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Bengall straight

torbenbp

Well-Known Member
Howdy gents..

Recieved a package today with 4 straights, bought _very_ cheap on an online flea market.
Didnt know what I bought but it was 2 identical J.A. Hellberg Eskilstuna Sweden. Both in good condition.

And a very very very nice Erik Anton Berg Frameback Eskilstuna Sweden, scales appear to be ivory and in very good condition.

The last one is a Bengall... and thats the only inscription. At first I thought it was a pakistani type but it`s very well made. It`s a wedge type, lots of corrosion but it seems possible to restore it. But anyway..does anyone know something about this brand???

regards gents
 
Begall razors are quite nice little Sheffield (99% sure) razors. At any rate, congrats on the great score :w00t:
 
Yeahh it really came close to stealing:w00t: ! That frameback is a treat: great curves and extremely lightweight.

And I made arrangements with the seller so she will keep future razors,hones etc. out of the store and contact me directly:thumbup:

And as for the Bengall...a full wedge by the way and huge! Wondering why it isnt stamped with "Sheffield"...
 
I'm not sure why, but here's what I found from Maximilian's website since my first post (taken from a listing of his)

Maximilian said:
BENGALL - 6/8 - Full Hollow

This is an awesome looking vintage razor.
The custom made scales are made of Cocobolo wood, fully treated against water and humidity.
The blade is extremely shiny, clean with no rust, cracks, chips, pitting or disturbing stains.
Blade holds an incredible sharp edge with very little hone wear.
Easy to hone and maintain.
Blade has been cleaned and polished.
The blade measures 6/8 - spike point which has slightly been rounded to prevent cuts.
On the front shank it says: Bengall
Bengall was a company that manufactured 'Bowie knives' amongst other types of cutlery, located at 211 St. Marys Rd, Sheffield, England. Thomas Radley Cadman was the founder and owner of the firm. The marking 'Bengall' was used back to 1748. The company ceased trading in 1965.
Excellent condition and an extremely nice example of a Bengall.
 
ahhh...thank you very much! Did a bit of research too and they seem to be great shavers.
So I`d say about 10 hours of work would help quite a lot ;)

Thanks again and now I`ll go and try that wonderfull frameback.

regards gents
 
By the way Torben,
I posted your Tally Ho today. (I waited for the dust cloud to settle down a bit).
The woman at the post office said there will be some delay, because they need to catch up.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
I have a "T R Cadmen Bengall" its a 5/8 hollow and one of my smoothest shaves, I believe they were standard issue to the British armed forces at some point, although if you consider the amount that were exported along with the soldiers that took them, not that many survive, IMHO they are a wonderful razor, if you have to polish the blade you may notice that the steel is as hard as it gets, although they do take a superb edge. well done Sir Torben :thumbup:

Now about those J.A. Hellberg Eskilstuna Sweden, surely you dont need 2? :p

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
[I posted your Tally Ho today./quote]'

Thank you Sir Bart.....Though it almost feels like it`s your razor.You have spend so much time with it....


And surely two Eskiltunas are needed...one for each side of the face?

Heheheh.....

regards gents
 
There are specialised auction sites in AUS and NZ. If you look for Cadman there, you are bound to get a great deal sooner or later. Nobody seems to realise that Cadmans are Bengalls, but Bengalls are nice. The British Army idea sounds reasonable, since they used to be all over the place in AUS in particular (until the good people at SRP hunted them all down). :)

I have one, and it's free of rust. Very nice 6/8 full hollow round point. There is some more info (and logos) in the SRDB.
 
Thank you kind Sir Bart! Will be looking forward to have her home again.

And yes Ralfy...I surely need two Eskiltunas ;-) Well maybe not...actually I got more razors than needed. But its just so hard to say goodbye :cry:

Regards gents
 
BeBerlin

Thanks,that was very interresting. Like to know the story about my razors,thats a quite important part for me.

Regards and thanks again
 
I had a Bengall hollow grind chopper. It was very hard steel. It was a very nice shaver and I would buy it back in a heartbeat.
 
Havnt had time to work on it yet,but I`m sure it will be a great shaver.This one is a full wedge though,doesnt seem to have been used very much but that will be more clear after the heavy corrosion have been (hopefully) removed.
 
Now, after quite some time trying to build up a workable bewel..Naniwa 1+3 K and coti I`d say you`re right about the hardness of the steel: It`s damn hard indeed! :sneaky: or maybe:thumbup: Not quite sure..
Regards
 
Hei Torben!

Thought I'd jump in on the Bengall discussion. You don't say how the tang is stamped. Is it Bengall Cast Steel or A-Bol. Borlänge Maskinaffär? The later model is obviously Swedish, sold printed on the coffins "Äkta Bengall". Most of these I've seen are full hollow, maybe from the 20's or 30's? They also made fantastic cutlery.

The Cast Steel Bengall's are commonly assumed to be Sheffield Cadman's. I doubt this for a few reasons.
One is that they appear seldom anywhere except Sweden, where there are plenty of them (at least in my prowling around the web...).
They seem to be from the early 1800's, but not so early as to be contemporary with the Sheffield blades without maker's stamps (like "silver steel").
They have a distinctive blade geometry common to all of them I've seen that have not been (most likely) reground, and in my estimation, unlike the Sheffield near wedges.
They also seem to be of a much harder steel than Sheffield. I am not sure that they are prone to chipping, but I have my suspicions. I find they hone up like Swedish steel and hold an edge better than Sheffield. They are also surprisingly usually without corrosion except for a broad spot in the middle of the toe, but often with chipped edges.

Well, that's my two cents...:-/ I have been trying to get more info on these razors without any luck, so I just have to go with my own guesses and limited knowledge of razor history.
I'll try to get some pictures up, since this can't be so fun to read without them...

regards,
Torolf
 
Hej Torolf

Tbh..I put the razor somewhere I could it find again...and now I forgot where:scared:

But as far as I remember,it`s just stamped with "Bengall" and nothing else. That was one of the reasons for having trouble identifying it.

Now,where the heck is it?? Gotta go and see if I can find it...

Kind regards

Torbs
 
If you have any luck finding it maybe you can visit me and find all the stuff I'm sure I put here somewhere...!:D
These are some photos, hope the quality is good enough to be informative.
I've been using the Cast Steel in the middle as a hone test razor and just recently decided to hone it up properly and start shaving with it. It's nimble. I have to clean it up, but I like the cheap plastic scales with "Karlsson" scratched in. The others are waiting on being brought back to life, horn scales that will not be repinned.

regards,
Torolf


Beng_Bor1.JPG


Beng_Bor2.JPG


Beng_Cast1.JPG
 
Found it! And a Wostenholm thats been missing as well...

Must have taken it apart for rescaling and then forgotten all about it..

Will try to take a picture later today.

Kind regards

Torbs
 
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