DIY Replate for a "User Grade" Razor

By Brian Trepka

It shaves like a champ, but with a copper cap, gold base plate, brass handle, and tarnishing after a few uses, this frankenrazor needs some serious help!

I like vintage things - Vintage video games, vintage audio receivers, and vintage razors.    And when you use old stuff, you learn to accept some imperfections.  But when I received a “user grade” Gillette New open comb razor, I could not accept the state the finish was in.

It was a bit of a “frankenrazor”, with a handle that was once nickel plated (but was now almost completely brass), and a head that was once gold plated.  The plating on the base plate was in good condition, but the plating on the business end of the top cap was long gone – it was bare copper.  I didn’t necessarily mind the different finishes, but the various parts began to tarnish after just a couple shaves.

Brush Plating?

Thankfully, I had purchased another vintage thing some time ago that needed restoring – a 1973 Harley Davidson SS 350.  It’s an Italian-made (yes, Italian) Harley single with a rare set of handlebars.  If you find a pair with only a little rust on them, consider yourself lucky.  To fix mine, I had purchased a brush plating kit.  It struck me that I could also use it to fix the finish on my Gillette.

Like tank plating, brush plating uses a plating solution, but the solution is applied using an electrode that is wrapped in a gauze bandage which has been soaked in the solution.  It’s ideal for repairing plating on large parts in situ, but it’s also nice for plating on a small scale at home, since the kits are relatively inexpensive, and they come with everything you need.  Will the results on a razor be as good as you might get with a razor plating service?  Probably not, but for making a “user grade” razor more usable, they work well.

What follows is a general outline of the procedure I used to fix up my razor.

Prep Work

As Norm Abram says, "Be sure to read, understand, and follow all the safety rules that come with your power tools..."

Water with a little dishwashing liquid in the sonic cleaner works wonders cleaning off the parts.

Surface preparation is vital for achieving a good finish.  The surface must be polished and free of any contaminants, such as corrosion or grease.  It’s also worth noting that plating is not going to cover up imperfections such as pits or scratches very well.  Dealing with these sorts of difficulties is where a professional plater can excel.  For my open comb, the finish wasn’t too bad, and I wasn’t aiming for perfection, so I hit the parts with white buffing compound on a buffing wheel mounted in my drill press.  I decided to leave the base plate alone for now, as the plating was good.  I will likely plate it as well at some point (so the color matches), but I suspect extra steps will be required to remove what is probably a protective coat of lacquer.   After the parts were buffed and then washed, I threw them in a sonic jewelry cleaner with water and a dash of dishwashing liquid.  Because I like overkill, I also washed the parts in a degreasing solution after they were done in the sonic cleaner, and then rinsed them with clean water.  After they came out of the cleaner, I handled the parts with nitrile gloves, not only to protect my hands, but also to protect the cleaned parts from my skin’s oils.  When dealing with chemicals or power tools in the workshop, goggles are also a wise precaution to protect your eyes.

Tank Plating the Cap

The top cap is suspended by the negative electrode, while the brush connected to the positive electrode is clamped in place and partially submerged in the plating solution. Plug the power supply in after everything is connected.

Because of all the nooks and crannies on the cap, I decided to tank plate it.  This would also be a good solution for the base plate, due to all the teeth on the comb, and the tiny spaces between them which would be hard to reach with the plating wand.  In my particular kit (yours may differ), this involved pouring some solution in a glass jar, suspending the positive electrode/plating wand/brush in the solution, and suspending the part, which is connected to the negative electrode, in the solution near (but not touching) the positive electrode.  To be safe, I made sure not to connect the power supply to an outlet until everything was hooked up appropriately.  The plating material I had on hand was a nickel alloy, so that’s what I used, but all sorts of materials are available, including silver and gold.  Straight nickel would have been a more correct finish for this type of razor, but either finish had the advantage of being able to plate over brass, copper, or gold.  The instructions suggested allowing the part to plate for about five minutes.   After the allotted time was up, I removed the part, washed the remaining solution off, dried it, and then hit it again with the buffing wheel for a mirror-like finish.

Brush Plating the Razor Handle

Brushing the handle with the part connected to the negative lead, the positive on the brush, and the brush bandage dipped in plating solution. Again, plug the power supply in after connecting everything.

Looking Good!

Because it was larger, I decided to brush plate the handle.  It’s harder to obtain an even thickness by brushing, but the handle is fairly long, and would have required most of my plating solution, or perhaps a jar that was taller and narrower than what I had on hand, to immerse the whole thing in plating solution.

The procedure is fairly simple.  The positive electrode gets hooked up to the plating wand (aka brush).  The end of the wand is wrapped in a gauze bandage that will eventually hold the plating solution.  The negative lead is clipped onto the part (the razor handle, in this case). 

For the sake of safety, I hooked everything up first before I plugged in the power supply.  Dipping the gauze on the plating wand in a small amount of plating solution set aside from the rest of the bottle (so as not to contaminate the rest of the solution in the bottle), I proceeded to slowly and carefully “brush” the plating onto the handle until it was more or less evenly covered.   As before, I washed, dried and buffed the handle.

The Finished Product

The end result is pretty darn good in my opinion.  I don’t know that I’d try this procedure on a family heirloom or other valuable razor, but I’m very happy with the end result in this case.  I always loved how this razor shaved, but now I love the way it looks, too.

Note - Safety First!

Do this stuff at your own risk! Chemicals, electricity, and power tools can be dangerous.  Please take proper safety precautions, like wearing chemical-resistant gloves and goggles.  You should follow the instructions that come with your tools and your plating kit.  The kit instructions may differ from what I’ve done here, depending on the kit you buy.  Make sure to dispose of any waste in a manner consistent with local regulations.