I am so disappointed to hear this did not turn out well. Unfortunately, I had the exact same experience TODAY. The wire twisting method worked for a hair line fracture on Luc's Bostonian. But as E reports above, it does not generate enough pressure to get a tight seal for a crack the length of the barrel. Clamps and vises were required. But because the surface area to bond is so minimal, there just is not enough purchase for it to hold over time. I photographed the clamp set up and will post it when I can get it together. Initially, everything held beautifully, even after I eased the head in, which required sanding out the residual dried epoxy, and a new thin coating of fresh epoxy. At this point there was quite a bit of resistance and I did not want to force it. I used a gob of vaseline and this was successful. Everything was in place, blade tightened down nicely and the seam was holding. During the test run shave this morning, no loud pop, but the seam opened up. A big disappointment. But the shave was fabulous. So it goes. I thought I would photograph the successfully bonded razor tonight. I was very proud. Not to be. No photo of the once repaired Big Fellow.
Cracked 1920 Bulldog
- Thread starter erudolph
- Start date
Has anyone thought of or tried applying additional adhesive to the inside of the barrel, clamping, then laying in some form of reinforcing material on the inside of the barrel? Like a strip of thin fiberglass or something to provide support to the barrel.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Here's photos of the clamping. Maybe Rockrat's got the right idea, some way to increase the surface area to be bonded.
Wow, talk about major surgery! I am sorry that the patient still died!
Would it be possible to insert a sleeve into the handle, glue it and clamp the handle around the sleeve?
Sounds like another good idea. You would probably have to roughen up the inside of the barrel and the outside of the sleeve to get the epoxy to bind properly to both parts.
I still wonder if a good Jeweler would be able to properly silver solider a split, so that it would be almost invisible. The problem with theses handles is that they have either a knurled or spiral finish that would make the soldiered repair pretty obvious without a lot of hand finishing. The labor cost would probably be as much as finding an example without a crack.
Steve
Mmm, all those tools... It should get the Bostonian back on track!
There's not much room in that barrel as the shaft once replaced occupies most of the interior. I had to sand the little bits of excess dried glue to make the shaft slide in smoothly.
Luc, "Mmm, all those tools... It should get the Bostonian back on track!"
That Bostonian of yours was such a success story it made me over confident for this little monster. The fundamental integrity of Luc's Bostonian, a hairl line fracture at the neck, was intact. The Big Fellow's barrel has a will of its own, and plenty of muscle. It still shaves great and I wish I knew a way to save it. But alas, my motivation is sapped and I'm resolved to getting used to it in its injured state. I think that's a good thing in a way.
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi, i'm new to the forums.
I stumbled upon this thread and it seemed a shame that it didn't come to a better conclusion.
When someone mentioned silver soldering, I thought about maybe soldering from the inside of the crack. Would this be possible?
Maybe tighten the barrel down with the solder laid along the inside edge of the crack and braze from the inside somehow. The solder could wick into the crack and the joint would be hidden inside the barrel. It'd probably need sanding to fit together ok. Just a thought.
I stumbled upon this thread and it seemed a shame that it didn't come to a better conclusion.
When someone mentioned silver soldering, I thought about maybe soldering from the inside of the crack. Would this be possible?
Maybe tighten the barrel down with the solder laid along the inside edge of the crack and braze from the inside somehow. The solder could wick into the crack and the joint would be hidden inside the barrel. It'd probably need sanding to fit together ok. Just a thought.
If nothing else, I have an idea to help hold it cylindrically while it's repaired.
Hose clamps. Get one just oversize, and simply slowly tighten it down. Considering they don't deform a rubber hose, they shouldn't deform a metal tube.
