Stahly, possible to dismantle?

Hi there everyone,

Having recently acquired SAD (Shaving Acquisition Disorder) and since this looks like acquisition central I am forced to post my first item

So I bought this Stahly, which works, but it seems to slow down and speed up at times (even when fully wound) so it sounds like it needs some oiling internally or something. I can see no way to dismantle it easily and I read that it's supposed to be 'factory sealed in oil bath' so maybe there is some other problem. I can hear the spring catching on itself I think as there are periodic 'sproings' as it's going which coincide with it slowing etc.

I believe its one of the later models (in the square black case) and otherwise it's in excellent condition, in my noob opinion.

Can anybody help?

Thanks

Someone here had one that didn't work, and he tried disassembly. He only got to a certain point, and found that due to manufacturing, he couldn't take it apart completely, so he put it back together, oddly enough, it worked when he was done.

I'll see if I can find the thread and post a link to it here. Till then, here is Asylum Guidos incredible Stahly Report.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=74002

Ok - Here is the disassembly thread;

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=47963

All I know is that I have talked to old antique mall guys who claimed to have fixed/refurbed them in the past. No verification though.

Where I am, many antique malls have stalls for old dudes that are retired jewelers/watch repair guys. Most of them love a challenge. Roll in there early some Saturday morning with the thing in your pocket and start a conversation. See where it goes.

At the very least they may know how to open the thing, or conversely, tell you for sure that it is not supposed to be opened.

that was quick. I should add that I did try several searches and found some references to them being dismantled but now actual instructions or if it worked or not. if you can find some that would be good.

theperfectstorm said:

Where I am, many antique malls have stalls for old dudes that are retired jewelers/watch repair guys. Most of them love a challenge. Roll in there early some Saturday morning with the thing in your pocket and start a conversation. See where it goes.

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Sorry I am in Australia, so doubtful anybody has ever seen one and I've never seen an antique mall where i live but I could try a watch repairer somewhere in the city if I find one.

Having had great success dismantling anything else I come across, I tried to swap the spring from one with a broken cog with one that had everything else working but a broken spring. I don't recommend it. It sits there still, waiting for me to figure out how to wind that spring back up and put it back in, because it must be VERY VERY VERY tightly wound to get the diameter down to size. You'll put your eye out kid.
There is a cap on my model that is down at the end. That big bulbous thing. Couldn't even see where the two pieces of metal join. It screws off by turning it in the opposite direction of winding. That alone is hard to do without damaging the finish.
Taking a Stahly apart is playing with fire. Be happy that it works at all.

amishmotorboat said:

Taking a Stahly apart is playing with fire. Be happy that it works at all.

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I'll take your advice. Since I paid way to much for it as it was my first ever purchase and is likely more a novelty item I'll leave it alone then. I do like to dismantle things that aren't working properly but admit I'm not so good on the re-assembly, thanks,

I know I read that they are sealed and "lubricated for life", but as we all know, grease gets old and eventually gummy. I just acquired a Stahly and it "throbs"(the best way to describe it) after you wind it. The more cycles I put it through, the faster it seems to vibrate and wind down, but it's still not all the way. Is there a way to get oil inside it? I have Tri-flow, which not only has Teflon in it, but I have found it will thin out older grease. But I can't figure out where to try to get it inside. Anyone have any suggestions? I think I will start giving it X many turns and timing how long it takes to stop vibrating to see if what I am doing is effective.

Take the head off your Stahly and put it on a normal size handle.
This is one of the most finely crafted heads ever put on a 3 piece razor but it's over shadowed by the monstrous handle.
It's my favorite safety bar razor head.

cooncatbob said:

Take the head off your Stahly and put it on a normal size handle.
This is one of the most finely crafted heads ever put on a 3 piece razor but it's over shadowed by the monstrous handle.
It's my favorite safety bar razor head.

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I saw that in one of the other threads, but I hate seeing something go to waste, and it works, it just needs some TLC. Besides, the base would look so lonely and unloved sitting in it's box w/no head.

Radar O\'Reilly said:

I saw that in one of the other threads, but I hate seeing something go to waste, and it works, it just needs some TLC. Besides, the base would look so lonely and unloved sitting in it's box w/no head.

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I actually believe it's better to put this great razor head to it's intended use.
In reality the handle is a novelty and kinda of a joke, the barrel is 3/4 of an inch in diameter and the knob is 1 1/8 and it weighs a whopping 139 grams not counting the head.
This finely crafted head is much better served by using it with any other handle.

cooncatbob said:

Take the head off your Stahly and put it on a normal size handle.
This is one of the most finely crafted heads ever put on a 3 piece razor but it's over shadowed by the monstrous handle.

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Hey that's pretty nice actually . Still I have shaved with the razor as designed, I find it quite amusing and the massive vibrating head is so ridiculous it's funny and is the whole point owning the razor, IMO.

Although...now i've seen that, if I did happen to come across a broken one, well that's a whole other idea. Thanks

Well, since I don't want to convert the working razor I bought into a three piece, I'm going to try putting it in a cylinder with sewing machine oil and Tri-flow past the seam and hope that liquid will find a way to seek it's level, and help rejuvenate the lubricant already used in the razor.

OK, in searching, I realized I could unscrew the section with the main spring, and using a pair of grip gloves, managed to open it. I lubed it up, but even after days of being in a tube with oil I was getting the same throbbing action. I read that some people put theirs in the oven wrapped up to loosen the lube inside the razors, and that got me thinking. I placed the razor in the pill bottle with oil halfway up the barrel in a tub of water heated in my microwave. I figured this would heat the razor slowly, and "wet" so there wouldn't be a thermal shock. Much to my surprise, after being in the bath for a few minutes, bubbles started to appear floating to the surface. I pulled the bottle out and saw the bubbles not appearing from the seam at the bottom, but from where the ridges end and meet the bottom section. As far as I can tell, the temp raising caused the air inside to expand and push past the seal. This is good because as it cools, a vacuum should form and suck the sewing machine/Tri-flow oil into the mechanism and dilute the hard lubricant, and mix with the teflon and light oil mix. After this cools, I will see if the vibration is better.

Radar O\'Reilly said:

This is good because as it cools, a vacuum should form and suck the sewing machine/Tri-flow oil into the mechanism and dilute the hard lubricant, and mix with the teflon and light oil mix.

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I am always amazed at the ingenious methods employed by members here.

amishmotorboat said:

I am always amazed at the ingenious methods employed by members here.

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To be honest, I've used Tri-flow for many things for over a decade, and discovered what it will do to loosen/cut old gunky dried out grease when I got my first 60+ year old Singer sewing machine. That's also where I learned about sewing machine oil. I love my Singer almost as much as my razors.

Radar O\'Reilly said:

After this cools, I will see if the vibration is better.

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What an excellent idea , please keep us posted. At least I don't see how that could possibly damage it. I have all the equipment at hand even a noice new container of sewing machine oil.

ghostknife said:

What an excellent idea , please keep us posted. At least I don't see how that could possibly damage it. I have all the equipment at hand even a noice new container of sewing machine oil.

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OK, I have done four full warm/hot oil cycles. The last two were with the bottom off so that the top seam under the head would be submerged.

At first, winding resulted in NO movement. I got scared, but as soon as I turned it upside down, it started right up. I have been turning it to keep it running for like 5 minutes straight, and it seems to really be mellowing out and shaking well. There is a still a SLIGHT stutter, but it seems to be evening out more and more. It's 100% better than when I got it though. I still can't figure out why it spins better when it's upside down, but on the plus side, that's how I hold it for an ATG pass!

I had one that did something very similar. Not so much a stutter though, as a click. It worked better upside down too. Perhaps I was low on oil.

amishmotorboat said:

I had one that did something very similar. Not so much a stutter though, as a click. It worked better upside down too. Perhaps I was low on oil.

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That's something else I wanted to ask. If any one has a "perfectly working" Stahly, how would you describe the vibrations? Constant, steady vibration? Or like many clockwork mechanisms, a little bit of a lull in vibration as the mechanism moves.