I think I'm giving up on ever having a Fat Boy. Since I started getting into this hobby about 8 months ago, I've always wanted to try a Fat Boy. I got a nice Super Speed locally that only fueled my desire to try this gold standard DE. I hunted around for months, seeing Techs, News, etc (which I bought, or course) but never finding that one I vied for. Also, prices seemed to go up and up everytime I checked eBay, and the reasonable pricing in the for sale on this forum seemed to sell immediately everytime. A few weeks ago, I decided to take the plunge and just spend the money, due to my happiness with my current gillette TTO, but desire for more. But, as a last effort, I decided to spend some time going through the ebay DE adds by just searching "Safety Razor" and hoping for a Fat Boy ( or maybe an aristocrat) labeled generically. And I found one! Along with a GEM single edge which seemed to be under the radar.
I won the auction for about $27. I eagerly awaited my delivery, and found it to be in decent shape, needing a good polish. After a few hot soapy water soaks, things were looking good. But, as I opened and closed the razor, I couldn't see how it was going to actually affect the blade exposure- It seemed like something was off. After lots and lots of reading and looking at pics, and trying again and again to make sure the razor was absolutely clean and unimpeded in it's workings- I had to give up. It wasn't working right, the blade adjustment simply never could reach high enough to change anything, 1-9, all the same, a tiny bit of blade exposure, far less than the mildest of razors. I bought from someone who didn't know the difference, I was looking for a deal- my bad. So I decided to bite the bullet. I liked the weight, I liked the feel and design. I decided to buy from a reputable eBay source for razors. I found what looked like the nicest Fat Boy from someone who knew what it was and guaranteed it was a functional razor- And boy was it! This thing looked great out of the box. Already nicely cleaned up, and practically no blemishes at all. I payed about $75, but I got what I wanted- not a Find, but a great razor, a classic. I still of course did clean and sanitize it to make it ready for use- but I didn't go so far as to polish it up to see how it might gleam. I couldn't wait. I sanitized in lysol, and I washed in dish soap, let it dry, and then I soaked in oil just to make sure the mechanics were fully freed from gunk. Another quick cleaning, mainly to remove the oil from the surface, and it was ready for my first shave with the Fat Boy. I started out slow, found it quite mild at 3, and 4, then I settled at 5- it seemed to be just what I had wanted. I liked the higher dome of the head, I liked it being a bit more aggressive than my SS. I liked that it had a little more Ring to it when cutting than any of my other razors. I had four more shaves with it, even adjusting a little up and down to suit the mood, or a little more growth.
I was really thinking that this was the razor, this was it for me. As much as I liked the Idea of the open comb, or the Idea of a slant- I had found something effective, and comfortable. Feeling satisfied, I started to want to give the Fat Boy that polish I had skipped in order to get it into the rotation. There was still a bit of a film of mineral oil on it- as some hair had a tendency to stick to it after a shave. I decided to take it out of the rotation, give it another good hot soapy soak, let it dry for a day or two, and polish it with the MAAS I had for just such occasions. So, tonight I checked to be sure it was nice and dry, and see just how nice it could look. I got out the MAAS and some socks that I hated as socks, but were great for polishing. Immediately the polish made such a difference, and the only dark spots on the handle seemed to be polishing out. I put on the MAAS gloves I also had to finish up and really get in the crevices. The thing looked so good, it was really incredible. Only the numbering and the red indicator on the adjustment belied it's age. I'm not much for pics, but I entertained the idea of snapping a few to show my pride and joy to the small community here that would care.
And then I dropped it... and it broke.
I am not usually clumsy, but it only takes once. And before any well meaning types jump in to help- it is really broken.
This Fat Boy excursion has been darned expensive in the light of my total expenditures, shaving wise. I'm really at odds with myself on this. I liked the Fat Boy- A Lot. I'd really like to stop having to toss them in the trash!
I won the auction for about $27. I eagerly awaited my delivery, and found it to be in decent shape, needing a good polish. After a few hot soapy water soaks, things were looking good. But, as I opened and closed the razor, I couldn't see how it was going to actually affect the blade exposure- It seemed like something was off. After lots and lots of reading and looking at pics, and trying again and again to make sure the razor was absolutely clean and unimpeded in it's workings- I had to give up. It wasn't working right, the blade adjustment simply never could reach high enough to change anything, 1-9, all the same, a tiny bit of blade exposure, far less than the mildest of razors. I bought from someone who didn't know the difference, I was looking for a deal- my bad. So I decided to bite the bullet. I liked the weight, I liked the feel and design. I decided to buy from a reputable eBay source for razors. I found what looked like the nicest Fat Boy from someone who knew what it was and guaranteed it was a functional razor- And boy was it! This thing looked great out of the box. Already nicely cleaned up, and practically no blemishes at all. I payed about $75, but I got what I wanted- not a Find, but a great razor, a classic. I still of course did clean and sanitize it to make it ready for use- but I didn't go so far as to polish it up to see how it might gleam. I couldn't wait. I sanitized in lysol, and I washed in dish soap, let it dry, and then I soaked in oil just to make sure the mechanics were fully freed from gunk. Another quick cleaning, mainly to remove the oil from the surface, and it was ready for my first shave with the Fat Boy. I started out slow, found it quite mild at 3, and 4, then I settled at 5- it seemed to be just what I had wanted. I liked the higher dome of the head, I liked it being a bit more aggressive than my SS. I liked that it had a little more Ring to it when cutting than any of my other razors. I had four more shaves with it, even adjusting a little up and down to suit the mood, or a little more growth.
I was really thinking that this was the razor, this was it for me. As much as I liked the Idea of the open comb, or the Idea of a slant- I had found something effective, and comfortable. Feeling satisfied, I started to want to give the Fat Boy that polish I had skipped in order to get it into the rotation. There was still a bit of a film of mineral oil on it- as some hair had a tendency to stick to it after a shave. I decided to take it out of the rotation, give it another good hot soapy soak, let it dry for a day or two, and polish it with the MAAS I had for just such occasions. So, tonight I checked to be sure it was nice and dry, and see just how nice it could look. I got out the MAAS and some socks that I hated as socks, but were great for polishing. Immediately the polish made such a difference, and the only dark spots on the handle seemed to be polishing out. I put on the MAAS gloves I also had to finish up and really get in the crevices. The thing looked so good, it was really incredible. Only the numbering and the red indicator on the adjustment belied it's age. I'm not much for pics, but I entertained the idea of snapping a few to show my pride and joy to the small community here that would care.
And then I dropped it... and it broke.
I am not usually clumsy, but it only takes once. And before any well meaning types jump in to help- it is really broken.
This Fat Boy excursion has been darned expensive in the light of my total expenditures, shaving wise. I'm really at odds with myself on this. I liked the Fat Boy- A Lot. I'd really like to stop having to toss them in the trash!
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Really.
