So I know I will get strung up but here goes anyway, I have a cased fatboy F3 and I thought this was going to be the Daddy of all razors, How wrong was I. Now after 3 shaves 3 different blades Personna,Denby,Feathers, with the razor always on the same setting number 4. I am left with a shave thats well a little below par. My Futur and come to think about it my Super speed give better results every time, Maybe I'm just to picky but I can't see what all the hype is about as I have found it less than average every time. This is not a Fatboy bashing thread just my view on what I think is a over rated razor
No one will think you are Fatboy bashing, you just merely stated your opinion is all, I've read where others don't like the Fatboy too. This whole hobby is about finding out what works for you, and you have found out that the Fatboy isn't it. Now get ready for the offers to buy your Fatboy for $8.00.
<Raises hand> Seriously. If you want to offload the offender, I'm happy to help. PM me pix & a price.
If I only tried those three blades in a Fatboy, I'd think it was an average razor. Now, with an Astra SP, 7 O'Clock SE, or LORD Plat. the opinion changes strongly for the positive. It's also one of the few razors I found that performs great on both my face and head. FWIW, I'd agree the Super Speed is just as good of a face shaver as a Fatboy, but those are two of my favorite razors.
There is nothing wrong with not being super pleased with a fatboy. I have two, but they really aren't my thing. Not that I have decided what my thing is yet... Perhaps.. on the outside chance, it is a fatboy that isn't quite up to snuff. Here are a pair of problems that I have run into on these old adjustable razors. Open the silo and adjust to 1. Close the silo. Look in from the side and pay attention to how far the platform is from the silo doors. Now, open the silo, adjust to 9 and repeat. There should be a noticeable difference (on 9 the platform should be lower). On some old Fatboys and Slims (and prolly SA as well), the head gets so internally jammed with old shaving cream dried up, that they aren't adjustable and are stuck in the same place. Another thing I have found working on these older adjustables is that they sometimes get out of adjustment. With the spring pushed up, the adjustment knob can turn go through a few rotation, but only one rotation actually gets you the proper gap settings. If this is the case, you may not be able to go all the way to either 1 or 9 or the platform won't move and everything from 1-9 is the same.
I have been looking for a Fatboy for a long time and keep getting outbid on the bay. If you want to be rid of it let me know what you want for it and I will send it to you.
A very excellent first post! If all you've tried is 4.... I started at 3, then notched it up by 1 every shave until I got to 7. I found 7 was just that one notch too many, so now it stays locked on 6. But I would have never found that if I had not adjusted the adjustable adjustable!
I started on 3 then went to 4 but like I said the razor must have something to do with it otherwise 3 blades give the same result?????
Ok, Ok, Ok - what if I give you a brand new $5 for your fatboy; I assume that it is in its original case. Or, I have a slim 1971 black handle:happy097......
With all my adjustable razors I found the lower settings to be where the variability is. This could be due to worn mechanisms, but I think less blade deformation in general is the key. Pairing higher settings with forgiving blades improved my adjustable shave performance significantly. I use settings 7 or 8 all the time in my Slim and Fatboy, to mirror the aggressiveness of a Gillette Red Tip, and standardize my technique accordingly. Sure, it is more aggressive, but sometimes more is less. I now only need 3 passes resulting in less irritation. Using forgiving blades makes a big difference too. I get consistently smooth, great shaves from IP Reds, AstraSP, and 7 O'Clock Black. I can make Derbys work, but it takes more care. Others report that Iriduims, 7 O'Clock Yellow, and Dorco 301s work well too in these razors.
As I'm that one who disassembles the razors (FatBoy in particular) and even tend to autoclave them (Hello, Jeff! ) I presume that adjustment settings of this razor is not linear since there are blade support placed perpendicularly the blade surface that pushes it towards the silo doors which makes it bent, and since the distance between position hollows on adjustment dial ring are constantly equal, changes of the angles each of them correspond to are not. Err... I may be wrong
Which Persona blade? Red IPs, store bought, or other? I only started doing well with the Derbys since raising my settings substantially. For Derbys I go to #9. Never been brave enough to try a Feather. Saving that for when my technique is more established. Could be you need to try more blades, and experiment more with settings, and possibly other things too. After a series of bad shaves, sometimes just spending more time on basics, such as better prep, getting super lather, and going slow using extra short strokes, fixes many sins. Otherwise I might have sold all my razors for $5. Glad I didn't.
I saw the pics...That Fatboy was dissected...) I know Alexey knows, how a Fatboy works from the inside out... If you held a gun to my head, I don't think I could have put that F-B back together again...)