I found an early '50s Aristocrat today. Some of the gold is missing so I want to go all the way with it and get this fine shaver down to bare nickel. Does anyone know a surefire way to get rid of ALL plating, esp. on the knurling, that won't mess up the nickel? I saw an Aristocrat plated in silver or rhodium and it looked 10x better than in gold (imo), but I don't want to shell out for that right now. Thanks for any advice...
You might want to try the very bottom entry in the webpage. http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/custom-shop/104409-removing-gold-plating-hardware.html Maybe a new product for my arsenal as well, but to be used carefully. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BO8Z9I/?tag=thshde-20
I accidentally found MAAS polish/cleaner takes off gold plating. I was trying to polish a gold Aristocrat and found out I shouldn't have done that. To get it all off might take some work.
That is why I don't recommend MAAS for gold razors. Excellent product, but like Brasso, it can do some damage if not used on the correct metal types (Nickel, Chrome, Brass, Copper).
I was gonna say Brasso or Nev-R-Dull and a lot of scrubbing and attention to detail.....Maybe if you did some googling you could find out. I know cyanidation will encourage the gold atoms to relase but it require cyanide and uhm....professional skills that can still kill you if you don't have the right equipment. So, Brasso!
I did a local search and found an out of the way plating shop that's on my way home from work. Gonna ring them up and ask them how much to just remove the gold and leave the nickel intact.
Yeah, I've used Simichrome to get similar results as Brasso. Doors come out perfectly stripped but it's impossible (for me) to get all the gold out of the knurling.
My experience exactly! MAAS polish removed most of the gold plating on a Gillette NEW open comb razor. However, Reliable Electroplating did an excellent job of cleaning it up thoroughly before re-plating it in nickel!