The Dangers Of Re-Plated Razors

[squirrel_nut_zipper]

My feelings about re-plating a razor is that it’s okay if it is for one’s own personal use -- it’s your razor, and you can do what you want with it. But, with all of this re-plating going on, it was only a matter of time before some bad things started to happen. If the person who bought this razor belongs to this forum, then I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but you got ripped off. This President was advertised as a 1953 variant with the smooth band on the bottom, and I know they exist because I have seen pictures posted of them before, but, if it’s from 1953, it should have a “Y” date code on it. This razor appears to be a re-plated Aristocrat from the late 40’s as it has no date code.

This is a bad time for unknowledgeable people to collect razors.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gillette-PRESIDENT-ONE-PIECE-SAFETY-RAZOR-circa-1953-/170538342278?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b4e09786

[alex2363]

looks pretty bad for replate

[DunEdinRanger]

Just this one line would have made leery,

"This has been confirmed by some experts in these kind of razors."

Wonder what some other experts may have said?

[GentsInstinct]

I said in another thread probably a month ago now that people should avoid this seller. He's lied to me and said his razors aren't replated then later on he's told me he has a jeweler there in India replate his razors.. and many of them have been horrible replating jobs. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

[Loric]

Thanks for the heads up. It is a shame this kind of stuff goes on.

[mdevine]

I remember seeing this one and the alarm bells going off. I hope that if someone here bought it, they had some idea what they were getting. I also hope that they are appropriately harsh with their feedback. If this is indeed a replated Aristocrat, then this doesn't appear to be a case of an honest mistake by the seller.

[mdevine]

There is another "President" listed on ebay now that also lacks knurling above the TTO knob (that I thought all Presidents have). Maybe there are Presidents made this way but I was concerned that this one may also be a replated Aristocrat.

[cernel_joson]

Looking over some of his other sales, all of them appeared to be very bad replates. You can tell by the fading of the knurling on the handles, as if metal has filled in the grooves. I have no doubt that that 'President' is a replated Aristocrat. Not only that, but it appears to have been dropped on its head since an endcap is clearly bent.

Caveat emptor, especially on Ebay.

Edit: Yeah, I've been keeping track of the other President. That has a Y2 date code, which is the correct year for those rare Presidents.

[dpm802]

There's nothing wrong with replating a razor, as long as that is disclosed at the time of sale. Its like a fresh coat of paint on a house that's on the market. Or, as some people like to say "Let's put some lipstick on this pig."

And of course, the razor should be properly identified as to make, model and date-code. But we see a lot of cases of mistaken identity, not only on eBay, but even here in the BST.

[Blue-EyedSon]

I seem to recall that this e-bay seller is a member here (or was a member at one time). But I can't seem to recall the person's user name. Does anybody else have a similar recollection?

[Blue58]

it was very difficult to see but it didn't look like there were any notches which would make that about a 46 - 47 Aristocrat. :confused1

[maxman]

This is bound to happen now that old DE's have become a hot collectible.
Online auctions are truly buyer beware type places.

It's a good thing we have the BST.

[Topgumby]

Whew! I thought that there was some health or safety issue when I read the thread title.

I'm agin misrepresentation of razors, of course, but somewhere down the line I intend to get a handful of NEWS and a couple Techs re-plated. I wouldn't be averse to marking them...but I really doubt that's needed.

Right now they are just languishing, cast-offs from lot buys for the most part. If they get a facelift and are made attractive again, they'd make great shavers, and I think the pleasure they could give in this role would outweigh any potential damage to a future collector, or bargain hunter.

[Gray Wolf]

looks pretty bad for replate

I agree. If that is a replated razor, it's pretty ugly.

[Mr. Scruffy]

Whew! I thought that there was some health or safety issue when I read the thread title.

I'm agin misrepresentation of razors, of course, but somewhere down the line I intend to get a handful of NEWS and a couple Techs re-plated. I wouldn't be averse to marking them...but I really doubt that's needed.

Right now they are just languishing, cast-offs from lot buys for the most part. If they get a facelift and are made attractive again, they'd make great shavers, and I think the pleasure they could give in this role would outweigh any potential damage to a future collector, or bargain hunter.

I'm really enjoying the re-plated NEW head and Bull Mastiff handle I got from cooncatbob.

[poonjaji]

There is a post regarding the variant on another forum (http://damnfineshave.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1093), and the poster hypothesizes Gillette was using up old Aristocrat handles when they made these particular razors. Was anyone there when these Presidents were made to know with certainty that Gillette did not also reuse heads from that old stock? :confused1 It seems possible that this razor is original...and I would certainly expect it to look better if it was replated.

[Oldguy]

There is a post regarding the variant on another forum (http://damnfineshave.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1093), and the poster hypothesizes Gillette was using up old Aristocrat handles when they made these particular razors. Was anyone there when these Presidents were made to know with certainty that Gillette did not also reuse heads from that old stock? :confused1 It seems possible that this razor is original...and I would certainly expect it to look better if it was replated.

The problem with re-plating is it requires immaculate preparation before plating. If the care is not put into it the result will be surfaces with bumps, scratches and holes which the plating can't hid. That's exactly what we see here.

Len

[cooncatbob]

Replating is just like painting a house, most of the work is in the prep.
Before I send off a NEW head to be nickel plated I first clean them with oven cleaner, strip what's left of the gold wash with a dremel wire wheel, then go at it with grey scotch-brite pads, 320-600 w/d emery paper, micro-mesh pads, then buff with Tripoli and followed by another through cleaning.
Even with all this extensive work I'm unable to remove every mark from the soft copper and brass caps.

[dmm26]

I bought a razor off this guy over a month ago and it's still not here! I only found out that the razor was replated after I bought it! I guess it was my fault for not asking up front. Needless to say I was pretty chocked to find out it was replated and I'll never make that mistake again.

[whydert]

Thanks, good to know and beware.