1959 (E- 1) Fat Boy tear-down, cleaning, etc...

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@KeenDogg and @imatabor, i couldn't find a better place for this. Feel free to move it if it needs to be elsewhere.

I just received my first Fat Boy from the bay. If you happen to be eBay member "number10bear", you have my sincere gratitude.
I will be taking this razor apart, cleaning it, an maybe replating with nickel (ambitious, but it would be SO FUN!)
I will be following the guide for Fat Boy disassembly found here:

Take Down: Fat boy comes apart

I'm a pretty handy guy and know my way around a pair of pliers, I enjoy modifying things and putting together models. I say this to give you an idea of my skill level.

Here she is after tearing off the padded envelope.

As I said, this is a 1959 Fatty, so it has the unscrewable end cap. There ARE instructions for the later models to be found on this site.

How To: Late Fatboy and Slim disassembly

I will NOT be doing one of those, and from what I understand, it is more difficult. As always, what you do with your razors is none of my business, so I am not responsible for anything that happens. That being said, if you need help with your razor and I CAN help, I will. Just ask me.

Here we go.

Step 1:

 

[imatabor]

I just received my first Fat Boy from the bay. If you happen to be eBay member "number10bear", you have my sincere gratitude.
I will be taking this razor apart, cleaning it, an maybe replating with nickel (ambitious, but it would be SO FUN!)
I will be following the guide for Fat Boy disassembly found here:

Take a lot of picture and walk us through it. Look forward to seeing how all this turns out.
Good luck.

 

[Graybeard57]

Looking forward to this.

 

[maybe smith]

As with other interested members, I will be watching right along as you update.

 

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Step 1:

These are the two holes on the end cap of the early model Fat Boys. Making the tool is easy. Grab a small butterfly clip

Remove one of the "handles" by squeezing. Grip the thing with a pair of pliers like so:

and bend the little end bit 90 degrees with another pair of pliers.
Repeat this on both ends.

Bingo.

 

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Step 2:
Remove the end cap by turning left (counter clockwise) using the tool. Be aware that there IS a spring behind there, but it's not too bad. It took about 3 or 4 full turns to remove mine.

 

[Gnomeo0228]

Cool! This is going to be very fun to watch

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

 

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Step 3:
Remove the doors, hinges, and the connected rod. This is the rod that the end cap is threaded onto.
It's going to take some effort to pull this rod out. Mine "released" and I thought I had just ruined a Fat Boy! Not the case, thankfully! Do take caution at this step.

Luckily, mine is very clean. Woot!

The hinges will need attention.

Soap scum.

 

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Step 4:
Create the gap. Now, in the write up I am following, it says to turn TO 9, press the spring and rotate TO 1. I had NO luck with this. I rotated mine to 1, pressed the spring in with the tool, and rotated the dial back TOWARD 9. This gave me a gap between the dial and the baseplate. The other direction (9 to1) did not. I don't know why mine is different than the write up. I don't know if others are. I know this worked for me.

1 to 9. I released the spring here and kept rotating toward 1.

Here's where mine stopped.

 

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Step 5:
Removal of the head.
The write up makes this sound like the Parting of the Red Sea. I'm a bit afraid.

Ok. I'm attempting to twist/pull the head from the handle. I'm hoping that I can get somewhere. I don't really want to take the other route.

Not working... ****! The problem is that I really don't want to remove the tto knob. I'm entering into a world of pain.

 

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Step 5.5
The Hard Way...
I am attempting to give an accurate account of this disassembly, so I hesitate to just run out to the garage and start removing things with whatever is handy. I don't like it when I read a write-up only to find the use tools which I don't have and can't get.

I went to the garage and found that a size 4 metric Allen wrench fit well into the hole in the head.

At this point, I deviated a bit from the write-up which I'm following. I put my razor into the vise so that the head rested on the arms.

I used a rubber hammer because it was there, and whacked the #4 metric Allen wrench a few times. The handle dropped into the rag I had in there (as in the write-up) and OH MY GOD ALMIGHTY WHERE IS THE RED SPRING?!?!?!?!? NONONONONO!!!!


Oh. There it is. Whew!
#heartattack

This accomplishes what twist/pull would have.

Cue Jim Varney again...

At this point, I need to decide whether to remove the tto knob. It presses back I to place, so I'm not terribly scared, but I don't want to hurt my handle. Still, I think that if I'm going to do this properly, it needs to happen.

 

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I am going to try and remove the tto knob and other pieces of the handle tomorrow. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using Tapatalk

 

[bear-man]

Thanks for the writeup! Can't wait for the next adventure.

 

[BigJ]

TERRIFIC THREAD! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Highspeedlane]

Great info.

 

[GlennConti]

Great thread! Keep up the good work...

 

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I had previously mentioned that I was considering replating the Fat Boy. I would love to try this, but to be honest, I have wanted this razor for too long and care for it too much to risk an unsightly finish due to my own inexperienced and often heavy hand. I have sent emails to various replating businesses. I am hoping that I can find one to replate my razor "as is (in pieces)" so that I can put it back together and give as much detail as possible. We will wait and see, but I won't be replating THIS razor myself.

I appreciate all the encouragement from my BnB family. This is my first write-up, so I'm trying to do it right. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

I've nearly had enough coffee this morning to continue with the disassembly. I'm going to make the wooden jig described in the write-up which I'm following. 8 inch piece of wood with a half-inch hole drilled in it. Saw a slot from the end of the piece of wood to the hole and 2 inches past it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - o- - - - - -
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if that makes sense. I'll post a picture when I complete it.

 

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Step 5.5 (B)
I made the jig and removed the two remaining pieces from the handle.

First let me say that my jig is nothing like the jig which is in the walk- through I'm following. I tried to make that one and it didn't work for me. 1/2 inch is too big. Here is what I suggest:

I used a piece of 2x2 about 4 inches long. I drilled a 1/2 inch hole and cut the whole thing in half. I ended up sanding the cut surfaces because 1/2 inch is too big. I SUGGEST A 3/8th inch hole.

Insert the handle between the pieces

and press TIGHTLY a vise. TIGHTLY. It took a good bit or whacking on the #4 metric allen wrench to get the knob to pop off. More than I thought it would.

Again, use caution here. You're going to be beating on this part of the knob.

That little slot is where the rod (which turns the doors) goes through. A tight for of that rod is good. It prevents play when opening and closing the doors (using the knob). I did a dry fit of the rod after I knocked the knob off. I had to whack it to get it on, but it worked perfectly well.

The collet came out quite easily. One firm whack knocked it out.

 

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Step 5.5 (C)
The black ring
This ring is VERY VERY THIN and WILL come off if you are VERY VERY CAREFUL. I bent mine slightly and am nervous, but hopeful.

I recommend that you use something (I used a small pair of pliers) to WALK it off. VERY slight movements will prevent shattered dreams and hysteria.

That's all the pieces removed from the handle.

 

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Step 6:
Take the doors off of the hinges.
This is fairly straightforward.

I used the same small pliers to grab the hinge and remove the door.

That's it! Done! We have now taken the Fat Boy down as far as we can. All of it will now get the greatest cleaning it's ever had.