Manky Boy restoration!

Ordered a few 'plating' bits that I don't have yet,off the 'Bay this afternoon,I only need a few bits now (about £40-50 worth of chemicals,and buckets),to really go to town on Manky Boy,and his yet to arrive brothers!,so fingers crossed,we should be in line for a Christmas Raffle give-a-way!.I just need to spruce up on my router-ing skills ,so the presentation box matches the quality of the razor! (it has been a while,about 20 years :(,so dont hold your breath on that one guys!).Hopefully,all going well,it will be presented in a nice stained,and varnished,wooden box,purple,or blue,velvet lined,,with the FatBoy having its own custom 'cut out' ,along with 2 razor dispensers at each end....But as I say,my woodwork skills are VERY rusty,so it could be a case of just the razor in a bit of bubble wrap!....lol!.
Never mind,it will be a nice razor regardless by the time I've finished with it!;).
 
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Thanks guys!,I should have the cash for the chemicals at the end of the month,so all going well,the chemistry side of things should be happening at the start of October.....I REALLY want this to be a restoration,above and beyond a basic restoration though!,a Fat Boy restoration,to eclipse all known Fat Boy restorations!,so who ever gets it,WILL get the ultimate restored FB!...Hopefully...Saying that,I may well bugger it up by going to over the top...Wouldnt be the first time....:)
For example,I want the inside of the silo doors to be as shiny as the outsides,I want the blade adjuster plate 'tops' to be as smooth,level,and as well plated as the rest of the razor,along with the underneath of the safety bars,blah,blah,blah.....
 
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barberbob said:
Careful if you are going to plate the inside, those extra micro mm's may mean you can't put it back together
Click to expand...
Well said!,the bits I am talking about are the insides of the silo doors,the upper (visible) part of the baseplate,the top 4 blade risers on the adjuster plate,which are normally quite rough,but I will wet sand them down (sheet of glass,wet and dry style),so I can give them a nice flat smooth coating,the outside edges of the blade risers,which have a fair few microns of space left,but not so much the 'inners' as they are close to the base plate.
Although I said a 'thick' coat,it wont be stupidly thick,as a nickel plating solution (bright or matt) can have a tendency to 'crack' the plating if you go too far, (due to the wetting agents in the mix...Apparently!),but you can do it in stages,to get really good plating adhesion,that is why I shall strip it to the bare brass,to make sure there are no deficiencies in the adhesion...
Just need to level the brass out enough,(but not too much),so as the levelling quality's of the solution can do it's work,and rectify any minor pitting/imperfections that may be left.
I have already wet sanded down one side of the base plate,to remove the really heavy pitting,(on the outer edge),so it will shave as smooth as it will 'hopefully' look!.The other side is not as bad.The 'glide' groove's on the safety bar (if that is what they are called!),are quite rough on one side,so am figuring out how to sort that,without making them disappear altogether.It may come down to sanding them smooth (not totally smooth BTW!),then heating it up with a blow torch,to red hot,and re pressing the grooves back in with a Stanly blade,then re plating that side a little more than the other....See what happens!. The silo doors (outer's) are virtually ready now though.
Now just waiting for the goodies to come through the door,should be ordering the solution chemicals/salts this week or next...Got everything else now though.
 
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I also need to sort out the bottom silo door opening/closing knob...It has loads of heavy pitting on the flat part,and it was a bit wobbly before I knocked it out...
Need to figure out a way of 're-crimping' it,without squashing the rest of handle.....Headache,after headache!.A proper metal work vice,which I dont have,would only squeeze 2 side's,I need a way to compress it all the way round equally...

But all good fun,none the less!.
 
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Dr Terror said:
I also need to sort out the bottom silo door opening/closing knob...It has loads of heavy pitting on the flat part,and it was a bit wobbly before I knocked it out...
Need to figure out a way of 're-crimping' it,without squashing the rest of handle.....Headache,after headache!.A proper metal work vice,which I dont have,would only squeeze 2 side's,I need a way to compress it all the way round equally...
Click to expand...

"There are three methods to fix that; all involve tightening the crimp to take up knob play.

The simplest method uses the backside of a butter knife to engage the crimp groove and "roll" the razor (with the head hanging off the edge of a countertop) while pressing down. This will push the crimp groove deeper into the knob recess and take up excess play. A rag is used between the razor and knife back to protect the finish.

The next method uses a piece of solid copper wire (12ga) wrapped into the groove and further tightened by using a worm-style hose clamp to provide the pressure. I have not had the opportunity to try this method yet, but will the next time I have a razor that needs it.

The third method is a bit of a high-tech solution to a low-tech problem. One modifies a tubing cutter by replacing the cutting wheel with a steel flat washer. Engaging the groove with the washer, one operates the cutter as if the handle tube were to be cut. In theory, since the washer has no edge, the handle tube doesn't get cut with the resulting pressure re-forming the crimp."


http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/318008-Loose-TTO-knob-on-Gillette-slim
 
Bogeyman said:
"There are three methods to fix that; all involve tightening the crimp to take up knob play.

The simplest method uses the backside of a butter knife to engage the crimp groove and "roll" the razor (with the head hanging off the edge of a countertop) while pressing down. This will push the crimp groove deeper into the knob recess and take up excess play. A rag is used between the razor and knife back to protect the finish.

The next method uses a piece of solid copper wire (12ga) wrapped into the groove and further tightened by using a worm-style hose clamp to provide the pressure. I have not had the opportunity to try this method yet, but will the next time I have a razor that needs it.

The third method is a bit of a high-tech solution to a low-tech problem. One modifies a tubing cutter by replacing the cutting wheel with a steel flat washer. Engaging the groove with the washer, one operates the cutter as if the handle tube were to be cut. In theory, since the washer has no edge, the handle tube doesn't get cut with the resulting pressure re-forming the crimp."


http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/318008-Loose-TTO-knob-on-Gillette-slim
Click to expand...
Grabbed a mini tubing cutter of the 'Bay this morning,funny enough,I was thinking about adapting one of those,before you put me on to the B&B thread!.I got the Nickel anodes in this morning,along with the Titanium wire to hang them off....(and 100 Sputnik blades,but that's for a different thread) Also managed to clear out the outside out house (a massive achievement....LOL!),so now I can do everything indoors!,the out house was once an outside bathroom,so we have running water,and a toilet!.Mrs DT is whining that now I have somewhere to 'hide' (work) and she will never see me....Oh well,she's a good old gal,so she'll live...
I have loads of Copper wire,thanks to having 100's of metre's of TV Ariel coax laying around (another hobby!) .So that will save a few £'s!.
Managed to squeeze the grinder/polisher,B&D workmate into the outhouse too.I have come up with an idea,that will turn a normal 650 watt cheapo drill,into a variable speed bench polisher,so that would be better than the 3000rpm bench grinder conversion too! (it has a tendency to cause 'compound burn' because is spins so fast,so a slower RPM would work wonders) everything is all going rather well ATM!.
Next job is to install a 125mm inline industrial extractor I have lying around (dont ask!,I have 2 of them!).Ill do that tomorrow,so then I have no worries about any fumes that the stripping/plating gives off,as the 'pipes' will be directly over the stripping/plating containers...All good fun!.
 
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I'm beginning to get a vague idea that you are one stubborn mule, Dr. T! I had never considered it but you are another reason why I buy new, stainless razors! This project needs to turn into a money-maker!
 
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