Saving a Borlange Maskinaffar Bengall straight?

[honed]

I stumbled upon this little friend when I went thru some of the antique shops in town yesterday.

I've been wetshaving with a DE for many years, but never walked down the path of straights. I've been meaning to, but just never gotten there.
But when I fooled around with this one last night, my interest really went up!

It does have a nasty edge chip. Is it worth the cost of having somebody restore the edge? Is it even possible to get it back to "shave ready"?

Except for the edge chip, it looks & feels in good enough shape.

I got it dirt cheap, so if it isn't possible to save it back to a fine-shaver state, the loss is minimal.

No hits on the forum for "borlänge maskinaffär" a few for Eskilstuna straight, not much on google either.

To my eyes, the handle is really beutiful.

 

[Hawkeye5]

Lots of lost metal and time to remove that chip. Looks like it goes all the way through the bevel. I doubt it is worth the time to try so it is good that you don't have much tied up in it. Sorry.

 

[Scissors]

A thought: since the scales are in good condition, perhaps you could remove the blade and repair/reuse the scales in another restoration, for example, you find a salvageable blade of about the same size in scales that are in dreadful condition or beyond repair?

Another thought: clean it up, but don't bother trying to make it a working razor, and just have it as a display piece.

 

[Cedrck]

Ooooo! That a nice one… a Bengal too. But the chip isn’t all that bad, I have fixed worst and they turned out to be fantastic shavers (love the shaves from those single grind blades). So long as there isn’t a crack at the end of that chip there is a good chance it can be brought back to life in short order, a little narrower, but a shaver she will be. A little polish on the face and she will be looking good with those fancy scales.

T. R. Cadman and Sons Ltd. Sheffield England...
trade name... Bengal

That's all I got

 

[honed]

Thanks for your replies!

I got bitten by the Bug, so I have two other vintage ones coming in the mail, bought them from a local auction website.
Both of them looks like they have really nice blades.
So I think I'll start with one of them & have it sent out for proper honing.
I just can't wait to get a proper shave ready straight home to try!

I know I'll eventually will get some stones & start learning honing myself, & then this one will be a good object to try on.
If I mess it up, there is always the option with keeping the scales & put a new blade in.
But for now I'll just polish it up & keep it around the shave den.
It definitely adds character to my den

 

[honed]

I've done some research & found that Borlänge Maskinfabrik had a good reputation, making knifes, razors, razor blades, bikes & so on.
Seems like a uncommon brand on ebay & such, but fairly common over here.

I've found another razor, a Tagore Solingen, a very fine blade, a tad wider, but in very fine condition & it seems hollow ground,
the blade really "sings" when you touch it.
Very sharp also, not by any means shave ready, but I don't think it requires much work to get it in to a daily shaver status.

The top one is the Tagore, the photo shows some discoloration that isn't nearly as bad in reality as the camera makes you belive, no rust or anything.

The bottom one, the Heljestrand Eskilstuna is in a sadder state then the photo shows. No cracks, but very uneven blade, lots of bad scratches from someones unskilled honing I think.

The scales on the Tagore is exactly the same size as on the Borlänge, so I was thinking of making a switch, since the
ones on the Tagore is clean & functional, but also plain, not at all that fancy as the Borlänge.

But unfortunally the scales on the Borlänge didn't stand the "hot pin test" & turned out to be faux Ivory.
So maybe I shouldn't mess with the scales.

Just find someone who can hone the Tagore & let that one be my first shave ready straight.
And save the Borlänge for future plans, when I've gotten a bit further in the wonderful world of straights!