Gillette Frankenfatty Pass-around

Captain Murphy said:

Outstanding, Sir! I assume he's holding up, mechanically speaking? Nothing has come loose or broken off? I am pleased to hear that your are having a positive shaving experience!

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Mechanically it is great, there is a difference in the blade gap (at any setting) between the two sides. I checked it again today and noticed at 1 the blade is almost on the safety bar. Then at 9 there is a good gap on one side and a much slighter gap (about a 5-7) on the other side. I did not have any problems with the shaves as it allowed me to use the milder side on my neck without having to adjust anything.

I think it is in as good of shape as it can be for right now though considering it's the frankenfatty

DaltonGang said:

What did you set it on? What kind of shave did you get?
Try the Feathers if you can. They just make the Fat Boy sing.

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Today I used it with a feather on 9! The audible feedback was much greater than what I experienced with the lab. I did 2 passes and had a CCS with one minor nick (from my ATG touch up) Even used the alum block today with no burn. I lathered with Mama Bears (i think bergamot lime) and kept it a little wetter than normal to increase glide.

DaltonGang said:

I am waiting. I mixed up some Arko infused with Almond essential oil, just for this.

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How do you infuse the soap? Melt it first?

shimsham said:

How do you infuse the soap? Melt it first?

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Never mind, I found the answer in this post:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/420604-Infusing-scent-into-soap?p=6639031#post6639031

DaltonGang said:

I took two tubes of ARKO, put them in the microwave for 15 seconds. I put about 10 drops of sandalwood oil, mashed it up good. I then formed it into a small plastic container. Great smell, very nice lather, great shave.

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Sounds interesting...

shimsham said:

Never mind, I found the answer in this post:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/420604-Infusing-scent-into-soap?p=6639031#post6639031



Sounds interesting...

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I updated the way I do it now. I grate the soap first. Then add the oil. I then microwave around 10 seconds. Just enough to warm it. Without the heat, it will not combine well. Then just mash it around like clay.

I received the Fatty today. took a quick peak at it and it looks good. looks like its been used, but that is to be expected. nice selection of blades in here too. I recently had a trade with another member for 20 feathers and a handful of other random things and the feathers (what I was waiting for) never showed up so needless to say I am looking forward to using this thing with a feather. I'm do for a shave first thing in the morning, so I will post sometime tomorrow with the first round results. thanks CAPT. this is a cool thing you guys are doin! never used a fatty before at all, so I'm in for a treat!

Andy, what is your plan of attack? Start slow at 3 or throw caution to the wind at 7 or be crazy at 9?

shaversnapper said:

I received the Fatty today. took a quick peak at it and it looks good. looks like its been used, but that is to be expected. nice selection of blades in here too. I recently had a trade with another member for 20 feathers and a handful of other random things and the feathers (what I was waiting for) never showed up so needless to say I am looking forward to using this thing with a feather. I'm do for a shave first thing in the morning, so I will post sometime tomorrow with the first round results. thanks CAPT. this is a cool thing you guys are doin! never used a fatty before at all, so I'm in for a treat!

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Outstanding! I am glad to hear he's making the rounds! So it is a little unclear to me on the blades that came...were there any feathers in there? If not, PM me and I will send you some so you can try em out I hope the shave goes well, please be gentle when closing the TTO knob, the safety bar plate has been soldered so over-torquing could result in the repair to fail, other than that, just don't let him send you to the hospital!

imatabor said:

Andy, what is your plan of attack? Start slow at 3 or throw caution to the wind at 7 or be crazy at 9?

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I intend to go middle of the road with 5 and see where that takes me. I will have to experiment a lot as I think I will only have about three shave with it before it's on to the next victim.

Captain Murphy said:

Outstanding! I am glad to hear he's making the rounds! So it is a little unclear to me on the blades that came...were there any feathers in there? If not, PM me and I will send you some so you can try em out I hope the shave goes well, please be gentle when closing the TTO knob, the safety bar plate has been soldered so over-torquing could result in the repair to fail, other than that, just don't let him send you to the hospital!

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sorry about the confusion, there is a whole pack of feathers in there, so I'm covered. But thanks for the offer. As far as over tightening, I did notice that when it got here it was locked down pretty tight and took some force to get open. Seemed like a deliberate design to me though. Not like a nut that's tightened to hard....more like a "meaty" click, like a last little bump to overcome to keep it from coming open mid shave. I will keep an eye on it though. For now, it's for for Frank to get a bath to be ready for tomorrow!

Alright, here it goes: (disclaimer, I have not been able to keep up with the reviews in this thread, so please forgive me if mine seems a little redundant)

so I had my first run with Frank today. I went into it with a clear mind and no preconceived notions. my SOTD is as follows:
Preshave-shower
Soap-MWF
Brush- B&B blue boar
Blade-Feather.
post shave- Nadda!

The first thing I noticed right away was that the blade exposure was different on either side. it was even, but one side stuck out more than the other. I wouldn't say it was significant, but it was enough to make for a slightly different shave from one side to the other. I didn't know what to expect from this razor, so I did this shave on 5. I have to admit, I went into this demanding a BBS.....and a BBS I got! Aside from having to pay attention to the exposure issue, it was a great shave. as far as the feather goes (never tried one before) i was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was. I hear all the time how some love it and others say they are rough. I'm happy to say that I am in the "smooth" camp. in fact, they were remarkably similar to my Bic Chrome Platinum blades.

back to Frank. I was very happy with the weight of this razor. having never actually used or held one before, I had no real idea what to expect. I know that many things that look heavy turn out to be super cheap feeling in hand, and vice versa. this razor had a great feel in hand, and was super smooth. (MWF didn't hurt ) even though I generally favor milder razors, I found myself staying to the side with more blade exposure......who knew??

I have to say, I'm very impressed with this razor (although, not so much that I would pay what people are asking for them). I have been party to two razor passarounds in the past before this one: Gem Clogpruf and a Cobra classic. I liked the Gem, but was sorely disappointed with Cobra, especially after hearing how highly touted they are. my face just doesn't respond well to that type of blade. in the end, I have to say that I am a fan of the Fat boy, although, this was only the first shave, so I will try to not put the cart before the horse.

BTW....the green trim is a nice touch Capt.

We still need some Canadians.

Shave number 2:

preshave-shower
soap- arlington
brush-omega 11126 boar
blade-feather(2)
post-Nivea ASB

had another pretty good shave this morning. I decided that I wanted to go a little crazy so I dialed the fatty up to 7 today. It was still pretty smooth, although the difference in blade exposure was amplified by doing so, and I definitely got the sensation of blade to face. It was slightly less smooth than Saturday, but I attribute most of that to the difference of MWF Saturday and Arlington today. As on Saturdays shave, no nicks, cuts or weepers, however I did get a bit of irritation on the neck. I think I just pushed it a little too hard and by the end it was a little raw, but nothing I havnt seen before or that some ASB wouldn't fix. All in all, I would say I got a solid DFS bordering on BBS. still liking this razor!

one more shave to go before I give my final feelings. Carry on.

I know my chance is coming, but does anybody have some input on first dial settings for me? I use a slim set on 8 for three passes currently. Just want to maximize my time with it by not playing around too much.

Nick

So here is the list as I see it. I have contacted Andy6228 and will have it in the post Friday, so one more shave with it for me!

CONUS
1.Andy6228
2. Nick55
3. JMurphy

Canada

1. JimmyTheChooch
2. Nick_O

shaversnapper said:

Shave number 2:

preshave-shower
soap- arlington
brush-omega 11126 boar
blade-feather(2)
post-Nivea ASB

had another pretty good shave this morning. I decided that I wanted to go a little crazy so I dialed the fatty up to 7 today. It was still pretty smooth, although the difference in blade exposure was amplified by doing so, and I definitely got the sensation of blade to face. It was slightly less smooth than Saturday, but I attribute most of that to the difference of MWF Saturday and Arlington today. As on Saturdays shave, no nicks, cuts or weepers, however I did get a bit of irritation on the neck. I think I just pushed it a little too hard and by the end it was a little raw, but nothing I havnt seen before or that some ASB wouldn't fix. All in all, I would say I got a solid DFS bordering on BBS. still liking this razor!

one more shave to go before I give my final feelings. Carry on.

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Lovin' the results!

Nick 55 said:

I know my chance is coming, but does anybody have some input on first dial settings for me? I use a slim set on 8 for three passes currently. Just want to maximize my time with it by not playing around too much.

Nick

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If you use a slim on 8 regularly, I would start at either 7 or 8 with the frankenfatty. It is likely comparable to your slim as far as the blade gap goes. The head geometry is a little different with the fatboys and slims so I guess that could change things up. I'll bet you cannot wait!

shaversnapper said:

So here is the list as I see it. I have contacted Andy6228 and will have it in the post Friday, so one more shave with it for me!

CONUS
1.Andy6228
2. Nick55
3. JMurphy

Canada

1. JimmyTheChooch
2. Nick_O

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Appears correct to me, Get ready, Andy!

Had my third shave with Frank yesterday. same results as shave 1 cause I went back to setting 5. heres the setup:

shower
C&E sandalwood (new formulation)
Omega 10098 "face broom"
Feather blade (3)
FrankenFatty on 5
Nivea ASB

so far, I have seen no degradation in the feather blade AT ALL. that considered, I went back from 7 to 5 on the dial as I really liked the first shave. I didn't really see a point going to 8 or 9 as 7 was pretty rough, so back to the comfort zone. on 5 this combo gives me just as good (or better) shave than anything else I have tried. great combo. I will be sad to see it go, but I'm glad I was able to take it for a spin.

on a side note, I know that C&E catches a lot of crap around here, especially after changing they're formula. its been a while since I have used it as I have a LOT of other soaps crying to be used, but this one spoke to me yesterday. I have to say, being the first "pricy" soap purchase I made, it was like going home. it was such a rich, smooth, creamy lather that was almost as slick as MWF, and I had no trouble lathering it. keep in mind that I used the famous "face broom" and I always load for a solid minute, so I had no shortage of soap to work with. all in all with Frank, a Feather blade and this soap........it was a good day.

Frankenfatty is a good shaving razor, not a beauty queen. It shaves like a FAT BOY is supposed to shave. I believe a Feather blade on setting 5 brings out a smooth very close shave, without being aggressively harsh.

How has the home plating been holding up? Also, how is the paint?

DaltonGang said:

Frankenfatty is a good shaving razor, not a beauty queen. It shaves like a FAT BOY is supposed to shave. I believe a Feather blade on setting 5 brings out a smooth very close shave, without being aggressively harsh.

How has the home plating been holding up? Also, how is the paint?

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Plating looks rough, but I don't really know what it looked like to begin with. I don't think it looks bad though, I kida like that Boba Fet look to things that have been well used. The paint in the numbers is showing some wear if I remember (I don't have it in front of me) but you can still see them clearly. The hex nut on the bottom however is starting to rust up a bit. I don't know how long this has been going on, but it might need to be addressed before too long. I'm gonna send this out to Andy on my lunch today, so if you want me to send it back to capt. For some service, I'm gonna need to know before noon PST.

Great shaver though, I totally agree with your above statement.

Alright, its on its way to Andy6228! I managed to squeeze one more shave out of it last night, and it was just as good as the rest. sad to see it go, but I'm glad I had a change to take it for a spin.

thanks everyone!

Tracking9505511137634304427347

The plating was very pitted before. Also, I had to remove the original plating. I could buff out the doors again, but it was never ment to be a beauty queen.

DaltonGang said:

The plating was very pitted before. Also, I had to remove the original plating. I could buff out the doors again, but it was never ment to be a beauty queen.

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I totally get it. I don't think any of us went into this pass around looking to use a vintage original. I totally dig the looks of this thing. I think there is a major amount of dignity associated with wear from use. it doesn't look abused at all, just used and loved.