Before you can open a head, you will have to scalp her.
For all models: With a pair of tweezers or a tiny crochet hook, reach into the square hole on the back of her head and unhook the spring, letting it pull back into the head. Remove the two small screws and put them in a safe place. If she is a BL or EBL girl, just open up the front and back halves of her head. If she is SBL, you will have to cut across the dome. There may be a layer of glue across the seamline that prevents easy opening. If this is the case, just sand down the glue until the seam is revealed and you can get her open.
Once the head is open, loosen the only screw inside her head halfway and let the t-bar rotate down out of the way of the eyemech.
Insert your prying tool (a broad flat-headed screwdriver wrapped in masking tape works well) into the space between the socket joint and eyelid plastic. Pry the whole mechanism down and out. (Go slowly - it takes quite a bit of force, and you will probably have to get your other hand involved by gently pulling the side of her face outward.) You should not have to gouge up the plastic. If you think you are damaging anything you need to get a more blunt tool and try again. You may also want to try using just your hands - with practice, you can squeeze at the crown and chin with your left hand and pull the eyes out with your right hand. the right-side of the eyemech is easier to pull out than the left. If you’re having a hard time squeezing with your left hand, try gently pinching the head between your knees.
Carefully unclip the white arc.
Use your prying tool to pop the eyeballs out of the lids (slide your masked-screwdriver between the eyeball and socket and pry gently). The right side of the mech will pull out easier than the left since the rod is shorter on that side.
Make a mental note of how everything goes together on the rod and then slide all the pieces straight off. Don’t twist or bend the rod.
36 Responses to “Eye Removal”
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If i haven’t already said this… thank you SO much for your tutorials - I have finally mastered (braved) taking out an eye mech for the first time tonight… and this has helped me SO much!!! YAY painted eye lids and boggled yes are in my future!
How could you unclip the white arc?
I’m having terrible problems with it, mine just won’t unclip.
me too bruna… will add if i figure it out!
hmmm well i got it, just had to manhandle it a bit more than i imagined (i was scared to break it)
i have really hard thumbnails i i just pushed right in on the exposed part that traps in the square “handle” of the arc, and the arc popped right off
the white arc is tricky - I use a very small flat screwdriver, put it under the square part, and twist gently. that usually does the trick.
THANK YOU!!! for this and the other tutorials. I was changing one eyechip color in my beloved new BBA, and her eyeball popped in half when I tugged on the chip - (gluestick method!) With this and the scalping tutorial, I was able to open her head, re-glue the eyeball, put in the eyechips and close her back up-all within about 45 minutes. I am about to leave for a two week trip and would have been very sad if I couldn’t fix her and take her along — you guys are the best!
Since I did an eyeremoval on my ebi I havent been able to get her eye mechanism to work properly again, as in at all. When I look art it it seems like everything is placed how it’s supposed to be and yet no dice. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
sharon- make sure that the part of the white arc with the “teeth” is making contact with the left eye.
make sure the spring is re-attached, not stretched out, and not tangled with the string.
check to see that the t-bar is tight and resting on the ratcheting part of the mechanism.
unless anything is broken or jammed, those are the crucial mechanical parts.
when you spin the eyes with your finger, do you hear the click?
It does click when I spin the eyes with my finger. I think the problem is with the “teeth” on the white arc. It’s making contact but I dont think it’s actually lined up. I’ll try making some adjustments again and let you know how it goes. Thanks Melissa!!!
I cannae get the eye mechanism back in? What am I doing wrong. it’s like the head shrunk LOL
oops got it, needed more force. o_0
I changed out the eyechips, lashes and shadowed the eyelids of my sbl piccaE and I put everything back in the head the correct way. But the “tooth” on the right eye (to my left) is not catching.
Is there a fix for this? Or am I out of luck unless some kind soul ever sells me an sbl arc?
thanks!
shawna, take her eyes out again and make sure that everything is pressed tightly into the center of the rod. you can also take the eyeballs off and bend the “teeth” towards the eye so it will bite more easily.
that’s about all I can think of! make sure her T-bar is hitting the right spot on her eyemech and the screw is tight too.
I’m totally lost on where the T-bar goes after putting the eye mech back in. Can someone help me?
TT_TT
Kat - when you put the eye mech back in, you will notice a post with a hole in it right beneath the mech. you screw the t-bar back onto it.
see the arrow in this pic:
http://www.puchicollective.com/images/tut_eyeextraction_02.jpg
WOW. Sorry it’s been so long. I was overseas and didn’t want to risk taking my girls with me to work on them. I was finally able to get her open and low and behold, she’s fixed!!! Thanks for all your advice Melissa!!!!!
I put it back in, but my eyes wont close :/
I’m sorry to pester…
Hey, I am waiting fir my first blythe to be delivered, she is the my best friend doll, I can’t wait! I was just wondering if you know what eye colours she will come with as standard as it doesn’t say, will it just be one? I think she would be a Radiance model, so one of the more recent releases. Thank you but no worries if you don’t know. Lou X
Hi Lou, most of the standard release Blythes have the original eye colors: blue, green, pink and orange, byt my best friend has brown eyes in one of the front-facing slots. I believe she has brown, blue, green, and pink.
Thanks so much!
Eek! This all seems so complicated, I’m going to be doing my first complete custom soon, reroot and all and I want to paint her eyelids. I’ll do everything sudgested, I think I’ll just have to be brave! Thank you for your great tutorials!
xx
hi, just wondering, do i absolutely have to open the head to remove the chips? i have a SBL but i dont have the tools to open her head (besides im too scared). can i just use the gluestick method? is this method necessary, or is it just so that its easier to get the chips out??
Eunice, The glue stick method was developed for people just like you who do not want to take their Blythe’s head apart, and it does work.
It is much easier if you soak her whole head in warm water, as the eyechip is held in with water soluble white glue. Dry her off and then do the gluestick method as usual. The chips should come right out! Be aware that the angle of the side glancing chips makes them the toughest to remove, but it is possible.
Good luck!
Please help mah!! I’m such a n00b at this blythe business.
So I got a brand spankin’ new violet blythe a few months ago and I love it to death. I opened up it’s head to check something (I know, I know. Stupid me.) Being such a n00blet, I was curious. But when I snapped the head back to it’s original place, the eyes wouldn’t click anymore. I guess the string came out of place or something. Can some help me, or at least send me a diagram of how the inside of blythe’s head looks like? Thanks so much for any kind samaritan who can get my blythe back to normal
Mik - take a look at the pictures in the article above, your doll will look very similar inside.
make sure you did not pinch the string or dislodge the spring - the spring should attach from the square hole on the back faceplate to the top of the eye mechanism.
Melissa-Thanks, and I’ll give it a try.
Love puchi BTW!
OK - I got my PD2E’s head apart, but now I cannot get the eye mechanism out - am I just being too chicken? I have squeezed and poked and pushed…still not coming out!
sassybead - yes, you probably aren’t applying enough force. The right eye (her right_ is the easiest side to pull out. I like to turn her head upside down, grasp the mechanism with my right hand, and slightly pull on the side of her face with my left while pulling up on the eye mechanism. Takes some practice, but you won’t hurt her with just your hands.
Hi Melissa (and everybody),
Please help! I can’t seem to put the eye mechanism back in place! I opened up my Angelica Eve up because I was going to change her eye chips, but I changed my mind. But I did take apart the eye mechanism. Now one side of it won’t go back in no matter how hard I try… do you have any tips (I am very sad that my poor doll is in pieces)!
By the way… your site is so very helpful. I’ve learned plenty from you. Thanks!!
Hey everyone, I have a ADG doll and i got ever step done besides sliding the eyeballs off the rod, they just wont budge. I tried using a flat head screwdriver but they still wont come off the rod. Any tips?
Thanks!!
How do you put everything back together?
okay…one question. You say to “carefully unclip the white arc”. But I am not quite sure how to get it off since the clip encircles the piece completely. Do I need to squeeze the two pieces together to get the clip to slide off of it?
update…a few minutes later. I used some needle nosed pliers…(jewelry making sized) to squeeze the two piece together then used a very small screwdriver to push the top piece of the clip off then used my fingers to remove it the rest of the way.
Hope this helps other people trying it for the first time.
I am also taking pictures of everything in detail so I know how to put it back together again.
I would like to thank you all of you for sharing your knowledge with all of us!! Thank you so much really!! kindest regards from Argentina!
Maira
For the life of me I cannot unhook the spring. I don’t have a crochet hook and I’ve tried tweezers, a screwdriver and an x-acto knife. Ideas?
Lori, do you have pliers with a narrow end? That’s what I use to grip the top of the spring.