Fatip oxidation after a couple of months!

Has anyone else noticed such quick loss of coating and oxidation on their Fatip razors? I use a Fatip comb on a Maggard MR5r razor, and the comb has lost a lot of its (gunmetal) coating on the top and bottom sides. Furthermore, there looks to be a lot of oxidation on the bottom, and some starting on the top as well.

Should I be worried about this? Meaning, will this become at all unsafe to use?

It's a shame, since my Maggard/Fatip hybrid shaves so freaking well. I might just send it off to Delta Echo Razors for a ceramic coat treatment...

pantoporos aporos said:

Should I be worried about this? Meaning, will this become at all unsafe to use?

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This looks to me like exposed brass, which is not dangerous to you. Gents here shave with vintage razors every day, many of them showing exposed brass where the plating has worn off. The razor is still safe to use.

Where did you buy this razor? The retailer may be able to help. If not you can keep using it as is. Or if the exposed brass bothers you, it may be cheapest to simply replace the razor. Replating or coating will probably cost more than a new razor.

I had two gunmetal FaTip Grandes and the finish started to wear off from the very first shave. On the handle as well as the head. They're brass so they will not rot away like the zamac heads and you could probably just polish the black off right down to bare brass like a vintage Gillette. Replating or coating is an option, but may cost as much as just buying another FaTip in nickel or chrome.

Thanks, if it is exposed brass I feel much better about using it! I bought the razor from Maggard's, whose customer service has always been good to me (not that I've ever had a big problem, just items that turned out to be out of stock, and for which they offered alternatives). But I'm not sure if I should put this on them... there's a part of me that wonders whether I've done something to strip the coating from the razor.

Laird said:

I had two gunmetal FaTip Grandes and the finish started to wear off from the very first shave. On the handle as well as the head. They're brass so they will not rot away like the zamac heads and you could probably just polish the black off right down to bare brass like a vintage Gillette. Replating or coating is an option, but may cost as much as just buying another FaTip in nickel or chrome.

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Ah, so the gunmetal coating is the problem! Makes sense... Do you have any experience with the nickel plated ones?

That is a shame about the plating. I was looking at purchasing a Fatip solid bar in the gunmetal plating...looks like i will be holding off on that. I am glad to see/confirm the brass construction, but I am slightly disappointed about the substandard plating considering that is one of the reasons why I wanted gunmetal.

I like my gunmetal Fatip, but I bought it knowing this coating is really too soft and wears away rather quickly. It is a unique razor in my rack and when the brass starts showing through it will be even more unique. If it ever bothers me, not likely, I'll OD it with GunKote like a couple other razors I have, or maybe have Chris do one of his super plating jobs on it.

I have the nickel plated Fatip Piccolo and have used it quite a bit for over a year and have not noticed any plating loss. Must be an issue with the gunmetal finish.

The razor itself will be fine but obviously the plating is fragile. I have a gold plated one and it's lasted fine.

It's the soap doing it.

I purchased a vintage silver plated mug in perfect condition just last week to put my soap into. Noticed last night after just a few days a green stain at top of the soap so I removed it. The soap had eaten away most of the plating on the bottom of the mug.

It seems like they paint gunmetal on brass rather than plating it. I personally like the look of polished brass razor.

Ozziedoc said:

It's the soap doing it.

I purchased a vintage silver plated mug in perfect condition just last week to put my soap into. Noticed last night after just a few days a green stain at top of the soap so I removed it. The soap had eaten away most of the plating on the bottom of the mug.

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Gnarly soap you're using!

I'd send it to Delta Echo for some of their magic.

pantoporos aporos said:

Thanks, if it is exposed brass I feel much better about using it! I bought the razor from Maggard's, whose customer service has always been good to me (not that I've ever had a big problem, just items that turned out to be out of stock, and for which they offered alternatives). But I'm not sure if I should put this on them... there's a part of me that wonders whether I've done something to strip the coating from the razor.

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YES, you should complain directly to hem. They should stand by their products, and unless you've been dipping your razor into sulfuric acid, this should not happen so fast! They may be able to ship you another one and you can see how it goes, it's worth a try, after all you paid for it....

nemo said:

Gnarly soap you're using!

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Razorock King of the Castle. Nice croap but obviously incompatible with silver plate.

I won't hijack the OP's thread so once I've taken some photos I'll start a new thread in Soaps.

The nickel Grande I have seems to be just fine.

Laird said:

The nickel Grande I have seems to be just fine.

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Good to know, thanks!

Fatip build and finish is a little random though someone did mention recently that the gunmetal finish had improved quite recently. Mine is a chrome plate job and I have to say that I have to messa round a little with alignment and the finish could be better but it does offer up a well mannered shave at the end of the day - and the price is right.

If they could spend a little more time ironing out quality issues, I'd give them top marks.

BSAGuy said:

I'd send it to Delta Echo for some of their magic.

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Yeah I'm sure they could get it looking boss. I just got two slims and twofatboys from them and I have to say, they came out wayyyy better than I expected (the photos looked schmick but man , these look absolutely fantastic in the hand).

I really want to buy one of these, either in gold or nickel but I have a feeling I am bound to be disappointed with the finish since I am used to Muhle products. Even my gold plated Merkur is not finished even remotely as well as my Muhles, if the Fatip is worse thats bad news

Its the Gun Metal. It's a pretty well known issue, stemming back quite a number of years. chrome and nickel are much more durable finishes.