- Thread starter
- #41
it did try to launch out of there like Chamm mentioned it would! The Doctor is in!
Pretty nasty indeed...Man, you could grown an ear of corn on that endcap!! Gross!!
Gillette Toggle Disassembly
- Thread starter Captain Murphy
- Start date
it did try to launch out of there like Chamm mentioned it would! 
Wow. The Captain is certainly a steely-eyed razor repair magician with nerves of titanium and ice water in his veins.
WOW Cap that some tech work there. Can't wait to see the final results.
- Thread starter
- #45
Thanks fellas! So here's the skinny on the toggle: I did not make a disassembly video on this one for a few reasons so I am going to edit some photos with illustrations showing how I took it apart and the tools I used to satisfy curiosity
Perhaps in the future, if I receive another seized or broken one, I will do a video on disassembly. The disassembly process was not a fluid one like the fatboys and slims simply because I do not have the practice and I was breaking trail. I had to stop multiple times and refer to the drawings and patent info so I didn't jack anything up
As you gentlemen can see, the head assembly is somewhat similar to the bottom-dials in the sense that the adjuster plate is compression fitted inside the piece that has the safety bars. This causes some issues as far as cleaning and future functionality go because as we have seen with the bottom-dials, the spring that exerts upward force (let's call it number 52) gets plugged up with the wonderful crud! With the bottom dials, I have been able to remove the adjuster knob, allowing the adjuster plate to fully extend thus exposing the spring and shaft so I can clean and polish the parts. This is not the same with the toggle however.
In regard to this section, the patent information reads: "...a fixture 64 press fitted on the lower end of tubular member 16 and forming a part thereof". So if I am understanding this properly, number 64 is press fitted on the end of tubular member 16 (the rod around which the spring[52] resides). This brings me to the question of the day: is the adjuster plate and the lower end of the entire assembly one piece? Initial analysis tells me it is. My reasoning for this is looking down the inside of the shaft, there are no apparent seams where a press fitting is present so this tells me that the "press-fitting" is the so-called crimp at the top of the razor head (between the stamped abbreviations "PAT. NO. ON PKG.") where the adjuster plate attaches to number 16. I am going to clean the inside a little better to see if I can reveal anymore clues. I hope I didn't confuse anyone with my ramblings
Perhaps in the future, if I receive another seized or broken one, I will do a video on disassembly. The disassembly process was not a fluid one like the fatboys and slims simply because I do not have the practice and I was breaking trail. I had to stop multiple times and refer to the drawings and patent info so I didn't jack anything upAs you gentlemen can see, the head assembly is somewhat similar to the bottom-dials in the sense that the adjuster plate is compression fitted inside the piece that has the safety bars. This causes some issues as far as cleaning and future functionality go because as we have seen with the bottom-dials, the spring that exerts upward force (let's call it number 52) gets plugged up with the wonderful crud! With the bottom dials, I have been able to remove the adjuster knob, allowing the adjuster plate to fully extend thus exposing the spring and shaft so I can clean and polish the parts. This is not the same with the toggle however.
In regard to this section, the patent information reads: "...a fixture 64 press fitted on the lower end of tubular member 16 and forming a part thereof". So if I am understanding this properly, number 64 is press fitted on the end of tubular member 16 (the rod around which the spring[52] resides). This brings me to the question of the day: is the adjuster plate and the lower end of the entire assembly one piece? Initial analysis tells me it is. My reasoning for this is looking down the inside of the shaft, there are no apparent seams where a press fitting is present so this tells me that the "press-fitting" is the so-called crimp at the top of the razor head (between the stamped abbreviations "PAT. NO. ON PKG.") where the adjuster plate attaches to number 16. I am going to clean the inside a little better to see if I can reveal anymore clues. I hope I didn't confuse anyone with my ramblings
Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a Gillette Toggle?!
Just need to get it to 88mph!
The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a razor, why not do it with some style?
Lol!!!! Perfect!!! :rotfl:
Ok, I am sure late to this party (and I'm telling you thats a rarity) as I just happened across this thread about 10 minutes ago. Have read through it and seems things are going pretty good so far. I had faith in Cap when I gave the go ahead but I sent this to him with the willingness to allow him to explore. One thing I did notice fron the drawings, the dates where from 1960 which would be the F4 model. I'm thinking the D1(1958 which this one is) would likely be the same if not very simular. I wonder how close the 1956 prototype was to these two? It has a 1-5 dial like Glenn's bottom dial has and a red dot on the toggle.
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Just went back and looked at drawings and see the "file" date was June 26 1957 which would have been 6 months before production started on the D1.
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95% of my humor is quotes from '80s movies.
- Thread starter
- #53
"when this baby hits 88 miles per hour..." great stuff! Yeah, I have seen a few photos of that high-dollar red-dot on the toggle razor with the 1-5 dial. The head design looks like a combination of the NDC bottom dial but the adjuster plate apparatus is reminiscent of the production fatboys in the sense that the adjuster plate passes through the safety bar plate, very interesting. Additionally, the toggle looks different as well as the seat element it pivots beneath. Man, I sure would love to stumble upon this so-called drawer full of Gillette prototypes!
That would be fun!- Thread starter
- #54
Alright you fine, humorous Gentlemen of Badger and Blade (Ladies that may be watching too
) I spent awhile staring at the drawings and reading the patent info last night and this is what I have come up with:
The head assembly which consists of the adjuster plate, (20) the safety bar plate, (60) adjuster dial, (54) and lower collet apparatus, (58,64) was assembled together in order to make one assembly or piece, if you will. The patent information states: "In assembling this embodiment of the invention, the parts of the head portion and upper handle portion (exclusive of tubular member 118) are assembled together, fixture 164 being driven home'upon the lower end of tubular member 16." So the head assembly is indeed press fitted together. The same thing is true of the bottom dial head assembly, although the designs are slightly different.
I took one of my brass tube brushes and cleaned out the inside of the shaft and it revealed the so-called press fitting on the bottom of tubular member 16. The question now, is it worth attempting to separate that press-fitting? and if so, how would one go about it? As you all might recall, we ran into some complications with the adjuster plate crimp on Glenn's NDC bottom dial where the crimp was basically corroded. That was aluminum however...much more susceptible to surface corrosion. All brass on this toggle but the crimp itself is the same design as the bottom-dial and it is a very thin crimp so any pressure or force exerted on that would likely damage the crimp, rendering the adjuster plate dysfunctional or completely useless. Please keep in mind that the blade essentially floats on top of this plate (20) and around the "spider" (T-bar) as it is called in the patent info so if it were to be broken loose, blade security would probably go down the drain, not to mention an inconsistent blade gap. So with this, I asked myself what I would gain by separating the parts, if successful at all. Here's what I came up with on that: by separating the two parts, I would gain access to the compression spring (52) that exerts force on the adjuster plate and the rod around which the spring sits. In the past, this is where the highest concentration of crud existed and it clearly affects mechanical functionality, sometimes seizing the adjuster plate in one position! Another benefit to separating the parts would aid in the replating process, which I believe Paul intends on having done. All of that crud in there certainly wouldn't help with plating solution contamination!
Of course, I have cleaned this assembly multiple times via soaking and Ultrasonic cycles so I feel as though it getting very clean! I feel as though it would be best to leave the head assembly as is rather than destroying it just to see what might​ be inside.
) I spent awhile staring at the drawings and reading the patent info last night and this is what I have come up with: The head assembly which consists of the adjuster plate, (20) the safety bar plate, (60) adjuster dial, (54) and lower collet apparatus, (58,64) was assembled together in order to make one assembly or piece, if you will. The patent information states: "In assembling this embodiment of the invention, the parts of the head portion and upper handle portion (exclusive of tubular member 118) are assembled together, fixture 164 being driven home'upon the lower end of tubular member 16." So the head assembly is indeed press fitted together. The same thing is true of the bottom dial head assembly, although the designs are slightly different.
I took one of my brass tube brushes and cleaned out the inside of the shaft and it revealed the so-called press fitting on the bottom of tubular member 16. The question now, is it worth attempting to separate that press-fitting? and if so, how would one go about it? As you all might recall, we ran into some complications with the adjuster plate crimp on Glenn's NDC bottom dial where the crimp was basically corroded. That was aluminum however...much more susceptible to surface corrosion. All brass on this toggle but the crimp itself is the same design as the bottom-dial and it is a very thin crimp so any pressure or force exerted on that would likely damage the crimp, rendering the adjuster plate dysfunctional or completely useless. Please keep in mind that the blade essentially floats on top of this plate (20) and around the "spider" (T-bar) as it is called in the patent info so if it were to be broken loose, blade security would probably go down the drain, not to mention an inconsistent blade gap. So with this, I asked myself what I would gain by separating the parts, if successful at all. Here's what I came up with on that: by separating the two parts, I would gain access to the compression spring (52) that exerts force on the adjuster plate and the rod around which the spring sits. In the past, this is where the highest concentration of crud existed and it clearly affects mechanical functionality, sometimes seizing the adjuster plate in one position! Another benefit to separating the parts would aid in the replating process, which I believe Paul intends on having done. All of that crud in there certainly wouldn't help with plating solution contamination!
Of course, I have cleaned this assembly multiple times via soaking and Ultrasonic cycles so I feel as though it getting very clean! I feel as though it would be best to leave the head assembly as is rather than destroying it just to see what might​ be inside.
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"What did I just say" "1.21 Gigawatts!!!" ha, love that movie! well cap great job. been reading it and am thoroughly impressed by you yet again. i wish i had some kind of elaborate input here, but i dont. i know if it were my razor i too would want it fully disassembled and every bit of physical crud seen removed, but not only because of the rarity of this beast, but also because the pieces are pressure fitted together and were never intended to be then taken apart (hasnt stopped you before though) i would fully agree with you and just do multiple soaks on it. now i do believe in you capabilities, and im betting you would find a way to get it apart, but chancing damaging the parts is just a very high risk and one that can be easily avoided. well keep up the great work cap. you da man!
- Thread starter
- #56
Thank you for your reply, Sir! It has been a fun little process and reading the patent information, reassembly should be a breeze. Setting the gap on this particular design is very easy and can be customized too! I think I will leave the two parts together, I cannot see myself attempting to remove that lower press-fitting just to clean the razor out and even then, who knows what re-installation would be like. I think replating the head assembly as is would be no problem at all, I mean didn't Gillette plate most, if not all of their razors fully assembled? At any rate, my efforts will be determined by Paul's decisions Wouldn't that be cool? A TWO TONE CUSTOM TOGGLE???
Subscribed.....and waiting with batted breath. 
Alright you fine, humorous Gentlemen of Badger and Blade (Ladies that may be watching too
The head assembly which consists of the adjuster plate, (20) the safety bar plate, (60) adjuster dial, (54) and lower collet apparatus, (58,64) was assembled together in order to make one assembly or piece, if you will. The patent information states: "In assembling this embodiment of the invention, the parts of the head portion and upper handle portion (exclusive of tubular member 118) are assembled together, fixture 164 being driven home'upon the lower end of tubular member 16." So the head assembly is indeed press fitted together. The same thing is true of the bottom dial head assembly, although the designs are slightly different.
I took one of my brass tube brushes and cleaned out the inside of the shaft and it revealed the so-called press fitting on the bottom of tubular member 16. The question now, is it worth attempting to separate that press-fitting? and if so, how would one go about it? As you all might recall, we ran into some complications with the adjuster plate crimp on Glenn's NDC bottom dial where the crimp was basically corroded. That was aluminum however...much more susceptible to surface corrosion. All brass on this toggle but the crimp itself is the same design as the bottom-dial and it is a very thin crimp so any pressure or force exerted on that would likely damage the crimp, rendering the adjuster plate dysfunctional or completely useless. Please keep in mind that the blade essentially floats on top of this plate (20) and around the "spider" (T-bar) as it is called in the patent info so if it were to be broken loose, blade security would probably go down the drain, not to mention an inconsistent blade gap. So with this, I asked myself what I would gain by separating the parts, if successful at all. Here's what I came up with on that: by separating the two parts, I would gain access to the compression spring (52) that exerts force on the adjuster plate and the rod around which the spring sits. In the past, this is where the highest concentration of crud existed and it clearly affects mechanical functionality, sometimes seizing the adjuster plate in one position! Another benefit to separating the parts would aid in the replating process, which I believe Paul intends on having done. All of that crud in there certainly wouldn't help with plating solution contamination!
Of course, I have cleaned this assembly multiple times via soaking and Ultrasonic cycles so I feel as though it getting very clean! I feel as though it would be best to leave the head assembly as is rather than destroying it just to see what might​ be inside.
I had my adjuster plate crimp snap on me. The connecting top rod also broke off on another, the crud seems to weaken the parts ...these razors are very delicate when disassembled.
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- Thread starter
- #59
How did the adjuster plate crimp snap? And the connecting rod broke? Is this the toggle in those photos you posted awhile ago?
They were corroded, very crudy the lime and minerals can do that.
