Post Your Pictures: Swedish Steel

Here's a E.A Berg 7 day set I recently picked up, Sunday is missing, but the rest of the straights have never been used and are in mint condition.
Honed Monday yesterday, and gave it a go today, great blade!



BTW: Does anyone know about when these were made, and what material the scales are?
It seems to be ivory, but I'm not sure.

Zephyr said:

Here's a E.A Berg 7 day set I recently picked up, Sunday is missing, but the rest of the straights have never been used and are in mint condition.
Honed Monday yesterday, and gave it a go today, great blade!

Click to expand...

I saw this set in the acquisitions thread... I'm glad you posted another picture of it... that is absolutely great. Did you find that in the wild, if you don't mind me asking?

Drybonz said:

I saw this set in the acquisitions thread... I'm glad you posted another picture of it... that is absolutely great. Did you find that in the wild, if you don't mind me asking?

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Thanks!

Not exactly in the wild, found it on a Swedish auction site, but it was a wild bidding war at the end

Zephyr said:

Thanks!

Not exactly in the wild, found it on a Swedish auction site, but it was a wild bidding war at the end

Click to expand...

Post some close-ups & I'll have a look if it's ivory or not

These are the best I could get right now, I've tried to heat a needle an put it against the inside of the scales, and it did not leave a mark.

Zephyr said:

These are the best I could get right now, I've tried to heat a needle an put it against the inside of the scales, and it did not leave a mark.

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The "hot-pin test" is negative for celluloid.

But from the look of it it isn't ivory.
They are usually thinner & more bevelled & all Swedish ivory scales I've seen are pinned without washer.
OTOH, E.A Berg straights with ivory are very seldom seen (they targeted mostly to Average Joe, going more for performance then looks) so they might just have done it differently.

Is the grain perfectly straight or is it a bit irregular?
How do they feel in the hand? "Warm" or more plastic?
Ivory has a special "warm" feeling to it.

honed said:

The "hot-pin test" is negative for celluloid.

But from the look of it it isn't ivory.
They are usually thinner & more bevelled & all Swedish ivory scales I've seen are pinned without washer.
OTOH, E.A Berg straights with ivory are very seldom seen (they targeted mostly to Average Joe, going more for performance then looks) so they might just have done it differently.

Is the grain perfectly straight or is it a bit irregular?
How do they feel in the hand? "Warm" or more plastic?
Ivory has a special "warm" feeling to it.

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I'm amazed of your amount of knowledge of Swede's Jens

Took another picture and edited it so that the grain is more visible.
I don't know if I can say it's got a warm feeling, but it got a different feel that the plastic scales on my other straights, seems to be a lot harder and makes a whole different sound when I tap it with the nails, but of course, there are a lot of different grades of plastic.

the pattern in the last pic and the thickness of the scales makes me think bone. Ivory scales are usually very thin.
This may sound odd, but gently tap the scales against your teeth if it clicks it's bone or ivory, if it's plastic it won't click.

superbleu said:

the pattern in the last pic and the thickness of the scales makes me think bone. Ivory scales are usually very thin.
This may sound odd, but gently tap the scales against your teeth if it clicks it's bone or ivory, if it's plastic it won't click.

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Well, I compared these ones to the platic scales on my Le Grelot, and these make a much more distninctive clicking sound, kinda like when clicking your teeth together.

actually, they do look like ivory more than bone.

Yes that's exactly the sensation I was talking about when you tap them against your teeth.

The pics lies a little, and make the scales look thicker than they are.
I measured them now, and they are about 1-1,2mm thick. (I only had a ruler in hand so I couldn't get a exact measure)

I've owned a small E.A Berg that looked a lot like yours and had the exact same scales with the washers on the pins. I'm certain they were ivory. The grain, feel, look, etc. was exactly like other ivory I've seen/had. I think ivory scales usually don't come with washers on the pins, but that doesn't mean they never do. Your scales look like ivory to me, too. There are no bone pores and that grain is pretty distinctive...

Rune, after closer examination of some of my ivory scaled razors I would say for certain that your 7 day set is also scaled in ivory.
here is a picture of one of my ivory scaled razors it has a very similar pattern to yours.

Weighing in all the evidence in all the intelligent posts since my last post here, I'm now pretty convinced it's ivory.

So Rune, you got yourself one heck of a deal there

And most important of all, a very fine set

Thanks guys, my exitement of getting this set just doubled!

Zephyr said:

Thanks guys, my exitement of getting this set just doubled!

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Fully understand that!

I have a Berg with the exact same grind.
Wicked whisker wacker

Fantastic score Rune! Perhaps I should start eyeing the swedish auctions.

Gustav said:

Fantastic score Rune! Perhaps I should start eyeing the swedish auctions.

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Nah, don't.
Most sellers are total maniacs that will go after you once they have your address.
A lot of people have just disappeared.
Sometimes whole villages has been erased after someone buying a NOS Heljestrand on Tradera..

And have you heard about the black magic they use on the blades?
Evil, nasty stuff happens when the straight itself goes after you.

I'd stay away if I were you

honed said:

Nah, don't.
Most sellers are total maniacs that will go after you once they have your address.
A lot of people have just disappeared.
Sometimes whole villages has been erased after someone buying a NOS Heljestrand on Tradera..

And have you heard about the black magic they use on the blades?
Evil, nasty stuff happens when the straight itself goes after you.

I'd stay away if I were you

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A-Bol Borlänge Maskinaffär 5/8 ~¼ hollow

Interesting Swedish straight!
Sold by Borlänge Maskinaffär (Borlänge Machineshop)
A company that was most well-known for their bicycles..

If this straight was manufactured by them or imported from Sheffield & stamped with their name is not known.

If it was made in Borlänge it's the only Swedish straight making company outside Eskilstuna.

Borlänge is a bit further North then Eskilstuna & it was surrounded by several iron mines.

Anyway, great shaver!
Shows up every now & then around here.