Fixing Cracked Handle Old Type Ball Handle

Well, I got my OC in from the 'bay and it appears the seller did a fine job not showing the big crack at the top or the small crack at the bottom.

Regardless, my initial clean up efforts are going well and I'm planning keeping it anyway. For the reasonably insignificant price I paid, I figure it's worth it.
The top threaded part came out of the handle with very little effort. (I don't know the technical name for the part I just described.)

What I'm thinking of doing is to put a healthy amount of epoxy into the handle, seat the threaded cap portion, and maybe clamp the handle with a small c-clamp I have with the clamps 90 degrees off from the crack. Hopefully this will close the crack down slightly. I figure the epoxy and the seated threaded cap section will "set" the crack so it doesn't get bigger. The epoxy itself will keep the cap in place.

Any suggestions for a different or better way?

FWIW, I figure I'll end up ordering a brass handle from Bob's Razor Works eventually. I'm looking for a reasonably secure fix long enough for me to participate in OC March with this thing. If my repair doesn't work well, I have already tried putting my Tech Ball-handle on it and it fits fine so I've got that as a fall-back, short-term method to shave with it.

Last question on cleaning an open comb: between the teeth there remains verdigris. I'm letting it soak overnight in soapy water and will hit them again with the toothbrush. Everything else has cleaned up pretty well with Scrubbing Bubbles, boiling water with soap, and scrubbing with toothbrush so far. Any suggestions for cleaning well between the teeth?

I have been thinking about this. The crack seems to be very common, so I'm sure to get one. I was thinking that if you took a wooden or plastic or metal rod, depending on how heavy you want it, the same diameter as the inside of the handle, or a little smaller. Made sure it has a good coat of epoxy on it, push it in, put the end caps on, and use a few pipe clamps to tighten the handle. This should close the crack, and instead of just the small amount at the crack it would give you a much larger surface area to adhere to. I've never done it, but when I get one, this is my current plan. If it won't work, someone tell me so I can work on plan B.
Johnnie

Epoxy and lead or bb's.

I have a handle someone ran copper tubing over the outside and stabilized it. Epoxy is messy- go slow.

Add weight while you're at it.

Or buy a new handle.

Moondancer said:

Any suggestions for cleaning well between the teeth?

Click to expand...

Flitz or Maas metal polish and a toothbrush.

Dont forget to clean the crack. I would use acetone or brake cleaner on a q-tip. I also would stay away from the fast cures or 5 minute epoxy. I think J-B weld would work great you will just need to to a real good clean up. I would use masking tape to cover other areas as well. I have some marine grade G-flex that works real well. If your willing to spend the money it also cleans up with vinegar. I would also use a spring a loaded plastic clamp they look like a large clothes line hanger.

Jason

24 hour update.
After a hit with Scrubbing Bubbles and a toothbrush initially followed by a soak in soap and boiling water and again hitting with a toothbursh, it began cleaning up nicely.
Some brass & copper polish took off some more of the verdigris on the handle and the bottom side of the cap. Another hit with boiling water and soap followed by more scrubbing was next. This was the point that the threaded cap came out of the cracked handle and my post.

I let all the parts soak in water overnight. I also spent a while last night googling how to remove verdigris as I was having little-to-no success getting the verdigris out from between the teeth. Three methods were recommended: white vinegar, catsup, or lemon juice. I opted for the vinegar method.

I proceeded to soak the toothed head in 100% white vinegar for 15 minutes. (After ruining the plating on a Y4 Superspeed by soaking too long in bleach, I resolved not to let anything soak for too long, even though I knew I was dealing with unplated metal here.) A scrub with the toothbrush removed a significant portion of the verdigris, but not enough. I submerged the head for 30 minutes this time. More scrubbing followed. Most of the verdigris disappeared this time. Another 45 minutes soak, another scrub. Only two teeth remained showing ANY verdigris. Another 45 minutes soak and a scrub and now the teeth are completely free of verdigris.

Okay. Time to soak the handle and cap in vinegar. 45 minutes approximately and I start scrubbing the knurling on the handle and ball, as well as around the posts and threaded rod on the head. Despite the fact that the cap looked clean before, a few spots show up around the base of the posts. A couple hits with the brush and they are looking good. More scrubbing on the knurling and they clean up better and better each time.

Everything is looking pretty good to me now. I rinse everything in hot, hot water from the tap and dry everything down with paper towel. I run twisted paper towel down into the handle and it looks pretty clean inside now.

I let everything sit and dry for a couple hours. Time for the epoxy.

I cut a few "brushes" of various sizes from an empty cardboard egg container and mix the epoxy with a large piece. I tighten the threaded cap onto the head and smear a decent amount (I thought) inside the handle and seat the parts together and hold them together. Hmmm... doesn't seem to be setting up. I separate them and put a LIBERAL amount of epoxy in the handle and wipe some on the cap. Once again I seat them together. This time I need to wipe a bit of epoxy off the outside of the joint. I hold them pieces together and wait ten minutes.

Everything seems to be holding together pretty good. I put the razor away in a drawer so the epoxy can set up completely. I'll leave it alone until Tuesday morning when I'll see if I can unscrew and screw everything together and if the epoxy has formed a good bond. If this doesn't work, I'll use my Tech ball-end handle for OC March.

My digital camera is at work. I'll bring it home and get some "after" shots. Here's the "before" for reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/38041183405...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3870wt_1154

For $8 and shipping plus 24 hours work, (assuming my handle repair works), I'm pretty gosh darn happy.