Post Your Pictures: Swedish Steel

[honed]

I only have two. One used to be Jens razor, and is the same as one he already posted a picture of. Why not add another picture? Mine aren't as good as everyone else's though as these will be cell phone pictures.

6/8 Erik Anton Berg frameback

It's my second favorite shaver next to my Le Grelot.

I never would have parted from tha one if I didn't have a spare
That is a real laser-sword!
But I don't have an good pics of mine.

6/8 C.V. Heljestrand Mk.6 Half Hollow

I traded a Japanese razor for it. I'm not a fan of it's huge and awkward plastic scales, so I was thinking of replacing them with red stamina or blond horn TI scales. When I first received it, the edge was okay, so I decided to dull it and start over on my Coticule. It's proving an absolute bear to hone/dial in right. I hope this blade will be worth it.

I'd say it's worth it!

I have a MK#6, but it unfortunately has a bent tang & some uneven honewear.
Your's look much better!
Mine too is hard to hone, the MK3x are pretty easy to hone, but for some reason the MK#6 takes a lot of tweaking ot get right.
But once it's right, it's really, really good. Pretty much as a MK#32 but with a sligthly stiffer grind

 

[TstebinsB]

So there is no spare one for me Telly, I love the look of this one, if you got a spare one, just PM me?

I'll let you know, Charles.

 

[Oglethorpe]

I'll let you know, Charles.

Can I be 2nd in line?

Here are mine:

SSA

Heljestrand MK31

EA Berg

 

[thanks]

I'd say it's worth it!

I have a MK#6, but it unfortunately has a bent tang & some uneven honewear.
Your's look much better!
Mine too is hard to hone, the MK3x are pretty easy to hone, but for some reason the MK#6 takes a lot of tweaking ot get right.
But once it's right, it's really, really good. Pretty much as a MK#32 but with a sligthly stiffer grind

Mine does have slightly uneven hone wear favoring the heel, oddly enough. After attempting to tweak it further last night, and it failing the test shave today I just ran it through a unicot and it's popping hairs all over the entire length of the blade before stropping. This edge finally looks promising. Seems like pretty hard steel!

 

[honed]

Of course. Would you have any ideas on where is a good place to look in Skåne? Or is it blocket/tradera that is the best place?

Shhh, there is no such place as Tradera
Skåne is nice this time of year, no nällor to be hottad in

Seriously, the best place is a good "loppis" The churches often arrange loppis around Christmas.
The most convenient way for you depending on how much time you have & how well " you know" the antikaffärer & lumpbodar around your place, might otherwise be Tradera (that doesn't exist..)
I'm unfortunately all out at the moment, or I'd have been happy to hook you up. Good luck!

Can I be 2nd in line?

Here are mine:

SSA

Heljestrand MK31

EA Berg

3 nice dudes you have there!
How is the SSA treating you?

Here are two I own/have owned:

These are insanely rare!
Never seen one in person, not even in the Rademachers!

This is one of my all-time favorite razors. I've had a few and sold my duplicates but I never get rid of all of them.

More Frenchies. Another one I have to track down

 

[honed]

Mine does have slightly uneven hone wear favoring the heel, oddly enough. After attempting to tweak it further last night, and it failing the test shave today I just ran it through a unicot and it's popping hairs all over the entire length of the blade before stropping. This edge finally looks promising. Seems like pretty hard steel!

Actually almost all I have seen have some sort of sign of uneven/bad honewear.
Probably because they are so hard that people just didn't know what to do with them.
It took me forever to dial mine in.
On the other hand, I haven't honed it for ages, it just keeps going

 

[honed]

Two Eskilstuna guys dressed in cow bone.

Top & right is a 9/16 Klas Törnblom, faux frameback.
Small size but a wicked shaver anyway.
The butt-wedge on this one is really interesting.
It's tapered the opposite way, & I really think it's factory-made, since I used to have another one with the
same "reversed" wedge. But the scale still functions just like they should.

Bottom & left is a C.W Dahlgren 5/8 tapering to 6/8 frameback
I really like this model of frameback, the only frameback-model where you actually have a frame that holds a thinner blade.

Unfortunately someone decided to remove some light rust with a grinder..
Bad scratching, but lucklily nothing that affects performance.
Do I have to add that it shaves really nice?

 

[thanks]

Two Eskilstuna guys dressed in cow bone.

Top & right is a 9/16 Klas Törnblom, faux frameback.
Small size but a wicked shaver anyway.
The butt-wedge on this one is really interesting.
It's tapered the opposite way, & I really think it's factory-made, since I used to have another one with the
same "reversed" wedge. But the scale still functions just like they should.

Bottom & left is a C.W Dahlgren 5/8 tapering to 6/8 frameback
I really like this model of frameback, the only frameback-model where you actually have a frame that holds a thinner blade.

Unfortunately someone decided to remove some light rust with a grinder..
Bad scratching, but lucklily nothing that affects performance.
Do I have to add that it shaves really nice?

Judging by the tang on that frameback, it must be extremely old! Unless of course I am wrong in my assumption. Nice Swedes all around!

 

[mikromicke]

Skåne is nice this time of year, no nällor to be hottad in

Haha, so far that's never happened to me

I'll keep an eye open when home over Christmas and see what I can find then. I might need to go a bit north to find some decent antiques shops but that might be worth it.

 

[honed]

Judging by the tang on that frameback, it must be extremely old! Unless of course I am wrong in my assumption. Nice Swedes all around!

It's marked with "Sweden" so it's not that old.
My guess is late 1800's.
No idea why they made the tang so short. But the razor is very well balanced, so there must have been some science behind it.

 

[Gustav]

Here is the last of my current four operational swedish straights: a 5/8 full hollow Erik Anton Berg with its battered horn scales. Of all the straights I have used thus far, I have shaved the most with this one. It is a decent enough sort of razor and since it is an heirloom from SWMBO's family, I will continue using it from time to time. I realize from this thread that I have a lot of nice things to look forward to. If anyone of you wants to get rid of an MK razors, send me a PM.

 

[honed]

Here is the last of my current four operational swedish straights: a 5/8 full hollow Erik Anton Berg with its battered horn scales. Of all the straights I have used thus far, I have shaved the most with this one. It is a decent enough sort of razor and since it is an heirloom from SWMBO's family, I will continue using it from time to time. I realize from this thread that I have a lot of nice things to look forward to. If anyone of you wants to get rid of an MK razors, send me a PM.

Interesting model!
Blade looks like the "usual" rather stiff E.A Berg full hollow, but it has a thumb-notch & a pair of scales I've never seen on a Berg before.

If you want the make the scales a bit less tired, try rubbing them with some light mineral oil

 

[rambus007]

Here's a frameback that I restored. It was rescaled in cocobolo with stacked pins. I have sold it to another B&B member but now I miss it.

 

[rambus007]

Here's another Joh. Engstrom frameback that I have but it's in its original state. I haven't honed this one up yet but I think I'll do it tonight. I'm going to keep this one because it's my last Swedish razor.

 

[honed]

Here's another Joh. Engstrom frameback that I have but it's in its original state. I haven't honed this one up yet but I think I'll do it tonight. I'm going to keep this one because it's my last Swedish razor.

That model of frameback is just awesome to shave with in my opinion.
Not everyone likes them, but do try it out!
It like having a big wedge on your face but it isn't heavy or hard to maneuver.
It's light & nimble like an Italian sportscar
Engström was one of the very first Eskilstuna cutlers gaining a international reputation.

 

[professorchaos]

That model of frameback is just awesome to shave with in my opinion.
Not everyone likes them, but do try it out!
It like having a big wedge on your face but it isn't heavy or hard to maneuver.
It's light & nimble like an Italian sportscar
Engström was one of the very first Eskilstuna cutlers gaining a international reputation.

+1. I love that style frameback. Hopefully I'll get some snaps of mine this weekend.

 

[orchestrion]

What a great thread. I'll have to post pictures of my Engstrom and Heljestrand framebacks once I get back home for Christmas break. To hold you over, here's a fresh-from-the-antique-store, still-dirty picture of my Engstrom.

Last summer I went to Las Vegas with my mom, dad, and uncle. My mom had to leave the trip a couple of days early so myself, my dad, and my uncle took a side trip to see the Hoover Dam. On the way back we drove through a little town called Boulder City. There was a small antique store that we decided to stop in. I found this nice piece in one of the back corners of the store. The owner told me it was from one of his favorite vendors and he (the vendor) used to be the mayor of the city and was "very proud of the razor."

 

[honed]

What a great thread. I'll have to post pictures of my Engstrom and Heljestrand framebacks once I get back home for Christmas break. To hold you over, here's a fresh-from-the-antique-store, still-dirty picture of my Engstrom.

Last summer I went to Las Vegas with my mom, dad, and uncle. My mom had to leave the trip a couple of days early so myself, my dad, and my uncle took a side trip to see the Hoover Dam. On the way back we drove through a little town called Boulder City. There was a small antique store that we decided to stop in. I found this nice piece in one of the back corners of the store. The owner told me it was from one of his favorite vendors and he (the vendor) used to be the mayor of the city and was "very proud of the razor."

That model is rather common to find here. & I really like the way it shaves.
No wonder Mr Mayor was proud
The thin tang can take some adjustment to master, but once you have that down, the shaves should be great!

Apart from Heljestrands, Engstroms seems to be the most common Swedish brand of straights to be found in the US, judging from what I see & read on the forums, eBay & other places.
And that is not the case in Sweden. They are definitely not rare, but there is at least 5 makers that are more common.
So obviously Mr Engstrom knew how to reach the foreign markets!

 

[sfcablecar]

Wonderful thread!

 

[professorchaos]

A few more of mine. There remains a lovely little Hellburg I have to find.

C.V. Heljestrand MK No 32

Erik Anton Berg 5/8