FOCS was the only razor I sold. It just felt weird, harsh and more tuggy than what I was expecting. I have the piccolo open comb and despite not being my number one, I find it smoother than the slant.
Why is my Fatip OC Slant such a let-down, going against all the reviews?
- Thread starter D92
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Pleased it worked out for you - I haven't used a Fatip for a while as I am on shavettes only this month. 20° was probably exaggerated, but I would say that the optimum angle for Fatip is definitely less than a Merkur head, probably works out about 25° or so in the end - I always have to make a conscious adjustment for it, as I naturally want to shave a little steeper.
I don't like slants in general. For me the problem is that I spent years perfecting a shaving method with regular razors utilizing slides, j-hooks, etc that just don't seem to work well with a slant. And by now it is hard for me to just shave without all those things, because they have become part of my muscle memory.
I had a Fatip piccolo years ago and I thought it shaved well. I sold it eventually, but just to fund mlre curiosity buys. It worked as well as anything else. I do agree that it has a narrower window and that it prefers a shallower angle when compared with many other razors. And their QC is legendarily spotty.
I had a Fatip piccolo years ago and I thought it shaved well. I sold it eventually, but just to fund mlre curiosity buys. It worked as well as anything else. I do agree that it has a narrower window and that it prefers a shallower angle when compared with many other razors. And their QC is legendarily spotty.
I went from a Mekur DE from AOS. Then a Mekur slant. A few years later I found a Gillette Old Type at an antique store in Port Angeles WA. Used that for years, with the cracks after being repaired. Going on 4 years now, I have two FaTips. A Piccolo for work and a Gold Grande for home. Just a steeper angle from the old types. I don’t mind the blade feel during the shave after a light adjustment.
Many moons ago, the Merkur 37/39C's were the only widely available slants. They were regularly purchased, initially praised, then found on the B/S/T. The standard Fatip I didn't keep long. With the blade almost directly on the comb, it seemed hard to get to the blade leaving no play. That and lacking the ability to mix and match handles with other DE's and the handle finish. Now that I have more experience I was tempted to repurchase one and I may someday. Perhaps if you revisited the razor in the future you may have a different perspective. Now I basically keep everything because it's cheaper and easier then to sell it at a loss and re-buy it again later.
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- #46
Thanks for the great replies everyone.
I took another close look at the Fatip and put it down on a few different flat surfaces. Turns out, it wobbles from side to side, also when tilting the handle to an approximate angle you would use when shaving. Perhaps some teeth of the comb are protruding ever so slightly relative to the others? The wobble is visible and also audible on the video below (you might hear the blade scrape the countertop as well; don't worry, I will load a new one for shaving
). The Merkur 39C seen in the second video doesn't do this.
And, when zooming in on the guard, a distinct curvature is noticable along its width.
So correct me if i'm wrong, but I assume this shouldn't be happening, regardless if it's a slant or not. Because it would mean that, even with precarious alignment of the blade with the guard, aiming for even blade exposure (and thus efficiency on your skin), it will not only justifiably be twisted to an oblique angle (the purpose of a slant), but also curved back/away from the shave plane, leading to the insufficient reach I described in my OP.
Am I imagining complications here? Or is this the spotty Fatip quality control I have read about? I don't mean to spread misinformation.
Let me also address the following points:
I took another close look at the Fatip and put it down on a few different flat surfaces. Turns out, it wobbles from side to side, also when tilting the handle to an approximate angle you would use when shaving. Perhaps some teeth of the comb are protruding ever so slightly relative to the others? The wobble is visible and also audible on the video below (you might hear the blade scrape the countertop as well; don't worry, I will load a new one for shaving
). The Merkur 39C seen in the second video doesn't do this.And, when zooming in on the guard, a distinct curvature is noticable along its width.
So correct me if i'm wrong, but I assume this shouldn't be happening, regardless if it's a slant or not. Because it would mean that, even with precarious alignment of the blade with the guard, aiming for even blade exposure (and thus efficiency on your skin), it will not only justifiably be twisted to an oblique angle (the purpose of a slant), but also curved back/away from the shave plane, leading to the insufficient reach I described in my OP.
Am I imagining complications here? Or is this the spotty Fatip quality control I have read about? I don't mean to spread misinformation.
Let me also address the following points:
You're right! I meant to write 'rinse' instead of 'wash'. And yep, I use a bowl precisely because of that reason.
Exactly what I did from the get go, because I knew that I couldn't just rely on muscle memory. But no dice.
Somehow I was! I couldn't find any Grande Storto/Slant with open comb available for sale. The online store I got the Piccolo from had its measurements specified which I compared to my 39C, and they came pretty close. The data must've been wrong.
Good advice, and will do once i'm convinced that the wobbly guard seen above isn't a problem.
My closed comb version (FCCS) has a very slight wobble too, unlike my ABS plastic PAA Monster slants which are dead straight. So maybe another Fatip personality trait that makes it so adorably special Not sure how it would affect the shave as the skin is pliable and will deflect with the slightest pressure from weight of the razor.
Lets hear if other FOCS users have this Fatip wobble feature.
Not sure how it would affect the shave as the skin is pliable and will deflect with the slightest pressure from weight of the razor.Lets hear if other FOCS users have this Fatip wobble feature.
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I compared my FOCS to your video, it is the same. I really don't think this is a defect. You have to consider the twist is helical, not a diagonal line. A helix traces the outline of a cylinder, a curved surface.
Not exactly, but your expectation seems to be based on a mistaken assumption that the slant should be in a straight diagonal line.
BTW, I had a good DFS+ shave today with the FOCS using a Feather on its 4th use. I'll try another blade in it tomorrow.
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I had another really good shave today with the FOCS using a Wizamet Super Iridium blade on its 1st use. This turned out to be a smooth combo for me.
@D92 maybe you could experiment with another blade that's a little gentler than the Feather. Something like a Wizamet Super Iridium, Gillette Silver Blue, etc. Keep a neutral shaving angle, very light touch and short strokes. Keep the skin stretched. That's been working for me, anyway.
@D92 maybe you could experiment with another blade that's a little gentler than the Feather. Something like a Wizamet Super Iridium, Gillette Silver Blue, etc. Keep a neutral shaving angle, very light touch and short strokes. Keep the skin stretched. That's been working for me, anyway.
one has to assume, given the price-point of this razor, that there will be tolerance variability, from razr to razor, and some will be great, and others not so much.
I'm guessing those that got lucky with a piece that performs well (like me),
are the ones that report liking this razor.
I'm guessing those that got lucky with a piece that performs well (like me),
are the ones that report liking this razor.
I have a FOCS with no alignment issues and I really like it. I also have a Piccolo with alignment issues but I really like it as well. I suppose it's maybe just a case of how much your willing to put up with such things.
Do you really think you or Dave or I couldn't get a good shave with @D92's razor? They can't be that different. I can't see anything obviously wrong from his pictures, anyway. Some people do better, other people worse with the same razor.
If @D92 still has any interest in Fatips, maybe he would have better results with a standard Grande model. Or the Testina Gentile.
I know I didn't want to try Feathers until I had a lot of experience with the FOCS. I used more middle-of-the-road blades with it until fairly recently.
It hurts me that a guy who can make such amazing videos gut such a ****ty Lo Storto/FOCS.
The gods of shaving or you by yourself should bestow you with a SuperSlant.
I dunno which level you would prefer, but I am fairly sure that I can dare to say that Italian Barber might not offer premium quality, but still much better quality than Fatip leaving QC regularly to the customer.
The gods of shaving or you by yourself should bestow you with a SuperSlant.
I dunno which level you would prefer, but I am fairly sure that I can dare to say that Italian Barber might not offer premium quality, but still much better quality than Fatip leaving QC regularly to the customer.
What exactly is wrong with it? Are there actually defects or rather mistaken assumptions about how the razor is "supposed" to work? It doesn't lift hair laying flat. Neither do other open combs. It "wobbles". The slant is a helical section, IOW curved at a fairly large radius. Curved surfaces are not flat.
Fatip QC has improved a great deal from years ago. Granted, they are not perfect, but let's not exaggerate the actual defect rate so we can bash on Fatip. I would not consider any of my four Fatip/Schone razors to be defective. They are inexpensive all-brass razors that perform great, at least for many people.
I am sorry to have stepped on your Fatip. Their quality is luck of the draw, usually the flaws are limited to the quality of the finish. In this case the razor seems to be a dud.
The OP claims it is defective. That doesn't mean it is defective. I am trying to be logical here. So far, the defect is "failure to satisfy incorrect assumptions".
Sigh. OK. Lemme blow out the candles, sober up and chase the floozies out...
[10 minutes later]
I said it recently, so I still remember saying it. "Slants are the razors that shouldn't shave." More than the usual number of moving concepts. But they do, in some cases excellently and in others maybe not so much. In the end there are far too many variables to pick just one and say, "Oh, fix that and it'll be fine."
For me they're beautiful. I've spent a few years using them nearly exclusively and I've begun to achieve great shaves. For other folks, they're a disaster or seemingly so. I'm not talking down to anyone, but the secret is to just use the razor. If it's not quite all you want, try a small change. Don't change multiple things at once, and give the change time to integrate (over a tuck, perhaps) before you decide it's not working. What I always think is, "It's not working right now which means it may work better later when I've built a bit more feel for the tool."
There's no criticism if you decide it's not for you. You know yourself. You know how you've worked to adapt to it. If it doesn't work that's a learning point, too.
I'm not a super fan of the FOCS. It's inexpensive, it's of decent quality, and it reflects a manufacturing aesthetic that is different from others. Those are good points. I get OK shaves with it, sometimes excellent if I put in the time to achieve that. A good razor, but that's in my own opinion and despite the wonkiness of it that occasionally gets in the way for me.
O.H.
[10 minutes later]
I said it recently, so I still remember saying it. "Slants are the razors that shouldn't shave." More than the usual number of moving concepts. But they do, in some cases excellently and in others maybe not so much. In the end there are far too many variables to pick just one and say, "Oh, fix that and it'll be fine."
For me they're beautiful. I've spent a few years using them nearly exclusively and I've begun to achieve great shaves. For other folks, they're a disaster or seemingly so. I'm not talking down to anyone, but the secret is to just use the razor. If it's not quite all you want, try a small change. Don't change multiple things at once, and give the change time to integrate (over a tuck, perhaps) before you decide it's not working. What I always think is, "It's not working right now which means it may work better later when I've built a bit more feel for the tool."
There's no criticism if you decide it's not for you. You know yourself. You know how you've worked to adapt to it. If it doesn't work that's a learning point, too.
I'm not a super fan of the FOCS. It's inexpensive, it's of decent quality, and it reflects a manufacturing aesthetic that is different from others. Those are good points. I get OK shaves with it, sometimes excellent if I put in the time to achieve that. A good razor, but that's in my own opinion and despite the wonkiness of it that occasionally gets in the way for me.
O.H.
D92 discovered something I had never noticed. And I'm a razor geometry nerd, in a small way. Nice job taking a close look!
OC slant models are fewer than SB models, but I have four at hand:
FOCS - wobbles
ATT S2 - wobbles (a little less than FOCS, perhaps)
PBOCS - wobbles, similar to S2
RazoRock Superslant 1++ and 2++ OC - no wobble
None of the SB models I just checked wobbles:
Merkur 37
iKon B1
iKon X3
RR Wunderbar
RR German 37
Maggard
I also started with the Merkur head as my first slant, but did not experience any issues with moving to OC slants, first with the PBOCS and S2, then later with the PAA El Fantasma and FOCS. And finally with the RR Superslant.
My FOCS wobbles on one side, but not the other.
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