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T.R. Cadman & Sons Ltd. ⅝ "Bengall"

rbscebu

rbscebu

Mr. Strop
My second ⅝ "Bengall" arrived yesterday afternoon. I found this on eBay. The vendor was asking a rediculously high price. I made a more reasonable offer that he would not accept. After relisting a few more times at his high price without any takers, the vendor eventually accepted my offer.

Buying a vintage SR off eBay is always a gamble but can be rewarding. It was for me in this case.

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Upon receipt, I gave the blade a sharpie test. All looked good and the edge actually tree-toped. I decided to put this blade through a diamond pasted balsa strop progression and then shave with it this morning.

After ARKO August, I face lathered with old Tabac stick and then attacked a 36-hour growth with my new-to-me "Bengall".

Oh, what a feeling! Not bad for a SR about 90 years old.

I think that this SR is about equal to my first ⅝ "Bengall". I will shave with my first ⅝ "Bengall" tomorrow morning for a comparison.

All is right with my world. Stay safe and healthy.
 
This morning I wanted to compare my second ⅝ "Bengall" to my first. I shaved with my second yesterday and my first this morning.

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Second (top) first (bottom)​

I just could not notice any difference.

Tomorrow I will shave with my ¾ ”Bengall" but perform half of a fool's pass with my first ⅝ and the other half of the fool's pass with my second ⅝. That should sort it out for me.
 
I did a three-razor shave this morning.
  • ¾ "Bengall" WTG all over.
  • ¾ "Bengall" XTG all over except the upper lip.
  • ⅝ "Bengall" No. 1 ATG upper lip right-hand side.
  • ⅝ "Bengall" No. 2 ATG upper lip left-hand side.
  • ¾ "Bengall" XTG all over except the upper lip.
For the life of me, I couldn't notice any difference between the two ⅝ "Bengall" SR's. Their edges must be of the same high quality. As for the ¾ "Bengall", that blade performed flawlessly as expected.

I think that my next matching seven-day set will be of ⅝ "Bengall" SR's. They are a pleasure to shave with, for a small bladed SR.
 
@rbscebu the Bengall's I have all take a great edge and shave very smoothly. Great razor. I don't know for certain but I think the steel is softer. Nothing to know that for certain but they respond to hones well.
 
bald as said:
...I don't know for certain but I think the steel is softer. Nothing to know that for certain but they respond to hones well.
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Most likely they used a typical water-hard (or maybe an oil-hard) steel of the day, but sacrificed a little of that hardness by drawing temper from the spine (eg with a hot brick) until the right oxidation colours reached the edge (typically a light straw colour) before quenching again. There are lots of other ways to achieve the same effect, but this still works to guarantee the blade will never chip or crack.
 
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bald as said:
@rbscebu the Bengall's I have all take a great edge and shave very smoothly. Great razor. I don't know for certain but I think the steel is softer. Nothing to know that for certain but they respond to hones well.
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That is also what I am discovering.

I was going to sell any that I was not totally happy with. Looks like I will have none to sell.

It will be nice if I can put together a matching seven-day set of ⅝ or ¾ Bengall's - or a set of each 😁.
 
The three "Bengall" straight razors that I shaved with this morning.
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This is a seven-day set case that I received today from Shavers Delight (UK) with my two ⅝ Bengalls. I have another ⅝ Bengall on the way. Only four more to find. This case and set should be perfect for travel.

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Just found another but at a rediculously high price. Now trying to convince the vendor to reduce his price substantially. If he doesn't, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
 
Sweet report, keep them coming! I only have one Bengal, it shaves great, my only problem with it is that, over its lifetime, has been irregularly honed, thus ending up being narrower at the point than at the shoulder. Not the most aesthetically pleasing of razors, but does its job flawlessly.
 
Mastropiero said:
Sweet report, keep them coming! I only have one Bengal, it shaves great, my only problem with it is that, over its lifetime, has been irregularly honed, thus ending up being narrower at the point than at the shoulder. Not the most aesthetically pleasing of razors, but does its job flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Keep your eye open on eBay. Many come up for sale in various conditions and at different price points. Most coming onto the market now were manufactured in the early 1900's. These were Cadman's golden years when they had over 100 employees. You should be able to pick up a reasonably good one for under $50.

Cadman Bengall SR's were made in the UK with most (over ¾) of them being exported to Poland, India, Japan and Australia. They also supplied about 250,000 straight razors to the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy during WWII.

T.R. Cadman and Sons Ltd operated from Sheffield for about 200 years until the mid 1960's, although they stopped manufacturing SR's soon after WWII. They then concentrated on manufacturing scissors and other sharp metal cutting instruments.
 
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rbscebu said:
Keep your eye open on eBay. Many come up for sale in various conditions and at different price points. Most coming onto the market now were manufactured in the early 1900's. These were Cadman's golden years when they had over 100 employees. You should be able to pick up a reasonably good one for under $50.

Cadman Bengall SR's were made in the UK with most (over ¾) of them being exported to Poland, India, Japan and Australia. They also supplied about 250,000 straight razors to the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy during WWII.

T.R. Cadman and Sons Ltd operated from Sheffield for about 200 years until the mid 1960's, although they stopped manufacturing SR's soon after WWII. They then concentrated on manufacturing scissors and other sharp metal cutting instruments.
Click to expand...

Excellent stuff, many thanks!

I don't really do ebay, I feed my RAD on other hunting grounds, I can safely say I have never bought a razor on ebay, and I have around 30 to 40 razors waiting on the bench to be restored.... Not to mentions the ones I already am keeping for myself, such as this lady:

url=https://postimg.cc/RWLWJJJN]
DSC-3257.jpg
[/url]







In her prime, she surely must've been a beaut!!!
 
Mastropiero said:
Excellent stuff, many thanks!

I don't really do ebay, I feed my RAD on other hunting grounds, I can safely say I have never bought a razor on ebay, and I have around 30 to 40 razors waiting on the bench to be restored.... Not to mentions the ones I already am keeping for myself, such as this lady:

url=https://postimg.cc/RWLWJJJN]
DSC-3257.jpg
[/url]







In her prime, she surely must've been a beaut!!!
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A fine specimen. Congratulations.
 
Haven’t honed a bad Bengall yet out of about 20, they all take a great edge, even back to the cast steel items, surprising what they can come back from
 
I received another ⅝ Bengall yesterday. I sourced this one from a flea market in South Australia. It needs a slight cleanup to remove some minor surface corrosion and a polish of the scales.

What is interesting about this ⅝ Bengall is that the shank/tang is stamped ".... SONS" and not ".... SONS LTD" as on the previous two. This would date it as before 1924 when T.R. Cadman and Sons incorporated.
 
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