- Joined
- Tuesday February 2, 2016
Hi
I recently picked up a 1920's old type and as is apparently pretty common there were a couple of cracks in the handle.
I found a post on B&B about repairing them so thought I'd give it a go and post my results
Here's what I used:
8mm Brass Tube
Needle files
Jewellers saw
Epoxy resin
Sharpie
Pegs
In the end the pegs were supplemented by a G-clamp and I had to get a better file too.
I tried to get a couple of shots of the cracks before hand:
This is the worst one, at the top of the handle. Can kinda see it, it's a lovely picture of the knurling though
This is the one at the bottom. It's smaller than the one at the top by a little bit.
At this point the batteries on my DSLR died so the rest of the photos are taken with my phone.
The first step was to give everything a good clean, and let it dry.
Then I filed down the two parts that get inserted into the handle. I wanted them to fit without pushing against the handle and forcing the crack open. This is where I had to go and get a proper file from my tool kit as the needle file wasn't up to the job.
Then I put the ball end into the handle, and marked the brass tube to length:
Before subtracting the length of the insert part of the top collar:
I then cut the tube to length and dry fit everything to make sure it all fit together properly.
Here is a terrible photo to try and show how closely the 8mm tube fits inside the handle:
I gave the inside of the handle a quick going over with the needle file to try and rough the surface up and give the glue more purchase.
I should probably have tried to do the same on the outside of the brass tube but I forgot.
Then part of the ball end that inserts into the handle was covered in epoxy and fitted into the bottom of the handle. I wiped off the excess epoxy that came back out.
I covered the brass tube in epoxy and pushed it into the handle, then covered the part of the collar that inserts into the handle and pushed that in too.
I wiped off all the excess epoxy (if you have young kids then baby wipes are great for this!) and then used a clothes peg to try and squeeze the crack in the handle shut.
I realised this wasn't really working, so ran down to my tool kit again and got a G-clamp. I clamped this on the outside of the peg and tightened.
The peg gave me a nice flat surface to clamp on without the risk of damaging the handle.
I tried to tighten it enough so that the crack was closed up, but not so much that I deformed the handle.
The epoxy I was using is pretty quick drying so I left it a few hours before taking the clamp off.
Some shots from after.
Top:
Bottom:
The bottom on is hardly visible at all now .
I weighed the razor before and after and the weight only increased by 3g so it feels pretty much the same too.
It occurs to me now, that I probably could have gotten away with just gluing the end caps in place without the extra brass tube. The cracks weren't that big that I needed the extra support.
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and can't wait to shave with it tomorrow.
There are a few little dents and dings on the head of the razor that I might try and file out at some point as well but I can live with them for now.
I recently picked up a 1920's old type and as is apparently pretty common there were a couple of cracks in the handle.
I found a post on B&B about repairing them so thought I'd give it a go and post my results
Here's what I used:
8mm Brass Tube
Needle files
Jewellers saw
Epoxy resin
Sharpie
Pegs
In the end the pegs were supplemented by a G-clamp and I had to get a better file too.
I tried to get a couple of shots of the cracks before hand:
This is the worst one, at the top of the handle. Can kinda see it, it's a lovely picture of the knurling though
This is the one at the bottom. It's smaller than the one at the top by a little bit.
At this point the batteries on my DSLR died so the rest of the photos are taken with my phone.
The first step was to give everything a good clean, and let it dry.
Then I filed down the two parts that get inserted into the handle. I wanted them to fit without pushing against the handle and forcing the crack open. This is where I had to go and get a proper file from my tool kit as the needle file wasn't up to the job.
Then I put the ball end into the handle, and marked the brass tube to length:
Before subtracting the length of the insert part of the top collar:
I then cut the tube to length and dry fit everything to make sure it all fit together properly.
Here is a terrible photo to try and show how closely the 8mm tube fits inside the handle:
I gave the inside of the handle a quick going over with the needle file to try and rough the surface up and give the glue more purchase.
I should probably have tried to do the same on the outside of the brass tube but I forgot.
Then part of the ball end that inserts into the handle was covered in epoxy and fitted into the bottom of the handle. I wiped off the excess epoxy that came back out.
I covered the brass tube in epoxy and pushed it into the handle, then covered the part of the collar that inserts into the handle and pushed that in too.
I wiped off all the excess epoxy (if you have young kids then baby wipes are great for this!) and then used a clothes peg to try and squeeze the crack in the handle shut.
I realised this wasn't really working, so ran down to my tool kit again and got a G-clamp. I clamped this on the outside of the peg and tightened.
The peg gave me a nice flat surface to clamp on without the risk of damaging the handle.
I tried to tighten it enough so that the crack was closed up, but not so much that I deformed the handle.
The epoxy I was using is pretty quick drying so I left it a few hours before taking the clamp off.
Some shots from after.
Top:
Bottom:
The bottom on is hardly visible at all now .
I weighed the razor before and after and the weight only increased by 3g so it feels pretty much the same too.
It occurs to me now, that I probably could have gotten away with just gluing the end caps in place without the extra brass tube. The cracks weren't that big that I needed the extra support.
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and can't wait to shave with it tomorrow.
There are a few little dents and dings on the head of the razor that I might try and file out at some point as well but I can live with them for now.
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