Bengal

[Rick1500]

Not sure how this will turn out. $14 (including shipping) for this Bengal razor. I see good things about them here on the forums so I thought it might be worth the chance. The scales look very rough and I'm not sure from the pics the exact condition of the razor but the $8 bid being accepted was hard to pass up.
Could wind up being a total flop, I had two other bids in on other razors and this one caught me off guard when they accepted so I went ahead to see what happens.
Any thoughts on the pics are appreciated.

 

[rbscebu]

From the photo, although we can only see one side, I would say that it will clean up quite well. The scales in way of the pivot pin look as though they have been chewed up but could still be salvageable.

You will need to remove the pivot pin and separate the blade from the scales. Then you can try working on the scales with sandpaper to see if the can be cleaned up. While the blade is out, you can also give it a thorough cleanup, although not a lot of work should be required.

From the shape of the scales, that "Bengall" is probably a pre-1924 model. This can be better determined by the shank stamping on the reverse.

Overall I think you have a very good buy. Congratulations.

I am currently working on a "Bengall" that was in much worse state than yours for an Italian friend of mine. It is a post-1924 that was used by his father. The scales were hand-made out of rough timber and secured with machine screws at both ends.

I have removed the blade (junked the scales) and cleaned most of it up. I also filled the pivot pin hole with epoxy metal and redrilled the hole to 1.6mm diameter. Fortunately I have a spare set of original post-1924 "Bengall" scales that I will fit to this SR.

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[Rick1500]

That sounds like some positive possibilities rb, and thanks for another tip that I had not thought about with filling and redrilling any holes in need of repair.

 

[Rick1500]

Here's the other side that hopefully is just a bad pic.

 

[rbscebu]

I have now fitted the set of post-1924 scales to the restored "Bengall" SR and polished everything up. Takes about 15 minutes.

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[Rick1500]

Looks beautiful!

 

[Legion]

Not sure how this will turn out. $14 (including shipping) for this Bengal razor. I see good things about them here on the forums so I thought it might be worth the chance. The scales look very rough and I'm not sure from the pics the exact condition of the razor but the $8 bid being accepted was hard to pass up.
Could wind up being a total flop, I had two other bids in on other razors and this one caught me off guard when they accepted so I went ahead to see what happens.
Any thoughts on the pics are appreciated.
View attachment 1690602

Nothing too wrong with that other than the bug eaten scales. I would probably not bother trying to restore them, but the blade looks like it will not be much work to put right.

 

[rbscebu]

Thanks for the photo of the reverse side. From that photo, the SR is post-1870 and pre-1890.

The scales on the reverse side looks to be heavily gouged near the pivot pin. That may make it more difficult to restore and reuse. If so, it shouldn't be to difficult to find a pair of replacement "Bengall" scales from the same era, even if you have to buy a beaten up blade with good scales. You will be looking for scales with filleted edges (not chamfered). Chamfer edged scales were generally post-1924.

Most SRs come with a pivot hole diameter in the shank much greater than the 1.6mm diameter pivot pin. It's what engineers call a rattling good fit. This is quite acceptable. The hole diameter has nothing to do with the centring of the blade when closing.

The reason why I fill the hole with epoxy weld and redrill (∅1.6mm) is to help prevent the pin from bending while peening. I drill the hole at the tail end of the original hole so that, as the hole enlarges through wear, the blade's point moves away from the wedge.

 

[rbscebu]

Looks beautiful!

Thank you.

In 10 days time when my friend comes to visit me, I will have the before photos. They are on his cell phone.

 

[rbscebu]

@Rick1500, if you need a set of original per-1924 scales, let me know. I may have a set in my bits and pieces box. If so, you can have them for postage only.

 

[JaggardJ]

I got a Bengall for less than the price of a coffee. My plan was to beat it up while I learned to hone. It turned out to be one of my best straights. Yours looks like it has great potential.

 

[Rick1500]

Thanks for the photo of the reverse side. From that photo, the SR is post-1870 and pre-1890.

The scales on the reverse side looks to be heavily gouged near the pivot pin. That may make it more difficult to restore and reuse. If so, it shouldn't be to difficult to find a pair of replacement "Bengall" scales from the same era, even if you have to buy a beaten up blade with good scales. You will be looking for scales with filleted edges (not chamfered). Chamfer edged scales were generally post-1924.

Most SRs come with a pivot hole diameter in the shank much greater than the 1.6mm diameter pivot pin. It's what engineers call a rattling good fit. This is quite acceptable. The hole diameter has nothing to do with the centring of the blade when closing.

The reason why I fill the hole with epoxy weld and redrill (∅1.6mm) is to help prevent the pin from bending while peening. I drill the hole at the tail end of the original hole so that, as the hole enlarges through wear, the blade's point moves away from the wedge.

Great information. I've only done one other scale replacement and it didn't go so well, definitely a learning thing. I would have never thought to try and find a razor specific set of scales.

Thanks Legion and Jaggard, I'm really looking forward to start on this one. Having to replace the scales is going to allow me to do a good cleaning and buffing job, something I haven't dug into on my other razors yet.

 

[Rick1500]

@Rick1500, if you need a set of original per-1924 scales, let me know. I may have a set in my bits and pieces box. If so, you can have them for postage only.

Yes, I'll definitely take you up on that offer. Let me know how to get the money to you.

 

[rbscebu]

Yes, I'll definitely take you up on that offer. Let me know how to get the money to you.

I will check my box this afternoon and PM you.

 

[Rick1500]

No hurry, just knowing there are specific scales for specific razors is worth a ton, always learning something new. If you run across them I'm here

 

[Rick1500]

Not sure at the moment if the Bengal will make it to me or not.
I've purchased three more razors after the Bengal buy, from different sellers and all three including the Bengal shipped from and to Pennsylvania, I live in Texas.
Rather odd how I could hit so many in a row after all the previous razor buys.

One seller says all their items shipped that day did the same thing, I'm waiting to hear from the others.
I also contacted Ebay about this strange coincidence.

Hope it's just a glitch on the matrix, hasn't happened to me with ebay before this.

 

[Rick1500]

OK, I'm losing my mind, must be the heat
My first purchase an Oxford, started in PA and stayed in PA, and still isn't settled yet.
Now a good example of how our eyes can play tricks on us.
Somehow, unrelated, the other three razors are in PA also.
So when I read the tracking notes, all I read was they were being shipped to PA like the first one.
The good thing: I'm still getting the Bengal (on my knees giving thanks at the moment)
An F.A Clauberg,Tunsorial Gem, and a Bismarck Ges. Geschutzt Fr. Schas Epen Hannover Linden.

It's tough apologizing to the sellers with one foot in my mouth and the other one stuck tight from trying to kick my own arse.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yea, that should clean up fine. The scales are horn, can easily be repaired with horn dust and CA glue.

Sand the scales from the inside over a cookie sheet to collect the dust, tape the inside of the scales and apply CA to dust/ powder piled in the hole. Some CA kicker, will speed up the repair. Sand and finish with 1k wet and dry, polish with any good metal polish.

Done properly, repairs will be invisible and as strong as new. Save the dust for future repairs.

You do not need to fill the pivot hole, if you do it must be drilled square to the razor edge and spine centerline. The enlarged pin hole does not cause the pivot pin to bend, hitting the pin too hard causes the pin to bend.

Look at some video of factory peening and see that they give them several hard whacks, they are in a hurry, you do not need to do that

 

[Rick1500]

Thanks for the tips Brad. I'll give it a shot, that'd be good for me to learn anyway.
CA is some amazing stuff. Mixing it with cigarette ash makes hard plastic.
And I'd also like to try my hand at what others do using it on wood scales.