I bought an old fatboy on ebay. Old, beatup, cruddy condition. After spending couple of days trying to clean it up with solvents etc i finally gave up and put it into my sandblasting box. I was expecting to see steel inder the rust and plating, but instead i am seeing yellow / golden finish being revealed when rust and nickel get removed by the blaster. Does this make sense to anyone? I stopped before i do something stupid... I thought these were made from steel... empty razor weight 87 grams. Thanks ahead
Or...the fabled golden 195, lost since 1960, has finally been uncovered! That means he wins the unclaimed grand prize of the Boston plant VIP tour and a lifetime supply of Gillette Blue Blades! (just kidding, pcm, it's brass but you got a classic razor there. Welcome to the Den)
(Apologies for going Basic on information. Don't want you to give up on what is a great razor!) Well loved Fat Boys with the nickle plate wearing off are often refereed to as "brassy". As long as the adjuster spins (the ring just under the base plate with numbers on it) and changes the blade gap & the bottom TTO (twist to open) knob makes the top doors open and -important- close including the crucial 1/4 turn lock down then you've got a functional piece of shaving history. Look under the base plate and find the Gillette logo. On one side of the handle will be a capital letter, other side is a number between 1 & 4. That's the manufacture date code. If you have stuck bits or crud, give it a soak in hot water and Dawn dish liquid. An old tooth brush is plenty aggressive to clean off stuck on soap scum. Should you wish for deeper cleaning, ultrasonic jewellery cleaning machines or Scrubbing Bubbles (I haven't used this - isn't there one that's OK, another not so much?). If anything is sticky, mineral oil or baby oil dripped down the center tube & up from the bottom knob helps lubricate and may assist in breaking up interior crud. Follow with a dish soap wash to remove oil from the outside.
I have a Fatboy that I picked up at a local flea mall. It is showing slight brass in the knurling due to wear. It gives it character.
Time for an update... been busy last few hours. The Fatboy did come apart... i convinced the nut to loosen... I gently sand blasted the parts and an now eletroless nickel plating them. Still need to take apart the head assembly. I might do it or skip it... I am tempted to make this a custom plate job and leave the two dials brass with no plate. What do you all think about that?
That's your decision to make. I, however, would choose to replate the entire razor. Mainly due to fact that I'm under the impression the unplated brass could corrode. Sent from my Nokia 6.1 using Tapatalk
The early ones have a couple tiny holes that let you insert a tool to unscrew the bottom nut. Not sure if the later models are threaded or crimped. Here's the parts breakdown, although there may be variations from Patent to manufactured units. You are beyond most folks skill level if you are doing your own plating. Take photos and post! (I'd like to learn more ) It's your razor, do as you please. I'd be curious to see to see a Fat Boy stripped of nickel. My old NEW Long Comb lost all it's plating, but it looks great when I shine up the brass.
I already have many parts plated, so you won't see it completely without nickel. However i am planning to leave the 2 dials stripped.
Several folks on this forum have razors whose parts are plated with different metals; it can look really good. But I do think the unplanted brass will tarnish. Some people like that look, or of course you could keep it polished.
If the razor finish is grungy and you want it to look shiny and new, why not send it to Razor Emporium for restoration?
Because i am a nerd and i can/want to do it myself. Here is the original condition: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gillette-F...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 If all goes well, i'll be posting pictures of the cleaned up version later tonight.
They are brass. What specific alloy I wouldn't know but they should be a low zinc composition like the ones used for water pipes or musical instruments.