Thread: Gillette Fatboy problem with adjustable

Originally Posted by honedright

I recently picked up an F-1 "Fatboy" which had a frozen adjustment dial and base plate. I was able to free everything up, depressed the red spring to tighten up the dial, and got everything working.

Thing is, everything I've read indicates that setting 1 is the least aggressive, and setting 9 the most. Yet on mine, setting 1, where the blade is flatter, seems to require the most care and causes the most nicks and weepers. But by dialing all the way up to setting 9, and causing the blade to bow up more, the shave still requires care, as these fatboys seem to bite pretty easily, but the shave seems much more mild with fewer weepers, contrary to what I expected and based on what I've read about these razors. So on mine, setting 1 seems most aggressive, setting 9 the least.

Is my fatboy backwards? Or is this just a normal variation? Or what?

You have not fully tightened the knob on the handle. Typically, when you close the butterfly doors after placing a blade in the razor, the knob continues until you reach what feels like a stop. The knob needs to go a bit further, not much, but you feel a distinct increase in the resistance and then the knob can go another maybe 1/4 turn before it stops. I don't currently have fat boy here to check on, but I know that I needed to finish the tightening for the adjustment ring to work properly.

So, when the doors are fully closed, and the blade is tensioned (bowed) fully, the adjustment ring will simply raise and lower the guard to vary the gap... If the blade is more or less flexed when you change the adjustment ring... it is because the razor is not fully closed yet. Dirt, grime etc. in the handle from years of use may have made this difficult to do, so I would not bear down on it too much.... if it's that full of crud, something may break. But, it does take a slight amount of effort to fully close.

Originally Posted by honedright

Since this seems to be the most active Fatboy thread, I'll ask here: anyone used any of the razor restoration services for re-plating and tune-up? I've looked at one online charging $120.00 for factory nickel, number repaint, and re-adjust of the mechanism. Seems high, but the finished product looks great. Any opinions?

I have a Fatboy replated by a member here, which I am very happy with. It really only depends on where you're located. There are a few services in Europe that I know of, which are very good and reasonably priced.

The $120 US service you speak of, I think I know what it is and there is a reason why it's that expensive. It's a strictly business reason and has nothing to do with the quality of the service. You would do better to just buy the razor from them, rather than have them replate your own.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

razorplate.com, no need to go to anyone else, he has a backlog but well worth it Tc

No kidding.. One of my friends had a razor done by them and waited 4 months to get it back.

The Razor Emporium restores Fatboy and does an exceptional job from cleaning to refinishing.

The Razor Emporium has a lot of experience in repairing Gillette's.

Hopefully this was taken care of two years ago.