Scratched razor head *pics*

[Gunky]

I just acquired a Gillette NEW and I see there are scratches on the head, I think I can feel the grooves of the scratches with my fingernail..can anyone recommend a remedy? I was going to have it replated in gold and hoping that since gold requires nickel plating first, perhaps the 2 platings would cover it up? Or if anyone is a pro at restoring razors I can send it to you and you can remedy it if possible as I am new to vintage razors in general. Thanks

 

[billc508]

First of all, gold plating itself in conjunction with the nickel, will not necessarily cover the scratches. It's the nickel that is the main plating for wear and brightness and bonding to the brass, the gold plate is a very thin surface layer which is coated with clear lacquer to help resist wear. Total mil thickness for the nickel and gold may be around 3 to 6 mil, just an estimate but I did measure some older razors with a gage and that was the average I got. A scratch like that is probably a 1/64" deep or around 10 to 20 mil so you can see that the plating will not be anywhere near enough nor will it be unless you paid to have an industrial coating applied which is not going to be the case with something small like a razor. What you have to do is sand or polish out the scratches and take the surface down to the finish that you want to see in terms of smoothness before the plating. Plating is like paint in a way, if you paint over a rough or flawed surface, it will highlight the flaws because of the differences in relative thickness. So the plating will "fill" the scratch but will not cover it up. bc

 

[Abdiel]

Plating is extremely thin, so my guess would be no.

Clean it up and try a little polish would be my first step. If it's deep enough that doesn't work I would more up to a very fine grit wet.dry sandpaper.

 

[Gunky]

Can you recommend a polish to use for the scratches? Don't I need to remove the lacquer first as this is a gold plated razor

 

[Oldguy]

I use Maas as a polish but others are available. The expert on the New head is Cooncatbob and he will be able to tell you the exact plating makeup. But this is my experience and idea of the New head.
First if you polish your New head by hand with a soft cloth and a polish like Maas, the lacquer will come off. Under the lacquer is a very thin coat of gold plate. Under the gold plate is what appears to be a coat of copper, not nickel. It will polish up to look nice but will have a slightly different hue then gold. Under the copper is brass. I could be wrong on this but I think this is correct.
The razors made after the New, the Milord for instance, had a very shiny coat of nickel under the gold plate. The gold wore very easily and the nickel would polish very easily. The New head does not react in the same manner.

Len

 

[cooncatbob]

I use Maas as a polish but others are available. The expert on the New head is Cooncatbob and he will be able to tell you the exact plating makeup. But this is my experience and idea of the New head.
First if you polish your New head by hand with a soft cloth and a polish like Maas, the lacquer will come off. Under the lacquer is a very thin coat of gold plate. Under the gold plate is what appears to be a coat of copper, not nickel. It will polish up to look nice but will have a slightly different hue then gold. Under the copper is brass. I could be wrong on this but I think this is correct.
The razors made after the New, the Milord for instance, had a very shiny coat of nickel under the gold plate. The gold wore very easily and the nickel would polish very easily. The New head does not react in the same manner.

Len

Nope your incorrect.
The caps on the older NEWs are copper, the later NEWs are brass..
You need to sand the cap with wet/dry emery paper until all the deep scratches are gone, start with 220 grit, then 320. 400 and finally 600.
You might want to block sand the edges as they're often nicked and dented, this can cause uneven pressure on the blade.
The more work you put into it the better it will look when plated.
I send apx 1/2 per head doing 1/2 dozen heads at a time.
Don't omit cleaning between the teeth, I use needle files to get the hardened orange coating off in between the teeth.

 

[Gunky]

Sanded it, I think I worn through the plating, I hope the blade is even

 

[Oldguy]

Nope your incorrect.
The caps on the older NEWs are copper, the later NEWs are brass..
You need to sand the cap with wet/dry emery paper until all the deep scratches are gone, start with 220 grit, then 320. 400 and finally 600.
You might want to block sand the edges as they're often nicked and dented, this can cause uneven pressure on the blade.
The more work you put into it the better it will look when plated.
I send apx 1/2 per head doing 1/2 dozen heads at a time.
Don't omit cleaning between the teeth, I use needle files to get the hardened orange coating off in between the teeth.

Thank's Bob. My point was that the plating under the gold was not nickel, which you confirmed. While i have a couple New heads which look well worn, I've never brought them down to base metal.

Len

 

[cooncatbob]

Thank's Bob. My point was that the plating under the gold was not nickel, which you confirmed. While i have a couple New heads which look well worn, I've never brought them down to base metal.

Len

The fact that Gillette omitted nickel plating the copper/brass is why the gold isn't bonded as well as it could be.
Nickel acts like a primer/sealer over copper based alloys.
Zinc alloys like the zamak5 that Merkur uses need to be copper plated 1st the nickel then the finish plating.
If zinc is exposed to the nickel solution bad things happen (ask me how I know that)

 

[billc508]

Picture looks pretty good, when you get it sanded down with the 600 grit wet, you can finish it off with some mild abrasive jeweler's rouge if you want. CoonCat Bob (did I spell that right?) had it right, you have to get the surface as smooth as you want it to be, the plating will reflect the surface and no one will spend more time preparing it than you since it's yourself that you want to please. If you follow the procedure that CCBob gave in his post, you will get a good result. I had a NEW replated at the facility I use here in Mass and they stripped the razor and went back with nickel over the brass and gold over that and a lacquer over that to protect against wear, I got a good result and probably better than the original plating job with all due respect to Mr. Gillette. If you want to strip the lacquer, you can soak the razor overnight or a couple of days in acetone, good luck, bc

 

[Gunky]

well im happy with the smoothness now, i also removed some deep scratches along the edges of the cap and i just hope i didn't affect the curving/shape of the cap that it effects the placement and pressure of the blade

 

[cooncatbob]

well im happy with the smoothness now, i also removed some deep scratches along the edges of the cap and i just hope i didn't affect the curving/shape of the cap that it effects the placement and pressure of the blade

Only 1 way to find out.
Load it with a blade and shave with it.

 

[Gunky]

I think you're right....anything I should be on the lookout for when shaving that will indicate incorrect blade position/pressure?

 

[cooncatbob]

I think you're right....anything I should be on the lookout for when shaving that will indicate incorrect blade position/pressure?

Blood.

 

[ctakim]

Nice when you are monitoring an unequivocal endpoint!