Thread: That 1700's Show

I saw that Bengal on the bay. From my initial observation it looked like the tail was broken off and the razor would be 19th century just by the grind, and distinct tang.

Although lots of razors were made without a tail in France I'm not sure if any Sheffield producers made them that way


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Not many German razors from the 1700's. I wonder why.

Originally Posted by Slawman

Not many German razors from the 1700's. I wonder why.

Same here. Many other countries around the world were shaving already at that time.


As far as the Bengall, I believe it is 1820's - 1830's also. It looks like the tail was altered & looking at the Imgur shot, it really looks like it to me. It looks like it had a tail at one time but it was removes & rounded off.
I got one once (not a Bengall) with pressed horn scales & it had no tail. When I got it, I looked at it & it appeared the tail had been removed. I looked at it a lot closer & turned it sideways looking at the top of the spine & at the pivot/tail end, you could see the blade was slightly bent at the end as if the tail were broken off. I looked at the tail & I could see scratch marks from grinding & sanding. I got my money back. The seller is an understanding guy so I know he didn't do it.

Originally Posted by engine46

Same here. Many other countries around the world were shaving already at that time.


As far as the Bengall, I believe it is 1820's - 1830's also. It looks like the tail was altered & looking at the Imgur shot, it really looks like it to me. It looks like it had a tail at one time but it was removes & rounded off.
I got one once (not a Bengall) with pressed horn scales & it had no tail. When I got it, I looked at it & it appeared the tail had been removed. I looked at it a lot closer & turned it sideways looking at the top of the spine & at the pivot/tail end, you could see the blade was slightly bent at the end as if the tail were broken off. I looked at the tail & I could see scratch marks from grinding & sanding. I got my money back. The seller is an understanding guy so I know he didn't do it.

I don't think the seller I got from did anything to this one. My understanding is that this was one of many razors he'd got from an estate sale or the like. Given the somewhat rough condition of the edge, and if it originally had a thin tail, I wonder if it just wasn't broken off at some earlier time unintentionally and then smoothed.

In any case, I like having a Bengall cast steel, and I like the scales, and I think I got it for $25, so ....

Looking at it again today (in terms of shaving), I think that if I grip it a bit tighter, I think there's enough of a stub that I can catch it with my ring finger.