I make no secret about my ambivalence for the Gillette 195 Fatboy. I own many Gillette safety razors that I prefer to use. Due to the demand, I'm prone to flipping them whenever I acquire one in an eBay lot. I had this jacked-up Fatboy included in a lot I purchased in March that was not going to fetch much so I decided to have it restored. I sent it off to Razor Emporium (RE) at the beginning of April. I had originally ordered their revamp with nickel plating. I just got it back the last week of May. During the process, RE kept me in the loop via email during every step. Upon receipt to their Arizona facility, they emailed acknowledgement of receipt. At that time I decided to go with rhodium instead of nickel. A quick reply to RE asking if that was possible, $25 extra bucks later, and the deal was done. When I sent the razor off it was at about 25% brass exposed. The mechanics were wonky and it was of little use except for parts. RE emailed me about three weeks after receiving the razor to let me know that they were dissatisfied with the first attempt at plating and had put it back in the queue for a redo. I'm okay with the delay...check it out. Before cleaning: Now the reveal Check out the reflection on the doors. This thing is mirror bright. I cannot recommend Razor Emporium enough.
I think you will be very happy with the Rhodium plating. IMHO, it is much, much better than Gold, Nickel or Chrome. I had a slim adjustable done in Rhodium by RE about 2 years ago (back when people told me I was crazy for using them). They did an excellent job on it.
Wow.....that looks amazing. I'm in your camp as far as feeling a bit 'meh' as far as the Fatboy goes - I prefer my Slim over my Fatboy for instance - BUT, that thing looks fantastic. I really, really need to figure out what razors I need to have re-plated. I know that RE does a volume discount if you send them five razors or more...
Very nice. If you decide to PIF it, I could use a backup. I've been using my R41 for all but one day of the past month or so. That one day I picked up my custom Fatboy dialed in at 9 (which is actually two gaps higher than normal). I think I still prefer it to my R41, and not just for comfort. I think I get closer shaves with the Fatboy.
They did a great job on that razor! I might send in mine someday, so it is good to see examples of excellent work like this one.
