Look what I found!

[jbs33333]

My dear brothers in shaving,

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generous advice and camaraderie to date.

I found this at Mom's house. It belonged to my late father.

I think it's a Gillette Fatboy but I'm not sure.

I would appreciate any comments or tips regarding: what it is, how to clean it up, and anything else I should know.

Cheers.

John

 

[Mike H]

Congratulations on the heirloom razor. It is a Gillette Slim. There should be a date code on the bottom letter on one side (year) and number on the other (quarter).
For example J 1 would be 1st quarter 1964.

Clean with soap and water and a brush to start, see what you end up with.

 

[coolcanuc]

A great find, lucky you. Enjoy your new razor.

 

[FL shaver]

Great razor! Enjoy your heirloom razor. Hope it brings great memories!

 

[cheesepiece]

Good looking slim dude.

 

[Nadir M]

Enjoy your find!

 

[martym]

Wow! Clean it up and enjoy it.

 

[Redzone]

Great find, very nice razor to use too. Enjoy !

 

[A28]

soap and toothbrush

 

[Capslock]

Soak in hot water and some dish soap for an hour before you go at it with a toothbrush.

 

[Curlingfly]

Finding a 60's Tech and Superspeed while I was cleaning out my wife's grandparents house is what got me started in this whole hobby. I think the thought of me using them and possibly passing them down to my boys, gives my wife a connection to her past and future. Clean it up and enjoy it.

 

[jbs33333]

Gents,

Thanks, as always, for the kind words and advice.

I am going to try her out tomorrow. I am a wee but worried having loaded in a blade and observed the blade gap to be somewhat crooked and uneven on both sides. With a little manipulation, it appeared to improve. We shall see. In the meantime, any advice on this issue?

cheers.

 

[Bob L.]

Crud left in the areas around the seated blade can cause issues. Make sure you have removed all the old soap and anything else on and in the razor. Soaking it in a glass of hot tap water, not boiling water, with a teaspoon or so of liquid dish soap overnight will really loosen things up.Use a toothbrush on the insides, the top, the underside, and the sides. A toothpick works great in the tight spots.

Use lots of warm running water to flush out the handle. (Flush from the top and the bottom. A mouthful of warm water can be blown in from the bottom of the handle to force water through the handle.)

The doors should seat around the blade evenly when you twist them shut.

• Some Slims have a bit of side to side play. (end cap to end cap). This is not a big deal. (Just use your thumb and first finger to center the blade as you tighten it down. One of my Slims is in this camp.
• If, the razor's cap (the doors) or the razor's guard (the bar beneath the blades edge) are bent/dinged/out of skew you have a much bigger issue. Be very careful. Before using it, take a picture and post it. You'll get lots of good advice.

Don't forget to tighten it another quarter turn or so after you feel resistance.

Don't adjust when the doors are down. Open the doors a bit before changing the adjustment setting.

 

[Big Jim]

I followed the instructions found somewhere here on B&B to clean up a slim I bought recently.

Bring a pan of water to boil. Remove from heat. Add a drip of Dawn dishwashing detergent and mix. Drop in your razor and leave it alone for 30 minutes. Remember, don't boil the razor. Add the razor after removing heat. You will be amazed at what comes out of the razor. After pulling it out, scrub gently with a soft toothbrush. Repeat if needed.

I did mine three times, but the third time didn't yield much. A gunky looking razor ended up looking nearly new.

Someone mentioned shooting WD-40 down the inside of the handle if you have a particularly difficult one to clean after a treatment or two and then repeating. I did this when it wasn't necessary. As a result I had to rinse it extensively to get rid of the WD-40 aroma. Save this for the really bad ones.

 

[rxonmymind]

Congrats on finding a piece of family history. Really cool.

 

[phillylion]

Great find! Enjoy your heirloom--hope it brings warm memories.

 

[dieselfuel79]

...whatever you do, don't use bleach.