Bengall "travel razor" in tinted acrylic

My weekends work.

I started restoring this nice old Bengall on the weekend. All was going well until a disaster (which I do not want to talk about...) caused about 1/3 of the blades edge to break off. Apart from being upset that I had destroyed what promised to be a very nice blade, I had also put in many hours hand sanding and making new scales for it.

Resisting the temptation to throw the whole lot in the trash, I decided that since the blade was ruined anyway, I might as well experiment with it.

I thought about how you often see small travel sized safety razors but you never see travel sized straights. Why not, I thought. So off to my new belt grinder I went. I decided that this was also going to be a time trial, pretending that this was a paying job and the deadline was near. I was getting paid by the unit and not the hour! Since the blade was already 90% polished, I would say the job, from grinding down the blade and tail, to designing and making new scales, to fitting and finishing, the whole thing was about three hours solid work. Not bad, considering this is only my second restore.

Anyway, the scales are a dark tinted clear acrylic, with a red acrylic wedge. The blades cutting edge is now 50mm and the whole thing, with the tail, is 135mm. I'm actually quite happy with the shape and the balance of it. It feels really nice in the hand. I just wish the airlines would let me travel with a straight razor so I could use it on trips. :p

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...u/P1050551.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...u/_DSC1538.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...u/_DSC1544.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...u/_DSC1528.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...u/_DSC1541.jpg

I like it very much, I think its a great save.
the scales design also very refreshing.
As far as blade length, I have a Japanese western straight that is ~2" blade, I think it imitates kamisori length, anyway the shortness of the blade is not a minus at all in my book.

Don't feel bad. Bengall did make travel size razors albeit a tad longer at 2.5"
Always thought those JNO Baker razors were Bengalls but never saw one with the Bengall stamp.
The smoky scales are cool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Don't feel bad. Bengall did make travel size razors albeit a tad longer at 2.5"
Always thought those JNO Baker razors were Bengalls but never saw one with the Bengall stamp.
The smoky scales are cool.

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Yeah, I awlways suspected this one was a Bengall by the similar markings but could never comfirm it.

I just got around to honing up and shaving with this razor for the first time. What a fun little razor to use! It takes a bit of getting used to, the short length, but by my second pass I was loving it. The only drawback is you get a little bit of lather on you fingers, using more of the heal end than I normally do. But that is small price to pay for having a neat little pocket sized razor to play with.

And those Bengalls are as good as everyone says. I'm well pleased.

Very nice work. It all flows together very well.