented last night with it on a new trans Ark. and surgical black Ark I have. As far as honing setup, beginners always should start with Slash's honing compendium that's posted on this board. I started with a piece of 3"X10"X3/4" piece of acrylic slab from Tap plastics and used the non stick backed lapping film and a 10X Jeweler's Loupe (very important to have!!). That setup up got me through at least a year of practice and perfecting an edge plus the setup only cost me 40 dollars between the film and acrylic slab. As I got further into this hobby then I dove into naturals because I wanted to keep this up.....right now I have at least 800 to 1000 in stones and equipment. In all honesty I've run out of things to sharpen so now I'm getting into buying razors with the intent to lightly restore and sell on our board at a reasonable price to our board members and new straight razor shavers. If you need help or advice on anything ask here on the board or feel free to shoot me a private message here.

Larry

Well... I feel kind of silly going on about my razor that I DIDN'T get from you LOL So what kind of lapping film were you using? I had a similar idea. I've got some scrap pieces of marble from a buddy who does tile work that I thought would work well. Any suggestions on Arkansas stones? I have a small hard stone and a large soft stone, but no translucent or black stones. I thought about just going the waterstone route since so many seem to recommend it, but I've always used natural stones on my knives so I kind of like the idea of sticking with Arkansas stones for my razors... Some many decisions LOL. Anyway, thanks for the feedback Larry!

 

[Njguy1977]

​ So Well... I feel kind of silly going on about my razor that I DIDN'T get from you LOL So what kind of lapping film were you using? I had a similar idea. I've got some scrap pieces of marble from a buddy who does tile work that I thought would work well. Any suggestions on Arkansas stones? I have a small hard stone and a large soft stone, but no translucent or black stones. I thought about just going the waterstone route since so many seem to recommend it, but I've always used natural stones on my knives so I kind of like the idea of sticking with Arkansas stones for my razors... Some many decisions LOL. Anyway, thanks for the feedback Larry! For lapping film just get a set of mixed grits because you need to progress from a coarse film to a finer film. They do sell them as a set, just be sure to get the NON sticky back. Water is used to hold the film to the plate. There are posts in here about it and look at slash on you tube using the film. As far as stones, you would need a soft ark, hard ark, and for a final polishing edge you would need a surgical black ark. For now since your starting I’d say stick with film, it’s cheaper and you can cut your teeth in it and see if this kind of maintenance is for you or not. Stones can get a bit pricey and it’s a bit of coinage to drop if you decide it’s not for you. I have coticules and thuri’s too. I enjoy them all and use them based on my mood. Right now I’m enjoying the buttery smooth shaved off my coti’s and thuri’s. My ark edge is insanely sharp, just at times it can be too sharp but it’s fun to experiment. Larry

 

[Pawel pksa]

Here is my FR. I decide to renovate it and change the scales (old nasty horns with childish marketing slogan engraved). I had the pleasure to trace the history of this specific razor. In essence I was produced in England, sold to France and then the US soldier (grand father of the seller) brought it back home US. After several years, when the veteran died and nobody knew/wanted to use straight razor, they decided to sell. I think that "civir war" is another example of marketing slogan, in fact much better than mine.