Cadman "Bengall" x 2

[rbscebu]

It's like Christmas Day for me! I picked them up from the PO this morning. My research shows that both of these blades are from the early 1900's, about 1920. Both razors are like brothers. I will never separate them and this condition will be sworn to by anyone they are passed on to.

First the small Cadman Bengall. The blade is 5/8, Dutch (round) point with bakelite(?) scales. Absolutely gorgeous. In excellent condition for its age. There are a few spots of pitta to show its age, otherwise it could be considered much newer.

The blade is a full hollow and well centred.

I'm not sure what the almost parallel wedge is made of.

There is only one small area of minor concern with the blade. There is the smallest amount of pitta on the face-side bevel. This does not extend to the edge so should not present a problem, even as the blade wears.

There is almost no spine or bevel wear on this SR. It has probably hardly ever been used.

First thing will be to perform a Sharpie test to determine the condition of this razor's last honing. The edge is sharp and performs tree-topping - just. After the Sharpie test, I will decide on what sort and degree of honing I will give this SR.

The larger Cadman Bengall is very similar to the smaller except that the balde is 6/8 and the scales are a little larger to accommodate the increased blade size.

You may notice that there is some belling on both sides of this 7/8 razor. There are no areas of concern with this 7/8 SR except that I might just tighten up the pivot pin a tad.

Again the first thing with this SR will be to perform a Sharpie test to determine the condition of this razor's last honing. The edge is sharp and performs tree-topping - just. After the Sharpie test, I will decide on what sort and degree of honing I will give this SR.

This SR came with its original coffin. The price sticker still shows, 18/6. For the younger readers that is 18 shillings and 6 pence (AU£). Not sure what that is the equivalent of today but if memory serves me, it was about 4 to 5 days average salary for a skilled tradesman back when this was new.

Overall I am extremely happy with this purchase .

These two Cadman bring me up to 23 SR's with three more on their way. I think that 30 is a nice round number.

This evening I Sharpie tested the 5/8. All looked good so I just gave it a few laps on 1μm film and then a diamond pasted balsa strop progression. Tomorrow morning my George Butler "Shakespeare" can have a rest and I will try out the Bengall 5/8. This will be my first shave with a 5/8 traditional SR.

 

[bald as]

@rbscebu excellent razors. Now 30 is an ideal number per draw

 

[rbscebu]

@rbscebu excellent razors. Now 30 is an ideal number per draw

And 12 draws to cover the year. The other 5 or 6 days can be for my DE razors.

My current SR collection includes two matching seven-day sets. The other nine are my odds and sods.

 

[bald as]

They make waste paper bins for DE's

 

[rhodes96]

They make waste paper bins for DE's

Interesting comment.

 

[bald as]

Interesting comment.

Why? I base my [personal] comment on over 50 years of rarely getting a good shave from such a vicious little blood sucker. Personal opinion, not meant to reflect on anyone else. Also lt indicates I actually don't have the patience to learn the round headed renegade. I have a DE somewhere so I will hunt up a blade and see if I can get an acceptable shave. I will try half DE and half straight, I very much enjoy the GEM SE series by the way, of which I have a few.

 

[rbscebu]

I tend to agree with @bald as on using "safety" razors. Safety razor shavers are the tough men. They can shave without seeing the edge on their skin. I'm not that tough so I mainly shave with straight razors.

 

[Pbgoose]

It's like Christmas Day for me! I picked them up from the PO this morning. My research shows that both of these blades are from the early 1900's, about 1920. Both razors are like brothers. I will never separate them and this condition will be sworn to by anyone they are passed on to.

First the small Cadman Bengall. The blade is 5/8, Dutch (round) point with bakelite(?) scales. Absolutely gorgeous. In excellent condition for its age. There are a few spots of pitta to show its age, otherwise it could be considered much newer.

The blade is a full hollow and well centred.

I'm not sure what the almost parallel wedge is made of.

There is only one small area of minor concern with the blade. There is the smallest amount of pitta on the face-side bevel. This does not extend to the edge so should not present a problem, even as the blade wears.

There is almost no spine or bevel wear on this SR. It has probably hardly ever been used.

First thing will be to perform a Sharpie test to determine the condition of this razor's last honing. The edge is sharp and performs tree-topping - just. After the Sharpie test, I will decide on what sort and degree of honing I will give this SR.

The larger Cadman Bengall is very similar to the smaller except that the balde is 6/8 and the scales are a little larger to accommodate the increased blade size.

You may notice that there is some belling on both sides of this 7/8 razor. There are no areas of concern with this 7/8 SR except that I might just tighten up the pivot pin a tad.

Again the first thing with this SR will be to perform a Sharpie test to determine the condition of this razor's last honing. The edge is sharp and performs tree-topping - just. After the Sharpie test, I will decide on what sort and degree of honing I will give this SR.

This SR came with its original coffin. The price sticker still shows, 18/6. For the younger readers that is 18 shillings and 6 pence (AU£). Not sure what that is the equivalent of today but if memory serves me, it was about 4 to 5 days average salary for a skilled tradesman back when this was new.

Overall I am extremely happy with this purchase .

These two Cadman bring me up to 23 SR's with three more on their way. I think that 30 is a nice round number.

This evening I Sharpie tested the 5/8. All looked good so I just gave it a few laps on 1μm film and then a diamond pasted balsa strop progression. Tomorrow morning my George Butler "Shakespeare" can have a rest and I will try out the Bengall 5/8. This will be my first shave with a 5/8 traditional SR.

Nice score! I like the Bengalls!

 

[bald as]

Safety razor shavers are the tough men. They can shave without seeing the edge on their skin.

That is far more accurate than many think. When I use a straight it is so safe because I can see exactly where the edge is. It does sum up my misgivings with a DE. But it is all down to what you get comfortable with.

 

[Pbgoose]

Why? I base my [personal] comment on over 50 years of rarely getting a good shave from such a vicious little blood sucker. Personal opinion, not meant to reflect on anyone else. Also lt indicates I actually don't have the patience to learn the round headed renegade. I have a DE somewhere so I will hunt up a blade and see if I can get an acceptable shave. I will try half DE and half straight, I very much enjoy the GEM SE series by the way, of which I have a few.

Don’t worry @rhodes96 , if you troll back through the early days of P&C you’ll find @bald as had his DE days, he’s just too old to remember that. Don’t tell him I said that. I do try and keep him on the ‘straight’ and narrow now.

 

[rbscebu]

This morning's shave with the Cadman "Bengall" ⅝ was one of my best. The edge quantity is up there with my best. The fool's pass was smooth and left a BBS finish.

I was surprised at how manoeuvrable a ⅝ blade can be. Made it easier to shave ATG in the hollows of my neck although I had to concentrate more on ensuring that I had the correct blade angle.

Overall a great shave. This SR will see a lot more use.

 

[rbscebu]

My Bengall 6/8th has now been Sharpie tested. All looked good so I gave it a few laps on a 10k synthetic then on to 3μm and 1μm lapping film before finishing off on a diamond pasted balsa progression to 0.1μm (about 200k grit). The bevel is looking good and the edge is testing well. Shave test tomorrow morning.

 

[rbscebu]

I shaved with the Bengall 6/8 this morning. The shave quality was just a touch under that I obtained from the ⅝ yesterday. I then gave the 6/8 a half progression on my diamond pasted balsa strops (0.25μm & 0.1μm only) before the normal 0.1μm hanging balsa strop. That should bring it up to perfection.

The 6/8 will now be put away while I return to my George Butler "Shakespeare" over the next few days to get its edge to up near my other SR's.