Any reason to re-lacquer a gold razor?

Foyle · Mar 8, 2013

I just recieved my Aristocrat in the mail.. In my excitement, I poured a little alcohol over it to sterilize it forgetting that it was lacquered. The lacquer pealed off where the alcohol touched it (just the silo doors and the safety bar). No problem. I scrubbed the loose lacquer off with a tooth brush and it looks just dandy. I can, however, re lacquer it quite easily. I've got the perfect stuff for this at work. I am planning on do it when I go into the shop this afternoon for my shift. What do you think, should I or shouldn't I? Any reason not to?

(Pic is post lacquer removal)

Rothman · Mar 8, 2013

She's definitely a gem! I would say go for it, you already know how to remove it if things go wrong! :laugh:

I'd imagine it will prevent a good deal of wear on the gold plating. It seems the plating on these old Gillettes is rather feable so, I'd do it.

santamariasteve · Mar 8, 2013

Do it, if you know what you're doing.

chilliman64 · Mar 10, 2013

seems you have nothing to lose so why not give it a try?!

TheHammer · Mar 10, 2013

I'd love to see what it looks like afterwards! I'm sure most of us (including myself) have never seen a freshly lacquered razor before. I could think of no reason not to, and it seems it would protect the underlying gold finish longer.

ironfist · Mar 10, 2013

I have one with the plating gone on the head and guard bar. Trying to get the plating off the knurling is hard.

tacchini · Mar 10, 2013

ironfist said:
I have one with the plating gone on the head and guard bar. Trying to get the plating off the knurling is hard.

i am trying to do the same, i have tried afew oven cleaners, the last one being a paste, this stuff is about the best, the razor head is down to the nickel but the knurled handle is not going well, its just shined up the gold and made it a bit lighter, i dont think i will ever get it all nickel unless a pro replate is done, i have some pictures of a aristocrat with half the gold missing and it looks the part with the gold off.

Foyle · Mar 10, 2013

I gave it a shot of brass instrument lacquer. It doesn't look any different than what you see in the original pic.

P.S. If you really want to get the gold off, Flitz will take the gold plating right off.

BBrad · Mar 10, 2013

tacchini said:
i am trying to do the same, i have tried afew oven cleaners, the last one being a paste, this stuff is about the best, the razor head is down to the nickel but the knurled handle is not going well, its just shined up the gold and made it a bit lighter, i dont think i will ever get it all nickel unless a pro replate is done, i have some pictures of a aristocrat with half the gold missing and it looks the part with the gold off.

Gold is funny stuff. It is soft and does not wear well. That is why the razors were lacquered in the first place, so the much tougher lacquer coating would protect the thin, soft gold from wearing off.

Gold is also non-reactive. Nothing disolves gold, except aqua regia, which is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. If you were to use aqua regia to dissolve the gold off the surface, the process would also melt the underlying razor . . . not good.

The only way to remove gold plating is to physically wear it off through polishing or buffing. The key here is to only polish off the gold and not take the layer of nickel off in the process.

tacchini · Mar 10, 2013

BBrad said:
Gold is funny stuff. It is soft and does not wear well. That is why the razors were lacquered in the first place, so the much tougher lacquer coating would protect the thin, soft gold from wearing off.

Gold is also non-reactive. Nothing disolves gold, except aqua regia, which is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. If you were to use aqua regia to dissolve the gold off the surface, the process would also melt the underlying razor . . . not good.

The only way to remove gold plating is to physically wear it off through polishing or buffing. The key here is to only polish off the gold and not take the layer of nickel off in the process.

that seems to be the problem, i think i could get the gold off, but the trick is to leave that nickel on underneath, i have done ok on the silo doors. most of it was off when i got the razor anyway, i have not had much luck with the knurled handle.

wrinkles2 · Mar 10, 2013

Does this mean that gold can come off when a razor is soaked for a minute in rubbing alcohol?

oldbluelight · Mar 10, 2013

Just curious. Would reversing the polarity in a plating bath pull off the gold?

Foyle · Mar 10, 2013

wrinkles2 said:
Does this mean that gold can come off when a razor is soaked for a minute in rubbing alcohol?

Not the gold, just the lacquer. I think they sprayed them with nitro-cellulose which reacts with alcohol.

Rothman · Mar 11, 2013

oldbluelight said:
Just curious. Would reversing the polarity in a plating bath pull off the gold?

That's how most plated parts are stripped along with using a stronger acididc solution (from what I gather), not sure about gold but it seems likely.

ShaverGN · Mar 17, 2013

So what lacquer did you use and how did you apply it? I’minterested in preserving a gold plated razor.

njagota · Jul 12, 2013

Foyle said:
I gave it a shot of brass instrument lacquer. It doesn't look any different than what you see in the original pic.

P.S. If you really want to get the gold off, Flitz will take the gold plating right off.

Ok, sorry to revive an old thread, but there's very little info on relacquering around. I've got a nice non-tarnished 46/47 Aristocrat with very little changing of the laquer color. No flakes, it seem intact. Pretty minty actually. I've tried all the Slims, a Fat boy, 40's super speeds, flair Rockets, and even and HD rocket so far. The Aristocrat give me by far the smoothest, easiest, and closest shave with zero irritation. I want to use it as my daily shaver, but not ruin the appearance. Can I place more lacquer over the razor to protect it better? I don't want to ruin the razor. How did the instrument lacquer work out?

Also, can anyone tell me if a 46/47 superspeed has the exact head geometry, with the angled guard bar instead of nearly square ones Gillette made thereafter? Regards, Nimesh

alex2363 · Jul 12, 2013

njagota said:
Ok, sorry to revive an old thread, but there's very little info on relacquering around. I've got a nice non-tarnished 46/47 Aristocrat with very little changing of the laquer color. No flakes, it seem intact. Pretty minty actually. I've tried all the Slims, a Fat boy, 40's super speeds, flair Rockets, and even and HD rocket so far. The Aristocrat give me by far the smoothest, easiest, and closest shave with zero irritation. I want to use it as my daily shaver, but not ruin the appearance. Can I place more lacquer over the razor to protect it better? I don't want to ruin the razor. How did the instrument lacquer work out?

Also, can anyone tell me if a 46/47 superspeed has the exact head geometry, with the angled guard bar instead of nearly square ones Gillette made thereafter? Regards, Nimesh

Here is a link that may help http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/195574-1946-1947-Superspeed

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/56974-Super-Speed-Identification?p=732565#post732565

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...-the-Week-12-7-12-13-The-Gillette-Ranger-Tech

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Any reason to re-lacquer a gold razor?

Foyle

Rothman

santamariasteve

chilliman64

TheHammer

ironfist

tacchini

Foyle

BBrad

tacchini

wrinkles2

oldbluelight

Foyle

Rothman

ShaverGN

njagota

alex2363

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