Damaged Big Fellow box

[Godawgs]

My Canadian old type big fellow arrived today by post and the wooden box has fallen apart. Glue failed and poor effort packaging by seller. Assuming to repair just use pva glue? It is rare enough to warrant getting a professional to repair it? Also the tube and head come apart making it a four piece. It this normal? If not glue or epoxy?
Would appreciate any advice. Don’t want to be too gung-ho with my personal repair efforts. Cheers Olly

 

[Gryffindor]

I’ve got nothin’ for the box, but that should be a 3 piece razor. Not normal. As long as everything is secure when assembled, you could skip repairing the razor.

 

[romsitsa]

Hello,

Seemingly all joints are intact, so you only need to gently scrape away old glue residue (most likely an animal glue) reglue the joints and press the case together until the the glue sets.
The razor has a crack in the barrel, so the neck and head isn't held secure in it's place (it was press fitted).
Barrel cracks are normal with Gillettes from the late 10s-30ies, if it bothers you, fix ing it is easy with a small dab of solder or two component epoxy.

 

[ERS4]

Although the handle has cracks, just apply glue and assemble, and use fishing line to wrap the cracks tightly and wait for it to dry. After it is completely dry, just be remove the fishing line and clean.

 

[Rob72]

I've done a box restore. the easy fix is as described- clean the joints, glue & clamp. I drilled the hinge rivets out, soaked it all in wood hardener, let it dry, then replaced the hinges & clasp with new rivets, then glued it back together.

You can epoxy or low-temp solder the handle, but on a Big Boy/Big Fellow, I'd spend the ~$60 and get it laser welded. many jewelers can do this.