Bengall Cast Steel Early Stubtail

[JOB15]

Bengall Cast Steel Early Stubtail.
The blade was in a bad way as seen in the photos below. I do prefer the unrestored photos because there is so much detail to look at.
The scales had a month in neatsfoot oil to give them back some life. Part of the scales were missing which required some prosthetics and finally i gave these scales a faux tortoise finish .
You can see in the photos a pin next to the wedge end pivot hole. What makes sense to me concerning the purpose of these pins, it is a way to center the razor. Imagine being in a factory having to pin untold bent wedges back in the day. The pivot pins could be drilled & fixed but still a little loose. Then the scales could be adjusted to let the blade center and the pin in question could be inserted, with everything stable then the wedge end pin holes could be drilled and pinned. Leaving off kilter pivot pins but square wedge end pins & collars and a blade that centers.
This is my theory as i have unpinned many of these over the years and i also know not to remove these pins or the scales will suffer.
Other theories are welcome
The blade was actually not as bad as it looked, starting at 240 grit belt sanding and never conforming a razor to a wheel i removed some, not alot of steel and finished with a satin finish. This particular steel is extremely tough taking 3 x the honing of a standard wedge and considering that these early types are normally softer than later Sheffield steel.
I did not take too many final photos but you can get a good look at it on my latest shave video should you want.
Many thanks
Joseph

[markbignosekelly]

Beautiful work Joe

[JOB15]

Beautiful work Joe

Thanks Mark..

[RezDog]

Another beauty, well done.

[JOB15]

Another beauty, well done.

Thanks Shaun..