Gillette Fat Boy 1960

I've only tried it once but the quality of my shave was passable but not perfect. The dome of the silo doors are too high to fit under the nose. I had it adjusted all the way to max and it still wasn't really enough.

Also, I love the weight but I found it to be a bit heavy in comparison to similarly built, better shaving razors, ie, the Slim Adjustable. I believe the Slim addressed the shortcomings of this razor. If this were the only razor I had, however, I know I could depend on it for the rest of my life.

Despite it's shortcomings, this is, by far, the most beautiful razor made, in my opinion. Display worthy.

Of the 42 safety razors I own, my 4th quarter 1960 Gillette Fat Boy is easily within the top 5. It is built like a tank! It does an outstanding job on my 75 year old beard. I use a setting of 4 with a Feather blade, and a setting of 5 with milder blades. It is an engineering marvel that I highly recommend.

At the setting of 1 I felt nothing. Went to a three for the second pass, and it was smooth but left a lot of stubble. went to the 5 setting and finished ATG. By noon I could feel the stubble. I used a new Blue Bird, that in my Merkur HD consistently produces a BBS. I'll try a new Feather tomorrow and see if it helps.

I want to like this razor, so I'll keep trying blades and settings, and see what happens.

I thought it was looking like I'd pretty much be strictly a Merkur guy till I got a nice Fatboy. I'm impressed. Blade brands I'd written off as not for me seem to have become useful with the adjustment capabilities of this razor. Now I am not saying the various blades became interchangeable, or that every blade can be made to be a good match for *your* face, but a blade or two that were too aggressive in my Slant or 38C were knocked down a peg or two with the Fatboy's adjustments, and became usable. And my best blade, the red pack Personna, is just a joy set at 5 on the Fatboy.

Other findings: 1) I love the handle - plenty to grip and no reason to slip. 2) Any TTO in good working order deserves a "10" for ease of loading. 3) can't rate aggressiveness on a simple scale: it's as mild or as aggressive as you want to make it.

There must be a reason so many people seek these things. It's just a fine design, IMO.

im waiting for my fatboy, hopefully i get good results

I too wonder what all the fuss is about. I can say that it has amazing weight and feels wonderful in the hand. That being said, it's not quite the quality instrument I thought it would be. I got one used off the Bay, where they're going for ridiculous prices if someone so much as says that they used Barbicide to clean it. I got it home, cleaned it up, used my own Barbicide, and settled in for what should have been the Cadillac of shaves. Then I noticed a flaw in the razor. It's one of those things I guess you're supposed to ask about before you buy, but at the same time, it's terribly indicative of a design flaw. Oddly, my razor does not adjust the blade to the same height on both sides of the razor. One side will be normally gapped, but the other will be at a slant. The adjusting mechanism pushes up 4 metal prongs through the bottom of the razor. For some reason one of mine is lower than the rest. I suppose that's cool and all, but I'm really not looking for a facial fade. I know that most people would say that I got a lemon, but with a solid metal instrument such as this, it doesn't even seem that such a flaw should be possible.

The shave itself was pleasurable because of the weight of the handle. But, the head is bulky, which makes it more difficult to manuever. It takes some time to figure out what setting to put the blade on. I guess if you got a pristine Fat Boy without adjustment problems, and could figure out your setting, you'd really have something (buying the one razor will let you determine what's right for you rather than experimenting with several others). That being said, I really think my Gillette TV Special is a better shaver, does not have an adjuster to worry about, and also feels great in the hand (but of course, not quite as good as with the Fat Boy).

In my zeal to keep up with the Jones'es I purchased this one on ebay for $60 (ouch) to add to my collection. It was the best one i could find not over $100 in over a weeks of searching. Having never used one and after hearing such good things about them, it's arrival was highly anticipated. When it came I marveled at how such an antique could be in such good shape after what appeared to have been heavy use. Then came the test by fire. Loaded with a fresh derby and used with some Trumpers Rose, i got at best a mediocre shave.

I've tried several blade and cream combos since then with different blade adjustments all getting similar results. I'm not sure what it is, maybe the fatter than usual head, but I just can't get a decent shave from this model. The basic fixed blade Techmatic is a different story. That shaves like a dream.

The cool factor on this model is right up there, but IMHO it just doesn't cut the mustard when it comes to getting the job done. YMMV...