Fatboy February - 2016 Edition

Welcome to the second annual Fatboy February. We did this last year and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I've also gotten a few PMs this year from people eager to do it again.

Come and join us in celebrating these wonderful razors this month. It doesn't matter whether you plan to use it the entire month, or just want to pop in with the occasional SOTD. All are welcome.

At a minimum, drop by and let us know

1. Date Code of your Fatboy(s) you plan to use
2. Setting(s) Most commonly used
3. Picture(s) of the Fatboy(s) you plan to use
4. Any other interesting facts about your Fatboy. Is it an heirloom? Was it found in the wild? Was it a gift? Has it had the Captain Murphy treatment? Any replating? etc.

I'll try to log everyone's entries as they come in. If you want to post SOTD info here, it would helpful if you included your month-to-date statics in the post (how many shaves this month) If you want to add a tagline to your signature to indicate participation, let's use FBF16.

Last year I was very good about updating statistics daily and collecting a lot of information. It was fun to do, but I'm not sure I will have as much time this year. I'll plan to update the number of shaves every few days, but I'm going to rely on everyone else to keep track of your month-to-date stats when you check in.

Last year was a lot of fun. I hope you join us.

I'll start. Here's my beauty. She's a 1960 F2. I received her in a generous PIF from [MENTION=81059]bjtiger75[/MENTION]. I'm still not sure what possessed him to part with it, but I'm sure glad he did. It was my first vintage. I probably would never have bothered to try a vintage razor, much less the 195, if I hadn't won that PIF.

I shaved with it 3 times, going from 4, to 5, to 6. None of those shaves were particularly special, and I was actually starting to think I might get rid of it and stick with my slant. On a whim, I decided to crank it up to 9 and go for it (on my head, as I'm primarily a head shaver). WOW! 3 weepers, but nearly DFS with a single WTG pass. The second XTG pass left me with a near BBS, in only 2 passes. I had never experienced anything like it.

The next shave I backed it down to 7, thinking maybe it was a little too aggressive at 9 due to the weepers. Not close enough. I then went back up to 8. Still not close enough. 9 was the sweet spot, so I turned it back up and left it there, hoping I could figure out how to wield this beauty without bloodshed. Nary a weeper the next 6 shaves. I had found my favorite razor.

I then shipped it off to Captain Murphy for a good cleanup. While he was there, I asked him if he could apply some special touches with some paint that I knew he probably had around from a previous project of his. He also gave it custom blade gaps two levels higher than normal. The result was christened the Jolly Green Giant, and is still one of my favorite razors. I only have 3 that get used regularly for extended periods of time. This is one of them. I'm currently doing a no-buy 2016, but on my radar for next year is a 1958 model (I hear there's something just a little bit different about that first year razor) that I would like to keep with standard blade gaps and get cerakoted (maybe with my Arizona State Sundevil colors)

The Jolly Green Giant 1960 F2 195 Adjustable Fatboy with Custom Blade Gaps

I guess my user name could have just as easily been "Fatboy Addict" or something similar.

A Fatboy on 5 with a Gillette Silver Blue is DE shaving Nirvana!

After seeing so many videos of guys using their Fatboys and reading all the praise the razor got I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So I started checking out auctions on Ebay last month. It took about a week of getting outbid since I wouldn't go over $40. It's a 1959 E4 in good mechanical shape. Don't plan on getting a replate. Have been using it at a 5 and getting great shaves.

Here's a pic with one of favorite brushes and soaps.

First off, thank you for hosting this again, Garrett. It's a lot of fun, and I enjoy reading everyone's experiences with this wonderful event! I'll also be taking part in the One Blade in February with a blade that I personally haven't used, which is a Derby Extra.

I'll have to post a picture of my razor, blade, etc later on a we have a snow day here, and I'm helping to watch our daughter while her mom completes an online class for work.

I bought this Fatboy a while back from a member here on the boards, and it came with its original case for $30, and a 1962 Gillette Slim for $25. One of the best purchases I've made, to be honest.

It never received treatment from Captain Murphy or replating from Chris, though I'm planning on that at some point for my other Fatboy.

My setup will include the following for the two events:
1959 Gillette Fatboy
Derby Extra razor blade, which is my first Derby ever
Semogue Owners Club boar in cherry
Lafe 6oz alum block

I'll also be deciding on my shave cream from rotation as usual, along with my aftershave.

Penknight said:

I'll also be taking part in the One Blade in February with a blade that I personally haven't used, which is a Derby Extra.

Click to expand...

Ok, people are no longer allowed to call me crazy for shaving my head with wide open adjustables, R41s, and DEvettes. Are you hoping to push it all month? I can get one or two decent face shaves from a Derby. But I have a goatee, and I do a single pass WTG on my face.

View attachment 631950

This is my 1960 (F4) Bottom Dial Fatboy that I found with my son locally. I have only used it once, 7 on the first pass and 3 on the second using a Vintage Gillette Blue Blade. Its a beast! No irritation whatsoever.

PaneledZero said:

This is my 1960 (F4) Bottom Dial Fatboy that I found with my son locally. I have only used it once, 7 on the first pass and 3 on the second using a Vintage Gillette Blue Blade. Its a beast! No irritation whatsoever.

Click to expand...

Wow, a bottom dial in the wild. Excellent find. I'm pretty sure we only had one bottom dial last year (and no toggles, although technically those were the royal cousins of the Fatboy). I live in the phoenix area, and there are enough of us around now (including the folks from Razor Emporium) that the few antique stores get looted pretty quickly. I do live near a retirement community, but haven't ever had the time to check out any estate sales.

Great Garrett!
Thank for hosting such a good time last Yr. I am in for FBF16, however if it Ok, I moved to straights most of the time now, so I will pop in from time to time.

Here is my FB

1961 G1
set on 7 always

Razor belonged to my FIL, and had been hidden in a box since the early 70's as he moved on to electrics, carts, etc. Has not had any plate work and is in the original condition my wife found it in, with box, insert and instruction. So heirloom for me

gwsmallwood said:

Ok, people are no longer allowed to call me crazy for shaving my head with wide open adjustables, R41s, and DEvettes. Are you hoping to push it all month? I can get one or two decent face shaves from a Derby. But I have a goatee, and I do a single pass WTG on my face.

Click to expand...

Heh, that's the plan! I'm going to use what I've learned from Bosse and what I've learned on my own to see just how far one of these can go. I tend to add extra water to my creams which hydrates the hair more and adds extra shaves per blade. I was able to get 14 shaves with a Gillette Silver Blue using this method until I accidentally dropped my blade, which just made me sad.

This time around, I'm considering sticking to my two best performing creams for consistency, but I know that I won't be able to maintain that as I enjoy testing out different creams, brushes, water ratios, etc. I'm incredibly excited to find out just how this blade performs for me, and how far it can go.

On a side note, the blade that I really wanted to use all month was a carbon steel Treet Blue Special. Because of rust, I'm only able to manage one shave before rust forms on the edge. If I can find a way around that, I'll push it as far as possible, too.

You know I'm in, and thanks for hosting this one again!

Hi Garrett, thanks for hosting this sounds fun. I'm in.

I've been lucky enough to find 4 Fatboys in the wild so I will use a different one each week. I will post a pic and quick background story each week. I will also be participating in one blade February so I will be using the same GSB all month and switch between razors.

Oh, this is the one that I refer to as 'The Equalizer'. ;-)

Okay Garrett and gents assembled, here's my newly acquired, garden variety F2 from a vendor on the Bay. I paid for the convenience of it having been restored and replated with bright Ni, but it would have cost me about as much to have bought one in good vintage condition and had the work done. This way, I got it ready to run and looking great!

Only used it for a handful of shaves, so far, and only on settings of 3,4 and 5. It now takes its place in the den with my other four vintage Gillettes. They are a TECH triangular slot, and NEW, both SC and LC and SLIM H1. I could say that I'm satisfied, having the ones I sought, but somehow I kinda doubt it!

Hi Garrett thanks for hosting Fatboy February2016!!
I have 5 Fatboys I've picked up in the wild. I'll be using Echo-4 pictured below most of the time.
Last year I tried a new razor blade every day, not sure what I will do this year. I did get a bunch of samples in a PIF I just won yesterday maybe I'll try different shave cremes every day. Anyway looking forward to using my Fatboy all month.

The ones I'll be using:
An E4 dated one that I got from a member here. Its was overclocked, but the Captain fixed me right up:


I did not find this one in the wild, it was Ebay, and it was cheap due to some plating loss on the head. It was mechanically perfect, but needed a facelift, so I sent it to Razorplate and Chris hooked me up. He took these pictures. Before:

After:


I used to use setting 5, but found out I actually like the lower settings. I plan on using some vintage blades, as well as trying out Gillette Nacets in these.

gwsmallwood said:

Wow, a bottom dial in the wild. Excellent find. I'm pretty sure we only had one bottom dial last year (and no toggles, although technically those were the royal cousins of the Fatboy). I live in the phoenix area, and there are enough of us around now (including the folks from Razor Emporium) that the few antique stores get looted pretty quickly. I do live near a retirement community, but haven't ever had the time to check out any estate sales.

Click to expand...

Thanks! It was a fun day. My little guy likes to go out and look.

Yeah, I know Matt, and some of the others down in Phoenix. I know of one guy who has found 3 Red dots, one with original box and instructions. A buddy of mine here in town (Spokane) actually found a cased bottom dial with no instructions, he paid nearly nothing for it too.

Looks like your plan for the retirement communities could be good with estate sales, its just being the first one there!

I found my Fatboy at an antique store last fall. Got it for $10.00. It's a 1959 E3. I had to clean on it and it turned out quite nice. In the future I would like to have it re-plated. I like the setting on 3 or 4 with Astra Sp blade. I plan on using a Personna Blue with it and experiment the dial settings.


Below are the before and after pics.

Looks like a great candidate to re-plating.

Here's the list of participants so far. Let me know if I missed anyone.

1. gwsmallwood
2. Highspeedlane
3. nelsonic21
4. Penknight
5. PaneledZero
6. skypsyd
7. Rasputin
8. troy
9. beamon
10. Inari7
11. jcoguer

One more week to make up your mind to join us.