Last Quarter Turn on Adjustables - Always 1/4 turn?

I recently came upon a small collection that contained four Fatboys. In the process of cleaning and fondling them, I observed that the "last quarter turn" varied from about 30 degrees to nearly 180. Is this much variability unusual? Are the "looser" ones signs of wear, and are the "tighter" ones in need of more cleaning?

I plan on having a couple of the worst ones replated, and I want to make sure that I pick the right ones to turn in the "best" ones.

Have the doors stopped moving completely at the point you are starting the locking 1/4 turn?
Oh and make sure the adjustment dial is set to the same number on each razor. 1 would be closer to 1/4 turn 9 would be more than 1/4 turn.

When you are in and moving through that "1/4 turn" zone, you will feel a slight resistance. When the knob stops at the tightening end of that zone, don't go any further. Although from razor to razor this zone may vary by a few degrees, I'm pretty sure the Gillette engineers just wanted to make sure the heavy handed didn't try and apply a full revolution or two of torque.

It's interesting how phrases like "1/4 turn" get started and then become so deeply ingrained into the subculture that people accept it as a chiseled in stone truth. The lock down turn varies depending on the adjustment dial setting. On all of my adjustable Gillette razors, setting 1 produces approximately a 1/6 lock down turn and setting 9 approximately 1/3. So, lower setting equals shorter lock down turn.

My personal opinion is that if you were to have received a Fatboy for your birthday in 1960, you would find that the lockdown turn was probably much closer to 1/2 a turn and that that turn would take much less force than you think.

I say this based on my experience with Fatboys and Slims in various conditions. My experience is that the closer to NOS the adjustable is, the easier that final 1/2 turn is. Adjustables with more history, shall we say, are closer to 1/4 turn and it tends to be harder to turn and less distinct when you reach the actual spot where the razor is "locked."

ras120 said:

It's interesting how phrases like "1/4 turn" get started and then become so deeply ingrained into the subculture that people accept it as a chiseled in stone truth. The lock down turn varies depending on the adjustment dial setting. On all of my adjustable Gillette razors, setting 1 produces approximately a 1/6 lock down turn and setting 9 approximately 1/3. So, lower setting equals shorter lock down turn.

Click to expand...

This explains it! Yes, I should have been more methodical in my experiments.

Those FBs with the longer turn might also need some more cleaning - there could still be some gunk interfering with the movement of the mechanism that you feel as resistance.

Go West Young Man said:

Those FBs with the longer turn might also need some more cleaning - there could still be some gunk interfering with the movement of the mechanism that you feel as resistance.

Click to expand...

I think it's the opposite. The ones with the short, difficult turns need cleaning. Pristine FBs lockdown very easily.

kingfisher said:

I think it's the opposite. The ones with the short, difficult turns need cleaning. Pristine FBs lockdown very easily.

Click to expand...

Yes, this was my experience as well while going through the process of cleaning 6 different adjustables this weekend.

It depends on what setting you're trying to lock it down. setting #1 and setting # 9 dont have the same turn.