amateur restoration of a french gillette federal case

[akortekaas]

I got this french import federal case with a french import goodwill razor a week ago.
It was rusted and incredibly filthy.
I tried with several ways with increasing level of possible damage to get the liner somewhat usable but it just wasn't possible and since the "importe de amerique" print had come off already i decided to try and replace it with some blue suede i had laying around.
I know it isn't the best looking color combo but it's what i had and ordering something online would have costed as much as i paid for the whole set if i even managed to find the right stuff as a lot of "teddy","plush" and other stuff i don't think really are velvet are sold as such...

I completely forgot to take pics of before i started.
It's not done yet, i'm still waiting for a spring clip and some satin to remake the trim between the tray and the box.
The covering of the box itself was really stained with rust and other things and a lot of white deposits, i could not get it all off but managed to minimize it by rubbing it with sewing machine oil and make it shiny again and make the color come out and then i coated it with acrylic, no idea if this is the proper way to do it but it seemed a good idea at the time
At least it will help the loose bits stay down and keep the dirt from coming out.
There was so much dust and dirt in this thing, even after a couple hours of soaking, 3 rounds in the ultrasonic and vigorous scrubbing with a toothbrush it still looked like i petted my cat after a dust bath on my desk...

 

[JimmyCB]

I got this french import federal case with a french import goodwill razor a week ago.
It was rusted and incredibly filthy.
I tried with several ways with increasing level of possible damage to get the liner somewhat usable but it just wasn't possible and since the "importe de amerique" print had come off already i decided to try and replace it with some blue suede i had laying around.
I know it isn't the best looking color combo but it's what i had and ordering something online would have costed as much as i paid for the whole set if i even managed to find the right stuff as a lot of "teddy","plush" and other stuff i don't think really are velvet are sold as such...

I completely forgot to take pics of before i started.
It's not done yet, i'm still waiting for a spring clip and some satin to remake the trim between the tray and the box.
The covering of the box itself was really stained with rust and other things and a lot of white deposits, i could not get it all off but managed to minimize it by rubbing it with sewing machine oil and make it shiny again and make the color come out and then i coated it with acrylic, no idea if this is the proper way to do it but it seemed a good idea at the time
At least it will help the loose bits stay down and keep the dirt from coming out.
There was so much dust and dirt in this thing, even after a couple hours of soaking, 3 rounds in the ultrasonic and vigorous scrubbing with a toothbrush it still looked like i petted my cat after a dust bath on my desk...View attachment 1668732View attachment 1668733View attachment 1668735View attachment 1668736View attachment 1668737View attachment 1668738

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed looking at your craftsmanship. You also are preserving a bit of history.

 

[aussietanker]

Well done. I think you have done a great job. And thanks for sharing the journey. It helps all of us that might want to do the same one day

 

[airmech]

Thanks, for letting us in on your work!!! I think you did a great job and I like the blue!!! You brought back a piece that was not collectible to a nice user grade case for your razor!!!

Tom

 

[BigJ]

EXCELLENT!!

 

[Dave himself]

Fantastic job. Thank you for sharing.

 

[nemo]

Hey, that looks good! I did a Windsor case in my own very amateurish style a few years back.

Pretty bad now that I look closely.

 

[akortekaas]

That turned out great!
Now you just have to recreate the logo on your pc, order a brass die made in china or something, learn hot foil stamping and then stamp it on there and hope it sticks XD

 

[akortekaas]

Motivated by my previous success i decided to tackle the other, much worse, dirty case i have.
This one is from the british nr44, maybe the thick handle that came with it but it had the wrong cap so who knows...

This thing has rusted a lot but there's still enough metal left to covered it with something and make it look nice again.
I don't have enough velvet for the whole interior and the exterior has to be done too so i'm going to do it in veg tan leather, natural for the inside and maybe a finished leather for the exterior, if i can make it follow all the bends, which is a lot harder with finished leather.

There wasn't enough left of the tray lining to make a pattern but by wet molding the leather around it i don't really need a pattern and leather can be trimmed neatly very easily, the edges don't need to be finished/bound like fabric.

I have just worked on the tray so far.
The leather has to dry in shape now and then i can glue it and trim it tomorrow.

One nice thing about these cases is that you can reuse the logo

 

[luvmysuper]

You guys do great!
I suck at finesse work.
If you want to see the far end of what is possible, look through THIS thread:

Various restorations

Have some time during the Easter holidays, so a few razors, cases and sets got an overhaul ranging from spring replacement to soldering. Almost Norfolk Aristocrat Left DR And the rest.

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[akortekaas]

Yeah that thread is amazing.

 

[aussietanker]

There wasn't enough left of the tray lining to make a pattern but by wet molding the leather around it i don't really need a pattern and leather can be trimmed neatly very easily, the edges don't need to be finished/bound like fabric.

I love the wet molding of the leather. What a great idea. Well done!

 

[akortekaas]

Glued and trimmed the leather and burnished the edges.
I'm really bad at not leaving marks when wet forming leather so i just went for a more "patina" look.
For those who don't know, when you wet unfinished vegetable tanned leather it gets soft and it's very easy to leave tiny dents and marks and those marks will darken a lot when it dries and the only way to remove them is to make everything else just as dark which is very hard to do consistently.

 

[akortekaas]

about 2 hours of sanding later...
Underneath the covering the case was almost completely encrusted with rust, there was maybe a spot the size of a fingerprint were i could still see bare metal.

To get the covering and rust off i first tried soaking it in vinegar and salt but not much happened so i put it on the stove and boiled the crap out of it and that dealt with the hide glue but not the rust.

 

[akortekaas]

The bottom is done now
i covered it in goat nappa.
I had plans on using more natural veg tan and then 3d printing a Gillette logo and embossing it on the leather on the lid but tolerances are really tight and i was not confident i would be able to do a proper job with veg tan and on the bright side, the goat leather looks more like the original covering and the contrast is nice imho.

It's my first time stretching leather around something and i'm quite happy with the result!

 

[Frito Ray]

To get the covering and rust off i first tried soaking it in vinegar…

First off, stunning work!

Try to find cleaning vinegar to remove the rust. Regular table vinegar is about 5% acid, pickling vinegar is about 7%, and cleaning vinegar is 10-11%. It’s like $3 for 2.5 litres.

 

[akortekaas]

First off, stunning work!

Try to find cleaning vinegar to remove the rust. Regular table vinegar is about 5% acid, pickling vinegar is about 7%, and cleaning vinegar is 10-11%. It’s like $3 for 2.5 litres.

yeah i used cleaning vinegar.
It did etch the bottom of some deep pitting here and there but it wasn't able to put a dent in the crust itself.

 

[akortekaas]

Couldn't stop working on this so it's 2 am and it's finished and it turned out amazing!
This has to be the fanciest tech case ever, i'll call it the "Gillette Tech Aristocrat"!
Now i just have to learn how to gold plate my Tech
Sadly i have now run out of crummy Gillette cases to rebuild

 

[Four for Luck]

Where do you find your leathers?
Your work is incredible. As with very good artisans you make it look deceptively easy.
How. UChicago will the leather stretch? 1/4”? More?

 

[akortekaas]

Where do you find your leathers?
Your work is incredible. As with very good artisans you make it look deceptively easy.
How. UChicago will the leather stretch? 1/4”? More?

i get most of my leather from beltsproduction.com, i got the goat from decocuir.com.
Are you referring to the goat leather? you mean if it will stretch 1/4th of it's length ?
this specific chrome tanned goat nappa, which is intended for gloves and such, stretches like 50% in one direction, but maybe 15% perpendicular to that, kinda like woven fabric.
It doesn't flex back though so you don't want to pre stretch it if you want to go around tight corners like the inside of a lid.