Aristocrat

[cnnc97]

The SWMBO picked up what I believe to be 47 Cased Aristocrat today at an antique store. After cleaning the gunk, half the handle is silver. Should I remove the rest and make it silver? The top of the doors are in pretty rough shape with plate loss. Top and bottom of the head look pretty good. I think the end caps are missing, unless it didn't have them, in any case the two pieces on each side look like lead. Any advice?

Case is decent outside, a little grungy inside. Most of the Gillette logo and lettering is gone. Blade case is decent only a couple of spots with plate loss. It has 2 original looking blades with the half moon shape on each end.

I'll try to get some pics up.

 

[cnnc97]

Here are the before pics. It cleaned up fairly nicely. The head is down the brass on one side, the handle down to the nickel I guess?

Should I consider having it replated?

I'll take some after pics tonight and put them up tomorrow.

I shaved with it last night, a little rough, but I think my lather was a little off.

 

[Blue58]

It looks like about a 46 with missing endcaps I believe it was originally silver but was replated to look gold. try soaking it in scrubbing bubbles then use an old toothbrush on it to clean as much of the gunk off as possible.

I think your best bet would be to send it out to cooncatbob for replating if it all works well mechanically.

 

[cnnc97]

The gunk is gone, I just didn't get a chance to take "after" pics. Going to try to get that tonight. The case looks like the 46-47 one on Mr Razor's site. Not sure how to tell if it's 46 or 47.

Does the replating work ok with the missing end caps? Should just be able to plate over those pieces right? It seems pretty good mechanically, the doors look a little crooked as it's opening, but when closed they appear to be straight. The blade gap looks straight to me any way, haven't measured it or anything.

What do you mean about the silver vs gold? That was done by Gillette or do you think somebody did that after? I thought they were nickel plated first, then gold over the top of the nickel. Is that not correct on these?

Here's a shot of the case. It cleaned up a little, the lining on the bottom was folder under. I took it out and cleaned it up with some tape. I'll post the after pics of the case tomorrow as well.

 

[BBrad]

I think that is the '47 case.

Both '46 and '47 razors were made with end caps. The lack of color there would indicate loss of the caps, since that is not a surface that is prone to wear like the handle or head. Re-plating without end caps should cause no operational issues since the layer of plated metal is not very thick.

I am no expert on metal plating, but I recall reading that the proper way to gold-plate an item is to nickle-plate it first. That is why certain razors, like the NEW series, are prone to gold-plate loss, since they were not nickle-plated prior to being washed with gold.

 

[cnnc97]

Anybody in the US on here that does replating? Cooncatbob?

I have a couple of emails in to local plating shops. The first one replied and said that they don't do restorations and recommended a place in Michigan. I was trying to find somewhere local to save on having to ship it back and forth.

I'll probably shave with it and see if I like it before spending the money to have it done. From the other threads I've seen it looks like around $35-$45 with shipping to have it done, does that sound about right?

 

[cnnc97]

Here are the after pics from my cleaning effort.

When I took it out to take the pics I had a blade in it. When I opened the doors it started squeaking. Should I oil the TTO knob?

I PM'd a couple of the people about replating. Cooncatbob said his guy doesn't do TTOs.

 

[BBrad]

Nice cleanup!!

 

[nemo]

Here's one like that onotoman did for me in nickel -- it was a mess. Love it!

 

[Blue58]

with the better lighting and the very nice clean up work that razor doesn't look half bad. I know there are some people in B&B that do the plating so you might start a new thread asking if anyone knows who does plating. or if you are just going to keep that as your personal use razor then I probably wouldn't worry about getting it plated. if you travel allot for your work then you could take that one as your travel razor and then if you lost it it would not be a big loss.

 

[Bit2]

send that sucka to ONOTOMAN..he can replate the heck outa dat. just joking, if you replate you wont wind up spending alot of money and you will have a new looking alltime great shaver.

+1 on the re-plate

Yes Cooncatbob has his source, but are you going to be a customer as well?

+1 Onotoman does good work!

I contacted Dale Broadbent (electroplating) at:
508 222 0620 or email at [email protected]
PO Box 91, 304 W Main St Chartley, MA 02712 USA

He does great work.
I had him re-plate in razors both in Gold and Rhodium.

John

P.S. yes, your razor is dire need of a makeover!

 

[Crixus]

with the better lighting and the very nice clean up work that razor doesn't look half bad.

or if you are just going to keep that as your personal use razor then I probably wouldn't worry about getting it plated.

You post above that it might cost you $45 for shipping and replating. Then you have a replated razor that doesn't even have an endcap--and one that no spare part endcap will truly match if you find one after the replating. I, too, would just keep it as is, if you like how it shaves, use that $45 toward a future purchase of same (or close) that is already complete and relatively pristine.

 

[cnnc97]

I probably won't have it replated just yet. The only way I would probably do it is if I find it to be my favorite razor and want to make it look nice. It's not half bad, pretty shiny everywhere other than the top of the doors. The worst part is that the handle is about 2/3 silver.

It has started squeaking when opening the doors and got a little harder to twist the TTO when it does that. Should I oil it or something? It's already been soaked in dish soap & water, and been soaked in scrubbing bubbles for a bit.

 

[Blue58]

I probably won't have it replated just yet. The only way I would probably do it is if I find it to be my favorite razor and want to make it look nice. It's not half bad, pretty shiny everywhere other than the top of the doors. The worst part is that the handle is about 2/3 silver.

It has started squeaking when opening the doors and got a little harder to twist the TTO when it does that. Should I oil it or something? It's already been soaked in dish soap & water, and been soaked in scrubbing bubbles for a bit.

if you do oil it I would use something like a 3 in 1 oil and then once it was freed up and working ok then soak it again in hot water and a little soap. if you leave the oil in there it will create bigger problems than you have now.

It is also possible that the razor was dropped with the doors open and that has bent something in the TTO mechanism and if that is the case then unless someone can tell you how to disassemble a TTO razor and fix it I don't know what else to do.

 

[cnnc97]

It wasn't doing it when I got it or right after the cleaning. It started the next day after the cleaning. The squeaking seems to be coming from inside the handle, not the doors themselves. I'll try a little oil, thanks.

 

[tchmango]

Hey, I am no expert here but this is my experience and I thought it may help you. I just bought an Aristocrat myself. Almost identical in all ways to yours. I had no idea that was a missing end cap but mine has the same situation on one end. My case looks good outside but kind of crappy inside. Functionally razor is fine. And I applied a few drops of fine clear oil and let is soak overnight. Then hit is with hot water the next day to remove any excess oil. Next stop was a local jeweler. He had never plated anything like this before but was willing to try. For $12.00 my razor is all gold again except for the missing end cap portion where it just took light plate. It did not want to take the gold there.(missing nickel perhaps?) Anyway, moral of the story is I have a better than decent Aristocrat for less than $25.00 including re-plate. I am going to leave the process at that. Try one of your small local jewelers and see if they can help. $12.00 is not much of an investment to have a razor put back to one color. Hope this helps you some.

 

[cnnc97]

Hey, I am no expert here but this is my experience and I thought it may help you. I just bought an Aristocrat myself. Almost identical in all ways to yours. I had no idea that was a missing end cap but mine has the same situation on one end. My case looks good outside but kind of crappy inside. Functionally razor is fine. And I applied a few drops of fine clear oil and let is soak overnight. Then hit is with hot water the next day to remove any excess oil. Next stop was a local jeweler. He had never plated anything like this before but was willing to try. For $12.00 my razor is all gold again except for the missing end cap portion where it just took light plate. It did not want to take the gold there.(missing nickel perhaps?) Anyway, moral of the story is I have a better than decent Aristocrat for less than $25.00 including re-plate. I am going to leave the process at that. Try one of your small local jewelers and see if they can help. $12.00 is not much of an investment to have a razor put back to one color. Hope this helps you some.

That's good advice, thanks. Maybe I'll bring it to work some day and find a jeweler downtown.

Both of my end caps would look like crap though. What are they made of, they look like lead.

 

[onotoman]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

The razor in question was actually Gold Plated - Later versions of this razor were nickel plated first then Gold plated over the nickel - so the gold lasts longer than earlier versions and when the gold wears through the nickel won't oxidise like the underlying brass.

The head on this one looks well worn through to the brass though.

You can either just use as is, or have it replated in Nickel, Gold or Rhodium. I can only do nickel at the moment, but happy to help if you want to go down the replate route.

 

[onotoman]

The lead you see is actually the remains of the solder used to keep the end caps in place (or not as is the case here) - if you can find a suitable donor razor it's pretty easy to unsolder the end caps then resolder onto your razor. Hardly worth the effort unless the razor is pristine or very rare though.

That's good advice, thanks. Maybe I'll bring it to work some day and find a jeweler downtown.

Both of my end caps would look like crap though. What are they made of, they look like lead.

 

[cnnc97]

Are the end caps the same on the Aristocrat and the standard SS? They look like it to me, maybe I could pick up a junk one from somebody on here.