DE Razor Replating

@jaycee-uk
Having followed your welcome thread I am so pleased to see you running with this.
I especially like your "Restoration Queue" - a wise thing for it would be so very easy to be inundated.

A couple of thoughts...
A "Completed Queue" page with order number / receipt of razor / Estimated Completion Date and Completion Date would be fantastic by way of setting expectations. By stating that this is a hobby / side business (plus summat like "real life may intrude"), the comparison between Estimation and Actual ceases to be a crazy / brave thing, instead it's a radical way instilling confidence and a sense of expectation - you can note the cause of the delta if you wish ("baby had colic", "pitting worse than expected" or even the golden "I was unhappy with the result first time").

Cracked Handles ('nuff said)...
 
@tomj777

Thanks Tom,

The main reason I am so paranoid about tracking is because I'm the most impatient customer in the world! Visibility of an order - and as you say the expectation before is critical.

My expectation is to be able to turn my first orders around sooner than I quote, but I think a 2 week turnaround is pretty fair and gives me a little wiggle room in case anything crops up - either a real hard job or just life and I need a few days rest ! Once I've completed my first orders I plan to have the page you wisely suggest with info To set expectation of current times - the last 10 orders showing the ETA turnaround and actual turnaround times. It will really give people some confidence. I never order a single thing unless I know when I'm getting it!

Similarly I'm hoping to have a "Hall of Fame" to show before and after pictures. It will be entirely optional as it is down to each customer to decide, however I will be offering a reward for agreeing to opt in - a cool 3D printed blade disposal safe and free blades shipped with your razor on return.

In terms of the communication on the first order I've already got in the workshop, it's a very detailed job so chats with my customer are literally daily to ensure I keep him up to speed with every step of the work! I would love to post things on here about some of the amazing enquiries I've had and the jobs I've been so kindly offered, but these aren't my razors to show so hopefully the owners will tell all themselves !

Best wishes,

Jay :)

www.razorplating.co.uk
 
Hi guys ..... Just to let you know that the 4 workshop slots are now full !

Thankyou to each and every one of you for your support, words of encouragement and of course to the four new customers!

The slots are currently filled with:

1) Cobra Classic - an incredible custom makeover!
2) Gillette Slim Adjustable in Nickel
3) Gillette Nickel Case and Blade Holder
4) Gillette Aristocrat in Rhodium

As soon as the next slot is free I will open the store for anyone that needs any restoration ! The website is still available for browsing and sending enquiries, but you will not be able to purchase anything until a slot is free.

Best wishes and once again many thanks,

Jay

www.razorplating.co.uk
 
UKRob said:
Jay - I'm intrigued by the Cobra makeover - are you able to give details and photos?
Click to expand...
That's my Cobra Jay is working on. The amount of work he's doing is phenomenal. If it turns out like I am imagining then it will be something very special. Bit of a Marmite, love it or hate it look though.
I know Jay is taking photo's of the transformation along the way so he may want to do a big reveal once complete ? His communication on every stage of the work is exceptional.

A bit of background, I obtained the Cobra near the original production run and suspect it may have been a prototype version, the plating and finishing was, quite frankly, shocking. However after more research found this to be the case on most production Cobras so now don't know.
I gave Jay a big challenge with the poor condition and also granted freedom to do what he liked so it will be a real showcase of his talents.
 
Purbeck said:
That's my Cobra Jay is working on. The amount of work he's doing is phenomenal. If it turns out like I am imagining then it will be something very special. Bit of a Marmite, love it or hate it look though.
I know Jay is taking photo's of the transformation along the way so he may want to do a big reveal once complete ? His communication on every stage of the work is exceptional.

A bit of background, I obtained the Cobra near the original production run and suspect it may have been a prototype version, the plating and finishing was, quite frankly, shocking. However after more research found this to be the case on most production Cobras so now don't know.
I gave Jay a big challenge with the poor condition and also granted freedom to do what he liked so it will be a real showcase of his talents.
Click to expand...
The finish on mine is excellent - my issues were with the blade holder - I have to use my finger nail to make sure the blade is not sitting on top of the stops.
 
UKRob said:
The finish on mine is excellent - my issues were with the blade holder - I have to use my finger nail to make sure the blade is not sitting on top of the stops.
Click to expand...
Functionally mine was fine, cosmetically however looked like it had been kicked around a workshop floor. Jay advised that the Nickel plating is very, very thick - this may be your issue with alignment if it's uneven on the blade holder lugs.
 
jaycee-uk said:
@tomj777

Thanks Tom,

The main reason I am so paranoid about tracking is because I'm the most impatient customer in the world! Visibility of an order - and as you say the expectation before is critical.

My expectation is to be able to turn my first orders around sooner than I quote, but I think a 2 week turnaround is pretty fair and gives me a little wiggle room in case anything crops up - either a real hard job or just life and I need a few days rest ! Once I've completed my first orders I plan to have the page you wisely suggest with info To set expectation of current times - the last 10 orders showing the ETA turnaround and actual turnaround times. It will really give people some confidence. I never order a single thing unless I know when I'm getting it!

Similarly I'm hoping to have a "Hall of Fame" to show before and after pictures. It will be entirely optional as it is down to each customer to decide, however I will be offering a reward for agreeing to opt in - a cool 3D printed blade disposal safe and free blades shipped with your razor on return.

In terms of the communication on the first order I've already got in the workshop, it's a very detailed job so chats with my customer are literally daily to ensure I keep him up to speed with every step of the work! I would love to post things on here about some of the amazing enquiries I've had and the jobs I've been so kindly offered, but these aren't my razors to show so hopefully the owners will tell all themselves !

Best wishes,

Jay :)

www.razorplating.co.uk
Click to expand...

Jay,
If this turns out even half as good as you intend you'll have the best restoration site on the web and be beating off customers with sticks! Two weeks turnaround time seems more than fair to me and frankly, if your customers are anything like me you'll find they'll be happy for you to take the time you need to deliver a quality job.

I wish you the best of good luck with your venture.

Regards,
Chris
 
chrisbd said:
Jay,
If this turns out even half as good as you intend you'll have the best restoration site on the web and be beating off customers with sticks! Two weeks turnaround time seems more than fair to me and frankly, if your customers are anything like me you'll find they'll be happy for you to take the time you need to deliver a quality job.

I wish you the best of good luck with your venture.

Regards,
Chris
Click to expand...
Thanks Chris,

Honestly I'm just so happy to have found this forum and grateful to the kind people that run it as it's the nicest place to hang out and full of gentlemen not trolls !

Best wishes,

Jay

www.razorplating.co.uk

Ps can't wait to get stuck in tomorrow !!!
 
Hi Guys,

I just wanted to gauge your opinion on something .....

I'm currently restoring a beautiful Popular 47 case in nickel. Although only originally intending on plating the case, on inspection inside, it just wouldn't be right to send the kind owner that is letting me restore this treasure the case back with the outside looking like new, but with the inside still looking so tired. I also needed to remove all of the lining to clean and plate inside and to be able to remove and plate the internal integrated blade holder.

I decided to hunt in the shops and fabric warehouses to try and find a match for the purple velveteen/velvet that Gillette used for the lower part of the lining and the perimeter of the top. I am staggered to say that I have actually found what appears to be the exact match in terms of fabric AND the exact original Gillette purple colour. So I am in the process of restoring the inside of the case as an extra bonus for the owner.

The top section that has the logo, isn't as bad as the velvet lower section, but the backing was damaged and very dirty. Obviously the logo section needs to be retained, so I managed to strip it from the rotten backing using a scalpel and have cleaned it using gentle cleaners and cotton ear buds ! I've now remounted the fabric on new backing material and padding.

The top logo section looks a lot better - at least it won't look shabby when it's paired with it's new purple velvet!

It got me thinking though. If it was at all possible, I would have loved to have been able to replace the top logo section too, as it will be the only thing on the case that will look anything other than brand new. It still has (less) some marks from the razor and some damage it has picked up over the years. The issue though is the logo. Just for a laugh I scanned the original fabric with the logo and then recreated the logo electronically. The only question would be how to get it onto the fabric. I also managed to find a match for the satin fabric used on the logo section too, and bought some because I wanted to play with logos etc over the next few weeks.

So .... the big question, I've found out how the original logo was applied to the fabric, I have the fabric and I also can do the logos. I am literally sitting with my finger on the button to buy the equipment (a lot) to be able to recreate the original logos on the matching original fabric, but don't know whether there would actually be interest in it?

It would mean I would be able to completely replace the insides of cases (as well as restoring the outsides) with exact copies of the original fabric (upper and lower) with the original logos.

I am so tempted to go for it, just because it would be incredible to be able to finish cases to that level of detail, but don't know if I should. It's a lot of toys to buy it would be one hell of a lovely thing to be able to do!

Let me know if anyone thinks it would be a good thing to offer.

Have a fabulous rest of the bank holiday !

Jay

www.razorplating.co.uk
 
Jay,
For a relative newbie you've got up to speed remarkably quickly. That fabric match looks ideal.

Regarding the logos, I know PlanOfMan recently posted that he was working on that very problem with a friend in the US. I'm sure there would be a demand for that service both here and in the US but it depends how committed you want to become, or how many projects you want to take on, before spending what's bound to be a hefty outlay. This started out as a hobby, don't forget.

Regards,
Chris
 
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