Rebuilding and Adjusting the Fatboy

[dbosch]

When I restored my Fatboy from the ground up, I couldn't find any instructions on reassembly, specifically ensuring the blade gap settings were correct. Most instructions I found said the assembly is the reverse of disassembly which isn't true unless you maintain all orientations of the parts when it is in pieces. I found the gaps listed on the B&B wiki and made up a process to set it. I would love to see how Gillette did it in a production setup, obviously with dies and other tooling that would make it easier and quick. Please send me your corrections and comments and I'll adjust. Enjoy.

Fatboy Rebuild

 

[JRL]

Thank you so much for the outstanding post. It may be the most fascinating posting I've read in my 4 years hanging around this place. And I've read a lot of outstanding posts. I really appreciate the excellent illustrations and instructions. It must have taken a lot of thought about just what to show and how best to illustrate each point. Brilliant! Unfortunately, the skills required appear to be far above my level. I have to confess that in my 60+ years, I've never before seen a 3-jaw machine chuck. But your illustrations make it totally clear what it does and why it's needed.

Thanks again for the education. I'm going to read through the step-by-step a couple of more times and maybe I can work up the courage to tackle a similar project.

 

[rxonmymind]

Wow! Bravo. An excellent tutorial that I shall keep for future use. Thank you VERY much for taking the time to take pics and share. Hat tip. Appreciate it.

 

[Copierguy]

Very well done. Thanks for your contribution. Hopefully it will save some Fat Boy from an untimely end.

 

[econjoe]

Excellent tutorial!

 

[jmdigmon]

This is excellent! Makes me wish I didn't say goodbye to my Fatboy.

 

[23eagle]

Excellent!

 

[froogle_jimmy]

Great work!! Very impressive and detailed

 

[mswofford]

Superb tutorial; All bases covered in detail! I'd like to see this put in ShaveWiki.

 

[Boaz]

Thank you very much for taking the time to put this tutorial together, it is very much appreciated if I ever pluck up the courage to do the same to mine I will have this standing by.

Cheers.

 

[Mr_Smartepants]

That's an amazing guide. Thank you.
I just wish someone would do something similar for a super-adjustable. Mine is out of adjustment since the collet on mine spun.

 

[Orion058]

That's an amazing guide. Thank you.
I just wish someone would do something similar for a super-adjustable. Mine is out of adjustment since the collet on mine spun.

+1 on that.

 

[MrAstro]

This post needs to go in the reference area somehow... Thanks very much for going to the trouble of posting it - very useful.

 

[Batman9402]

wow was going to take apart a slim to have cerakoted but looks like more work then i want to get into lol

 

[SemperNaut]

Awesome step by step, I was worried when it started with a Kool-Aid bath, but that was a great.

 

[dbosch]

Thanks for the comments. I'm an engineer and I'm hard wired to want to figure out how things work and why it was made that way. Putting this how-to together wasn't that big of a deal, the only thing was getting a hold of a spare razor to mess with. The catch is to not screw something up if you really want to put it back together again. I'm looking for a basket case slim and black beauty to do the same thing on. I only took mine apart down to the adjuster and left it alone because I only have one copy of each and they worked AND I didn't want to kill them accidentally.

 

[Xeno_basso]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

 

[cwnidog]

I don't know if I'll ever take a Fatboy apart, but I know I'll use this great set of instructions if I ever do. Thanks!