Thread: Wish me luck!

Hey guys,
I'm usually a straight razor shaver but recently I was looking at a local estate sale and saw a 1940s Gillete fatboy in pretty good shape. To my surprise the seller only wanted 2 dollars for it! It was too much of a temptation to pass up so after buying it and cleaning I'm happy to say its ready for my first shave! I just thought I would share seeing as I'm pretty excited to try it out when I'm off work. I even grew out my beard a few days! Who knows, I might be converted to Safty Razors after tonight...

If you are used to straights then you already know how important angles, stretching, and pressure is concerning irritation. With a DE these are just as important.

Also I wouldn't try going ATG on my first shave with a DE (as a matter of fact I don't typically reccomend it period as it feels like I'm ripping my face off when I do it, but hey it works for some people apparently

I use a de like once a month in a pinch. The longer I go without using them, the crappier the shave. Maybe Im out of practice. Last one was a 3 pass. Not bad but Im used to much closer. Good luck with that bad boy!

Originally Posted by Egon

I was looking at a local estate sale and saw a 1940s Gillete fatboy in pretty good shape.

Are you sure you have your date or razor info correctly? IIRC the first Fat Boy was produced in 1958.

Either way, good luck and happy shaving

Originally Posted by bill3152

I use a de like once a month in a pinch. The longer I go without using them, the crappier the shave. Maybe Im out of practice. Last one was a 3 pass. Not bad but Im used to much closer.

Shaving with a DE is like any skill, you either use it or lose it. Unless, I imagine, you've been doing it for decades and then it's like riding a bicycle...

All the things that go into making up a good shave with a straight also go into making a good shave with a DE. Start with the razor at it's lowest, least aggressive , setting as you can always work up from there. Are you sure that you have a Fat Boy? I only ask because Gillette made many adjustable razors with the Fat Boy being manufactured between 1958 and 1961. In any case they probably were all good shavers anyway.

Bob