My Gillette Fatboy on #6

I opened my Fat Boy up to 6. And wow!

A little introduction. Gillette made the Fat Boy for just a few years. It is a twist to open adjustable razor. And is considered to be one of the great classic razors. Mine is a 1960 model bought from SafetyRazors.co.uk. It is replated and is in absolutely mint, brand new condition. That is a picture of it above.

The adjuster alters the aggression of the razor from mild through to very aggressive. It does this by increasing the blade gap, so each shaving pass takes a bigger slice off. Obviously go too far and it is slices of your face that will be coming off.

I started using the Fat Boy on number 1. Then, the next day number 2. And so on up to number 5, which felt quite enough, so I left it there for a few shaves. Till now. At number 6 I knew that I could put zero pressure on the blade (an Iridium), it had to just skim my face sufficiently to remove the lather (Proraso cream). Also I had to manage the angle properly to stop it digging in. To be honest this wasn’t difficult, just a matter of paying attention.

Well it was a revelation. I now know why they rave about the Fat Boy. Just two passes and a bit of touching up and my face is softer than a babies bottom. Impressive, but more impressive was the way it dealt with the difficult bits, like the back of my jaw. These are now just as smooth as the rest of my face, something that is normally pretty difficult to achieve.

This real shaving is fascinating fun. Here my ceremony had a little challenge and the satisfaction of a job well done using first class tools.

2 Comments


  1. nice razor in perfect condition


  2. This Fatboy doesn’t have a rubber ring under the dial, is that common for a 1960 model?

    ps

    Great blog with clean information thanks Bruce!

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