Grandpaw gave me his two gillettes. A 1960 fatboy & 1965 Slim. After cleaning them up real good & oiling them up, I'm disappointed. Tried the fatboy twice, the second time with an astra, on 5 & moved up to 7, like I never shaved. The Slim was real good & close except for the blood bath. Going to put them up as keep sakes & go back to my Parker which did real good with walmart personas. I got a sample kit of blades too, so the parker will get dialed in with the best blade.
Got grandpaw's razors
- Thread starter David37
- Start date
Try other blades, a different razor is like a different car, it doesn't work the same.
Leave them on the shelf for a bit and try them again in a month.
Leave them on the shelf for a bit and try them again in a month.
I'm a bit surprised that you had such a poor experience. I can certainly understand not favoring a particular razor, but it sounds like there may be something wrong with them. If you can't detect any mechanical problems, I'd strongly recommend giving them another try in a few months. It's amazing how, over time, your technique can change to favor razors which weren't good before. My experiences with both the Fatboy and the Slim have been nothing but good. Oh, and I hope you enjoy your sampler pack of blades. It's amazing how big a difference the blades makes.
I have a recently bought 1960 fatboy too and tried using it at 5 straight off, which was not good. So started at 1 and built back up to 5 over 5 days. This was much better.
I used it again this morning on 5 and it is very sensitive to any pressure you put on the blade, you need the lightest touch. With this I got a good result in 2 and a half passes with an Iridium blade and TOBS avocado cream.
I used it again this morning on 5 and it is very sensitive to any pressure you put on the blade, you need the lightest touch. With this I got a good result in 2 and a half passes with an Iridium blade and TOBS avocado cream.
A friend of mine tried to start at a high level and hacked his face. After many attempts to get him to lower the level he finally agreed and now uses 2 or 3 with his FB.
+1 on putting the Fatboy up and coming back to it at a later date. I've found the FB is heavy enough that just the weight from the head is enough to give me an extremely close and comfortable shave with minimal effort. Talk about no pressure!
- Thread starter
- #7
The Fatboy & the slim feel like they would be awsome. I just didn't get the results. I'll give'em another shot sometime. I think it would be the coolest thing ever to shave with my grandpaws razors. By the way, he told me he had just got them awhile back, new. When you're 89 1/2, I guess 1960 or 1965 is just a little while ago. He is pretty solid mentally but sometimes he talks about his WW2 days like it was last week.
Some of the guys here do the same thing.
I had the same experience with a Fatboy and then realized at a later date that the blade gap was very uneven...good one one side, insanely aggressive on the other. Might be worth taking a quick glance with a blade installed.
Ben
Ben
Yeah, sheesh!
I heard some guys doing that the other day at the Buddy Holly Concert.
+1 to putting the razors away, and trying them again in a few months.
Like Mark Twain said;
"When I was sixteen, my father was the most ignorant man in the world. By the time I reached 21, I was surprised at how much he had learned in five years."
Last edited:
I'm glad you've decided to keep them. Those razors should stay in your family, in my opinion anyway. Like everybody else has said I'd try them again in a bit and see if you like them.
.Svedge is right keep at them after you heal. Start off with the slim and double check it for any damage. If it all looks right start off on 1 or 2 and get a feel for the razor. After a few shaves start dialing it up as you feel comfortable. When I first got my slim I used it on 3 for a couple of months, moved on up slowly and now I shave at 7-9. If there is nothing wrong with the razor you will quickly learn to love your slim.
Back to the beginning here
Congratulations on getting your grandfathers razors. They are truly family heirlooms and will bring back memories of your grandfather in the future. May you be able to pass them on to your sons or grandsons some day.
Congratulations on getting your grandfathers razors. They are truly family heirlooms and will bring back memories of your grandfather in the future. May you be able to pass them on to your sons or grandsons some day.
I just recently got my grandpa's razors as a graduation gift from my grandma. I got a Fatboy and a later 60s black handled super speed. Unfortunately the Fatboy closes unevenly on one side, but it is still cool to have. I probably won't shave with them.
Hmm, some people are like that, Is anyone going to go see Saturday Night Fever when it opens on Friday?
- Thread starter
- #17
Tonight I tried a derby blade in the fatboy. Used an Arko stick, that stuff is pretty neat too. Anyway, started on 3, didn't get much contact. Relathered, go again on 5, better but still feels like it's just topping off the whiskers, like a 5 o'clock shadow. So relather and go at 7, now we're getting it done, but not a great shave. I did notice, though, it takes a different angle than my parker. I guess more practice is in order.
Is your Parker a twist to open (TTO) razor as well? I shaved with DE's for the first 6 months or so of wet shaving and never got a "good" shave with any TTO razors myself. I could shave fine with the 2 piece or 3 piece razors (merkur 1904, merkur slant, gillette old, gillette new, feather portable) but found the heads on all TTO razors too clunky to get much blade contact (tried a red tip, blue tip, 40's and 50's style super speeds, fatboy, slim, toggle). Just wondering if you may have the same issue I did but if your parker is twist to open as well then I could be way off
I loves me some Fatboys and some Slims.
Remember that in DE shaving you're not trying to get a close shave in one pass. You should be looking for reduction of stubble with each pass. If you put a sharp blade in that Fatboy, and you use it at the correct angle, one WTG pass followed by one XTG pass should get you a pretty close shave.
If it doesn't, you're doing something wrong. Go back to Mantic59's videos and give them another look.
Remember that in DE shaving you're not trying to get a close shave in one pass. You should be looking for reduction of stubble with each pass. If you put a sharp blade in that Fatboy, and you use it at the correct angle, one WTG pass followed by one XTG pass should get you a pretty close shave.
If it doesn't, you're doing something wrong. Go back to Mantic59's videos and give them another look.
Practice is the key! Enjoy your Grandpa's Razors I sure do enjoy mine.
