Cure Your Torqued Fatip

[Apex]

A few weeks ago I purchased a Fatip Grande Chrome that had a torque on one side of the head cap and caused the blade to flip up away from the comb on both corners helping to cause blood and unsmooth shaves. I returned it and got one in Nickel with the exact same problem so returned it also.

I was not ready to give up and decided to give a Fatip one more try. I bought a Picolo from another vendor delivered for $21.73. Could not believe the same exact Torque on one side! They use the same flawed casting for all 3 Fatip cap heads.

Fatip's lack of quality control is criminal, trust me those Italians know they are selling you a Torqued Fatip! I was going to return the Picolo also and give up on the Fatips altogether but I thought I could maybe shim down the flawed corners and I pulled it off.

Take notice that if the shimming comes past the top edge just a tad too much the corner of the blade will actually dip down towards the comb so some tricky cuts are required. I managed to gauge the cuts in 20 minutes after trial and error. I used a stainless steel Feather blade for a shim, a non-permanent marker for marking and scissors.

I really enjoy the close and efficient Fatip and ordered another Ruthenium-Plated. I got a 7.5% discount so delivered was $26.81. I am hoping this 4th Fatip is finally not Torqued but I am not holding my breath and have the shim already cut and waiting just in case.

Took the pics with an iPhone so not the best close-ups. The first pic shows the corner flaring up away from comb the rest are with the shimming.

Take a good close look at ur Fatip with a blade on and notice if any of the corners flip away from the comb. Now take the cap off and sight it, notice the curvature? The opposite side is perfectly straight. Ever wonder they are on sale? Now you know why but at least there is a cure for it. So goes the life of the Fatip.


**** SEE REVISED UPDATED POST BELOW FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION ****

 

[Ronnie Aloha]

Genius!

 

[Apex]

Ty for the compliment but was just improvising when I read a post here on shimming to make a razor more aggressive. Maybe it can help others tame down their Torqued Fatips because its the norm I am convinced.

That blade corner flaring out below is just screaming to bite. I didn't want to send another one back. I got a BBS over 12 hours ago with a new Feather blade, 3 pass no touchup, no irritation and still no noticeable shadow. Why I was persistent. I could do a 2 pass shave tomorrow morning more than likely.

 

[creekwalker]

Well that's interesting. Apex, do you think most guys just "work around" the flared corners (until they fail to work around it, causing a nick)? And/or, do the flared corners cause a less-smooth shave no matter what at all times?

 

[Apex]

Well that's interesting. Apex, do you think most guys just "work around" the flared corners (until they fail to work around it, causing a nick)? And/or, do the flared corners cause a less-smooth shave no matter what at all times?

I would want the blade definitely parallel to the comb or that flaring tip would be more apt to cut, irritate your skin or both.

Once I found out about the flaring corner I only used the good side for a couple of shaves and I could definitely tell the difference but I had to return the Fatip, only using one side was burdensome but now that I found the cure I ordered another Fatip. Love the razor with a Feather.

On your other question the members here would have to speak for themselves, why I started this thread. Plenty of Torqued Fatips out there.

 

[Apex]

**** REVISED UPDATE ****

I took a closer look at my Fatip yesterday and made some adjustments. I noticed only one corner on this Fatip Picolo was flaring out, noticed a second corner slightly flaring out on my Fatip Grande Chrome I returned and jumped the gun. All 3 Fatips I have ordered had one horrible flaring corner on them. These razors are whack..lol.

I re-cut the shim accordingly and these are the measurements. The width is 1/4" (6.35 mm) and the protruding parallel measurement past the cap head edge is 1/32" (.0313 mm).

It is imperative you have the blade centered when you mark your shim for final cutting, sneak up on that edge cut. Chances are these specifications will work if you only have one flaring blade corner. The blade on my whack Fatip is perfectly parallel to the comb now and straight as am arrow. Photo below.

I am hoping when I receive my Ruthenium-Plated Fatip shimming will not be required and will report. Let us know if this shimming helped your Torqued Fatip.

 

[kingfisher]

What do you use to cut the blade?

 

[Apex]

What do you use to cut the blade?

Use your wife's sharp scissors but don't tell her..lol. It actually cuts very easily and should not harm the scissors to cut one or 2 shims.

I would use a stainless steel blade for a shim only because I think it would be less apt to rust than a chrome blade. Also make sure its centered when you mark to cut it.

First make the shim cut-out over your flawed side and check it with the head plate on for tolerances. Once your satisfied with the finished shim cut then cut the opposite side out of the shim blade side (good side of the head plate). That would help insure your shim is centered and the shim cut is parallel to the head plate.

Now put a blade on your Fatip with the shim on and you should see a difference, check how straight your blade is. Is the corner of the blade still flaring out some or now dipping dipping towards the comb?

If its still flaring out your shim may have be cut at 1/16" out past the head plate instead of a 1/32". If It's dipping towards the comb your shim width might have to be cut to 1/8" instead of 1/4". It would be trial and error.

The measurements for the cuts of the shim I gave (1/32"x1/4") make the blade in my flawed Fatip perfectly straight. I had to tinker with it to get there and why I revised instructions with measurements. Hopefully it will work for you too. Let us know.

 

[Apex]

I received the Ruthenium-Plated Fatip today in the mail and sure enough it is torqued. All four razors I have received from 2 different vendors it is always one left facing corner...hmmm.

No problem I put on the same shim I cut above and the Fatip is cured and straight as an arrow. Easy cure so I am not sweating it.

 

[kcb5150]

The fix is not paying a company good money for bad products... If a $3 rimei can have good alignment, a fatip has no excuse....

 

[Vivasanti]

Many peoples Fatips are fine - sorry to hear your bad luck -_-

 

[bosseb]

I would want the blade definitely parallel to the comb or that flaring tip would be more apt to cut, irritate your skin or both.

Once I found out about the flaring corner I only used the good side for a couple of shaves and I could definitely tell the difference but I had to return the Fatip, only using one side was burdensome but now that I found the cure I ordered another Fatip. Love the razor with a Feather.

On your other question the members here would have to speak for themselves, why I started this thread. Plenty of Torqued Fatips out there.

Is this for real? You buy a defective razor and go through this trouble to make it usable? And I thought I was overdoing it when I figured out my system razor...I truly admire your handyman skills, as I have none!

I had to start with working parts and ended up with this:

​

 

[Apex]

The fix is not paying a company good money for bad products... If a $3 rimei can have good alignment, a fatip has no excuse....

I agree and returned my first 2 flawed razors but I really liked the good side of the razor and the efficient true BBS shaves I got from the Fatip and came up with a simple solution. I am not sweating it and enjoying the shaves without wondering which side is torqued while helping others with the same problem razor.

Vivasanti - Many peoples Fatips are fine - sorry to hear your bad luck -_-

I was actually counting on a straight Fatip and why I exchanged, returned and bought again. If I really did not like the razor I would not have gone through all the trouble.

 

[Apex]

Is this for real? You buy a defective razor and go through this trouble to make it usable? And I thought I was overdoing it when I figured out my system razor...I truly admire your handyman skills, as I have none!

I had to start with working parts and ended up with this:

​

Ty Bosse, I do improvise in my profession. Btw I really like your photos and great looking razors they make for good eye candy. Question, what link do you use to download your photos and use for URL? Your photos are always enlarged even when I am not logged on. I thougt using Photobucket would give the same effect but it does not.

 

[nemo]

How many thousandths is the cap curled up?

T Btw I really like your photos and great looking razors they make for good eye candy. Question, what link do you use to download your photos and use for URL? Your photos are always enlarged even when I am not logged on. I thougt using Photobucket would give the same effect but it does not.

He's using the B&B Gallery. Try it yourself, it's a great hosting service.

 

[bosseb]

Ty Bosse, I do improvise in my profession. Btw I really like your photos and great looking razors they make for good eye candy. Question, what link do you use to download your photos and use for URL? Your photos are always enlarged even when I am not logged on. I thougt using Photobucket would give the same effect but it does not.

Yep - B&B Gallery as I only post on B&B. The trick is to size to 1024 pixels max before uploading. Also do not let the compression algorithm work too much - only upload light files - while it downsizes to 72 PPI. I have to admit also that the pictures here are a result of my normal workflow in RAW (color balance/ cropping) and Photoshop (resizing/tuning ). I'm a hobbyist digital painter and I spend more time in Corel Painter than on B&B !

As a side effect all pics are clickable and lead to my gallery.

 

[Apex]

Yep - B&B Gallery as I only post on B&B. The trick is to size to 1024 pixels max before uploading. Also do not let the compression algorithm work too much - only upload light files - while it downsizes to 72 PPI. I have to admit also that the pictures here are a result of my normal workflow in RAW (color balance/ cropping) and Photoshop (resizing/tuning ). I'm a hobbyist digital painter and I spend more time in Corel Painter than on B&B !

As a side effect all pics are clickable and lead to my gallery.

Ty for the insight Bosse.

 

[StubbleTrouble]

Something I noticed that may be of interest to some:

You can examine torquing quite easily by loading any razor, holding it under good light at a uniform angle looking down on the blade edge, and slowly rotating it while looking down upon the blade edge. The reflection should be mostly uniform as you rotate it, where a torqued blade will reflect unevenly across different areas. This is a fantastic means of demonstrating the scything of a blade in any slant, BTW.

 

[Apex]

Something I noticed that may be of interest to some:

You can examine torquing quite easily by loading any razor, holding it under good light at a uniform angle looking down on the blade edge, and slowly rotating it while looking down upon the blade edge. The reflection should be mostly uniform as you rotate it, where a torqued blade will reflect unevenly across different areas. This is a fantastic means of demonstrating the scything of a blade in any slant, BTW.

Maybe so StubbleTrouble but when I first noticed the blade flaring out on my Fatip I thought it was the blade because it was not straight as an arrow but I always noticed the untorqued side of the face plate would straightened it out and the torqued side always caused it to flare out.

I prefer my blades parallel to the comb when completely installed and why I shimmed the torqued side. A razor should be a precision tool but we get what we pay for sometimes.

 

[StubbleTrouble]

Maybe so StubbleTrouble but when I first noticed the blade flaring out on my Fatip I thought it was the blade because it was not straight as an arrow but I always noticed the untorqued side of the face plate would straightened it out and the torqued side always caused it to flare out.

I prefer my blades parallel to the comb when completely installed and why I shimmed the torqued side. A razor should be a precision tool but we get what we pay for sometimes.

My point is that the blade often flares unevenly (with focus on one side of the razor only) where one corner or both may be flaring more than the centre, or vice versa. Your shim indicates just that from what I can see.

In the end, the adjustments are worth it. Pity they can't get their QA/QC into good order...