Thread: MAIL CALL BENGALL CAST STEEL Razor 6/8" Wedge.

I finally found a BENGALL CAST STEEL Razor 6/8"
Wedge, Stub tail,
Probably made around 1870~1880.

Nice score. You’ve found a few beauties. I bet you are getting to have quite a nice collection.

Nice score! Cast steel was used mainly up to the 1830's, when silver steel became popular. The style and some typicals of your Bengall looks a bit younger and of course old blankets have been used at least til the 1850's . Also I think te the blade has been reground.
Anyhow - those Bengall cast steel razors normally take a superb edge and are great shavers!
Regadrs Peter

Nice one!! An early 1800's Bengall has been on my wishlist for some time now. Well done.

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Nice score! Cast steel was used mainly up to the 1830's, when silver steel became popular. The style and some typicals of your Bengall looks a bit younger and of course old blankets have been used at least til the 1850's . Also I think te the blade has been reground.
Anyhow - those Bengall cast steel razors normally take a superb edge and are great shavers!
Regadrs Peter

Celluloid handles became popular after 1870, and the type of this razor was also close to 1870~1880. The above is my guess, but I can confirm that it is a razor in the late 19th century. The edge of Wedge can reach HHT-5 and smooth shaving feeling.

I like the BENGALL produced in each period.

You are absolutely right with the timeframe for the celluloid. But I have serious doubts that the scales are original on your Bengall.
I have more than two dotzend Bengall Cast steel razors in my collection and none of them is equipped with celluloid scales. 70 % are horn or pressed horn, 20% wooden and about 10% bone and other natural material.
Also the pins on your scales are not identical as far as can see from the pictures, the pivot pin is different form from the wedge pin, which is in most cases a typical sign for a rescale.

But anyhow – if you like Bengalls from different early periods – here is a picture I once prepared for a german forum. It shows the development of the shoulder on a razor in the early 19th century. Whereas the razors in the 18th century didn’t had a shoulder – there was one line between the tang and the edge of the razor without section, from 1800 on a small shoulder was formed that gets more and more pronounced in the first half oft he 1800’s.
So here are Bengalls from around 1770 on top (BEN-GALL written in two lines, how it is shown in Sketchley’s directory from 1774) to approx. 1850.

Attachment 347185

Regards Peter

Originally Posted by hatzicho

You are absolutely right with the timeframe for the celluloid. But I have serious doubts that the scales are original on your Bengall.
I have more than two dotzend Bengall Cast steel razors in my collection and none of them is equipped with celluloid scales. 70 % are horn or pressed horn, 20% wooden and about 10% bone and other natural material.
Also the pins on your scales are not identical as far as can see from the pictures, the pivot pin is different form from the wedge pin, which is in most cases a typical sign for a rescale.

But anyhow – if you like Bengalls from different early periods – here is a picture I once prepared for a german forum. It shows the development of the shoulder on a razor in the early 19th century. Whereas the razors in the 18th century didn’t had a shoulder – there was one line between the tang and the edge of the razor without section, from 1800 on a small shoulder was formed that gets more and more pronounced in the first half oft he 1800’s.
So here are Bengalls from around 1770 on top (BEN-GALL written in two lines, how it is shown in Sketchley’s directory from 1774) to approx. 1850.

Attachment 347185

Regards Peter

At the beginning, I also guessed that the scales might have been replaced. Picture 1 and picture 2 are my razor, but I also found another picture 3 on the Internet.


picture 3(Razor seen on the Internet)

Yeah, but your pins look really different. I don't know about the last picture, the scales look like horn. Maybe on the wedge pin the washer had been gone...?
I can't see my picture in the previous post and don't know if others can see it. So here I try again:

In modern rescales it happens that people intentionally use two different styles of collars. The picture from the internet looks to me like a modern rescale.

I'm late to the discussion but a rescale was my thought too. Either way it is a very nice find. You are very discriminating about the acquisitions you post about.

Also that is a very helpful program/app that shows the bevel angle. Is that open use software?