British Aristocrat Junior - Broken Door -HELP !!

[fidjit]

Got this off Ebay on a very cheap BIN

Received it today... all looked good

Now in the description they mentioned:
THERE IS A CHROME PIECE FROM THE TOP OF THE RAZOR THAT HAS COME OFF BUT IS INCLUDED IN THE BOX, SEEMS IT COULD BE CLIPPED BACK ON.
In my rush to purchase I figured it was probably just and endcap but........

The door is off and the hinge is broken

So...anybody....
1. Can I find a donor door to use as a replacement.
2. Has anyone figured how to get both the donor and donee razors apart to do the transplant ?????

This is why I this is only the second razor I've bought off Ebay...and probably the last

 

[Greybeard]

That sucks Ian.
I have one of those. It looks like the doors from my British Rocket and Canadian Rocket would fit but it's hard to know for sure. The doors on my #16 look identical. The doors on all my American Gillette TTOs look slightly different.

Was it ever decided whether the head on the Jr. was rhodium plated? The finish on mine looks slightly different than my Rockets, but also looks slightly different than my rhodium #16.

I haven't done any disassembly, but if you don't get a response in this thread you could try PMing amishmotorboat or Pike. I know they've taken apart and put back together TTOs before and both are very helpful. Good luck.

 

[Bushranger]

Mine is Rhodium plated. I think Ian will need a 1950's British silo door like from either rockets/aristocrats.

 

[Stubblefield]

That sucks Ian.
I have one of those. It looks like the doors from my British Rocket and Canadian Rocket would fit but it's hard to know for sure. The doors on my #16 look identical. The doors on all my American Gillette TTOs look slightly different.

Was it ever decided whether the head on the Jr. was rhodium plated? The finish on mine looks slightly different than my Rockets, but also looks slightly different than my rhodium #16.

I checked my 16 and it does look like a pretty good match. Another possibility is a standard Rocket, but I have a suspicion that the doors are rhodium plated on the JR. Not so on the Rocket.

Mine is Rhodium plated. I think Ian will need a 1950's British silo door like from either rockets/aristocrats.

I know the ads all say nickel plated on these (and on the #58 as well) but after comparing with the #16 I am inclined to agree. The plating has the same degree of shine and same color. Same goes for the #58 (at least the one I have); the doors appear to be rhodium. Can't argue for certain, of course.

Anyway, on the original question, I'm betting a door swap is possible; you just need a donor.

 

[fidjit]

I checked my 16 and it does look like a pretty good match.

Sorry Stubblefield, I'm not ripping apart one of my #16s to make a good AJ

Another possibility is a standard Rocket, but I have a suspicion that the doors are rhodium plated on the JR. Not so on the Rocket.

I do have a spare Rocket but I dont' think it'd be the same if they should be Rhodium doors

I know the ads all say nickel plated on these (and on the #58 as well) but after comparing with the #16 I am inclined to agree.

Even the #16 ads don't mention Rhodium. It's really weird as I thought that would have been something that Gillette would have used as a selling point.

Anyway, on the original question, I'm betting a door swap is possible; you just need a donor.

Yes I'm sure it is, but does anyone know how to take these solid knob TTO's apart ??

The seller has offered me a refund and they'll relist. I told them if they relist they really should show a pic of the fault and that I wouldn't be that sure that anyone would bid on it once they found out.

I'll wait and see if any B&B guru can assist here and it might be winging it's way back to the seller next week.

It's a downer though as besides the broken door this AJ is in great condition

 

[tallow_first]

Not to get away from the fact that this is a crummy situation for the OP, but I don't think the Aristocrat Jr. has rhodium plated doors. Although this may not be conclusive in regards to the Aristocrat Jr., it is pretty conclusive in regards to the fact that Gillette could have done (and did do) a higher quality of nickel plating on some of their more common razors. Below, from left to right, is a #16, Ranger Tech, and Aristocrat Jr. We know that the RT was not plated in rhodium, but the silo doors gleam just as brightly as on the #16 as well as Jr., and in the last picture, you can see that the RT and Jr. have the same darker looking nickel plating on the handles.

 

[gearchow]

It's a downer though as besides the broken door this AJ is in great condition

My dog is dead, but he sure is obedient.

I look at my AJ, I just don't see how they can come apart with out destroying them in the process.

Hope it works out (returning the razor) but aren't you always finding Rockets laying along the road and what not? I would have thought you could have found one of these around there?

-jim

 

[gearchow]

Not to get away from the fact that this is a crummy situation for the OP, but I don't think the Aristocrat Jr. has rhodium plated doors. Although this may not be conclusive in regards to the Aristocrat Jr., it is pretty conclusive in regards to the fact that Gillette could have done (and did do) a higher quality of nickel plating on some of their more common razors. Below, from left to right, is a #16, Ranger Tech, and Aristocrat Jr. We know that the RT was not plated in rhodium, but the silo doors gleam just as brightly as on the #16 as well as Jr., and in the last picture, you can see that the RT and Jr. have the same darker looking nickel plating on the handles.

Wow! Those are sweet, mint looking razors!

-jim

 

[fidjit]

Hope it works out (returning the razor) but aren't you always finding Rockets laying along the road and what not? I would have thought you could have found one of these around there?

Yeah Jim , pain in the ........though, all I've found so far are is more upmarket cousins ( #16, #21, #58.... )

Well to ease the pain, I did locally find a barbers hone yesterday at a great price after receiving the disappointing AJ

 

[baggiez]

That is a real pita. I'm always wary of sellers who don't show shots of the doors open.
I wonder if there is any way to weld or solder the door back on if you have all the pieces?
If you can't maybe ask for your money back - it's a bit shifty to sell without properly describing the fault

 

[clonesharky]

i was very tempted

i guess that why you should buy here on b&b but at least the seller is trying to make things right best of luck -phil

 

[ghostknife]

Hey do you have the little extra piece of the hinge that broke off or is that missing?
I rekon it would be possible to solder them together if you had it. Otherwise I had a look at mine and tried to very carefully pry door to see if there was any give and hence the possibility to remove/replace from another one but no go, nothing moved or flexes so I'd be wary of trying any harder in case the brass just snaps like yours did. Of course if the rest of the donor razor is toast then nothing to lose.

Also regarding the Rhodium question I just don't think the AJ are because on mine somebody has tried to polish the doors to either get a nice shine or remove some imperfection and they have almost gone right through the plating, if it was rhodium i just don't think that would be possible or necessary given that it shouldn't tarnish anyway.

 

[fidjit]

Quick update.

Even though the seller offered a full refund, I've this morning decided to keep it. They were very understanding and kept reiterating they would be happy to refund on return of the razor.

For the price I paid, I might as well at least keep for the case.

Like Gearchow says, if I return the case then you can guarantee tomorrow I'll find an mint uncased AJ lying on the side of the road. ( of course now I've decided to keep I'll NEVER find a local AJ )

I've learnt never to sell or throw any cases away. I've made up some cased sets from cases I've picked up empty or with the wrong razor. I've come to regret selling the #22 case I found in the first couple of weeks of collection as I found an uncased #22 last month

In addition given Tallow first's post here and his subsequent followup post , it seems we could solve the question about the AJ's doors by sending the broken one to Ontoman to see what happens if we put it in the nickel stripping bath

Happy to "take one for the team"

 

[johnmrson]

Hopefully my spare parts bin will come to the rescue.

 

[fidjit]

Fingers crossed

Yes, it'll never be original again but...........

Thanks for the assistance John.

 

[hypo_style]

Wow,
Was this the low BIN that requested local pick-up?
I emailed them at night to ask about shipping to the US, but the razor was sold by morning.

Sorry to hear it arrived in this condition, but glad to hear that there's a plan of action, to at least answer B&B's ongoing questions and perhaps restore a razor to life?!? Kudos to you both!

 

[fidjit]

HOORAH !!!

Thanks John ..........

Not too hard a repair. Endcap is still a little bent from opening it up , but only because I know it is.

Opens and closes smoothly and evenly.

If I recieved the razor in the conditions in now I don't know that I'd know that the door had been replaced.

Real AJ door going to Ontoman for testing to see if it's nickel or Rhodium !

( Can you tell which door belonged to a Rocket ? )

 

[johnmrson]

You're welcome. I'm glad that one of the doors I sent you was a fit. I told you it shouldn't be too hard to fit and it looks like you've done a sterling job.

 

[Bushranger]

a tale of one rocket rescues another. wd gents

 

[fidjit]

Thanks again John.

Not that anyone asked, but I gently prised the endcap out with pliers using a thick rubberband to protect the endcap, then used a specialized tool from my extensive toolkit ( table spoon ) to gently knock the endcap back.

As I say I know it's bent but it's so minimal you'd have to inspect closely to see it