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Gillette Nickel Adjuster 1-5 Position Bottom Dial Razor

So, I just took some pictures I thought I would share with you guys. This is a matte finish Nickel Adjuster 1-5 Position Bottom Dial which was the true prototype for the regular 1-9 Bottom Dial. This prototype has an aluminum handle and aluminum TTO knob. The dial is nickel plated brass as are the working components like the silo doors and base plate. There is no date code but this was probably made in 1956 or 1957 (but I'm just guessing based on the patent filed for date.) This razor weighs 72 grams. The deal is this; a small number of these were made to test out how well this type of razor performed as part of the Gillette Research and Development test lab. I hear from another owner, who has been to the Procter & Gamble's Gillette Archives that, different prototypes of this razor had different weights so that the feel in a user's hands could also be gauged. This razor was never released for sale so there is no case, instructions, warranty card, blade pack, price tag or whatever. What you see is what you get: a razor only. This distinguishes this razor and it's cousin the Black Adjuster 1-5 Position Bottom Dial from all other Gillette Adjustable razors. That is, these are the only things that can truly be called prototypes. Not Red Dot Fatboys or 1-5 Position Serial Toggles.

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Amazing and great razor post Glenn!

The P&G Gillette Archive is something I've never heard of but sounds like a place I need to visit :)
 
Thanks guys! Here is a picture of the two cousins. They look pretty much the same except the one on the left has the matte finish nickel plated adjusting dial with black paint for the numbers and the one on the right has the black painted adjusting dial with white paint for the numbers. The nickel dial one is 72 grams and the black dial one is 67 grams; like I said the weights were purposefully made different. How they put the different individual razors or sets of razors on a "diet", I don't know.

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Hi,

Oh, my. A total mash-up of a unit. Prototype Troubles. As a long-time suffering user of Prototype and Skunk Works things, you might as well send it to me.....

:p

Stan
 
Highly interesting, and thanx for sharing.

So did Gillette make the right decision on their selection of the final production model of the Fat Boy?

I would say yes. I also prefer the 1 to 9 adjuster.
 
Thanks for sharing!
Too often the word prototype is used to describe limited production runs in all sorts of stuff. I had a girlfriend who's mother described her 1986 Buick T-type as a prototype for years. Made me wary of the word.
 
Highly interesting, and thanx for sharing.

So did Gillette make the right decision on their selection of the final production model of the Fat Boy?

I would say yes. I also prefer the 1 to 9 adjuster.

For 33 years, the reign of the adjustable razor at Gillette, this type of razor was their top dog flagship product. It had to have been a decent design. The "Black Beauty" incarnation was the most successful time wise - 20 years. The Fatboy was only around for 3 years. Better, cheaper, whatever they kept refining the product.

As far as 1-5 or 1-9 adjusters, that is a little trick on people. For both types there are 9 different gap settings. The micrometer numbers on the 1-9 go 1,3,5,7,9 with 4 half steps for 9 gaps. On the 1-5 they go 1,2,3,4,5 with 4 half steps for 9 gaps too. So really it is the same thing. I once considered calling the 1-9 a "9 Terminus" and the 1-5 a "5 Terminus". Ha ha - but gave up on that whole idea.
 
For 33 years, the reign of the adjustable razor at Gillette, this type of razor was their top dog flagship product. It had to have been a decent design. The "Black Beauty" incarnation was the most successful time wise - 20 years. The Fatboy was only around for 3 years. Better, cheaper, whatever they kept refining the product.

As far as 1-5 or 1-9 adjusters, that is a little trick on people. For both types there are 9 different gap settings. The micrometer numbers on the 1-9 go 1,3,5,7,9 with 4 half steps for 9 gaps. On the 1-5 they go 1,2,3,4,5 with 4 half steps for 9 gaps too. So really it is the same thing. I once considered calling the 1-9 a "9 Terminus" and the 1-5 a "5 Terminus". Ha ha - but gave up on that whole idea.

Hi,

I was gonna say the same thing, except I was going to call them 'half-stop' and 'full-stop' like we used to call out camera lenses in the manual focus days. ;)

As far as Prototype goes, anything made in small quantities to test out ideas is properly called a Prototype. There is another category, Pre-Series, for medium quantities manufactured to test out how well a production line actually functions. Protoytpes might be made on a line, or in more of a laboratory setting, equally well.

I always liked to use the letter P for prototypes and the letter R for released to differentiate. Then, I would use a number for the major changes and another letter for minor. IE, P2F or R1B. These would be stamped on the unit, or printed on a label, so everyone always could tell what was what.

Obviously, Gillette did not subscribe to the same theory of documentation..... ;)

Stan
 
Hi,
As far as Prototype goes, anything made in small quantities to test out ideas is properly called a Prototype. There is another category, Pre-Series, for medium quantities manufactured to test out how well a production line actually functions. Protoytpes might be made on a line, or in more of a laboratory setting, equally well.
Stan
Very well stated!
This also goes for limited production, one offs and the one offs made by employees for themselves. I've heard all of these called prototypes.
 
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