I've been using a 40's Gillette Super Speed for over a year as my every day shaver. I have always wanted a Fatboy and I have recieved one. I shaved with it today and was a little let down with the shave that I recieved. My facial hair grows in heavy and the hair is rather corse. I did a three pass shave as I always do, WTG ATG and XTG. My neck was weeping blood pretty evenly around the entire neck. I had the razor set on 3. I had about a three or four day growth . I guess my question is what setting on the Fatboy is the same as the gap of the Super Speed ?
Here is a nice table over at B&B that you might find handy. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/inde..._Ranked_by_Aggressiveness#Table_of_blade_gaps
I slam by FatBoy all the way open to 9 when I use it and have not had any bleeding...I have to pay extra attention, but no bleeding. Did you use some kind of different angle? Did you notice the FatBoy is heavier?
Hi there, In my opinion, most super speeds feel like they're set at about #5 on the gillette adjustable scale. The red tip is a tad bit more aggressive, but not much. The mildest of super speeds would be the 1941 Ranger Tech, which feels like about a 4 to me. So that means there may be a problem or two when using the fatboy. It may be technique or maybe the razor, or both..........heh. If it's technique that's easy to fix, so lets start there. The fatboy shaves nothing like a super speed, and it may be you're gonna have to spend some time figuring things out. That's especially true after having used only one type razor for a year. The heads are different and so is the weight (and distribution). The technique for the fatboy might take some tweaking for 3-4 shaves. Now there's a few things that can go wrong with some Gillette adjustables. That includes overclocking, and uneven blade gap is another one. Check to make sure the blade's lined up evenly along the safety bar on both sides. There's a fix for that but I can't tell you what it is. It's a surprisingly common problem on the slims, but fatboys and super adjustables have their share. Comes from dropping the things, which is not so hot for a precision instrument that holds very sharp blades. Overclocking just means the dial has been forced around past the nine. In other words, if the razor has that problem, and it's set on #3, you're really shaving on 11 or 12. That makes for a tough road, and I speak from experience. The fix is sticking a paper clip into the little open area above the adjuster ring and pushing down on that spring (or whatever it is). Then twist the adjuster dial in the normal way and it should 'reset'. Actually, I'm not completely positive that's exactly right, since that happened to me years ago. One other thing to check is the blade being locked down. Most Gillette adjustable need an extra 1/4 turn once the handle is snugged down. You'll feel it when it happens, and you have to remember to do that each time you load a blade. Heh, I can also tell you that using a loose blade is another rough road. Well, maybe some of this will help in some way. The fatboy is different from just about all other razors made. Hopefully it will end up giving you a great shave down the road. Martin
Also, in addition to the above information about the problems with some old adjustables... some of them are no longer adjustable. These razors basically work by turning a stationary nut which moves a threaded rod pushing the bottom plate of the razor up and decreasing the blade gap. When you go the other way, the threaded rod falls and the plate should fall as well and increase the blade gap. However, on some of these razors, there are decades of whisker hairs and shaving cream forming a concrete like mixture inside the handle. When you turn the adjustment, the threaded rod may move; however, the plate is stuck in the uppermost position. This results in a situation where no matter how aggressively you dial the shave, the razor still works at it most mild setting. This can be fixed with a razor strip down (not really suggested) or a lot of cleaning with solvents like GoJo or Goop.
I can't say I've found blade gaps to be an accurate measure of aggressiveness, but that's just my opinion. But I think Martin is a least very close, Super Speed models are in the 4-6 range of a Fatboy in terms of aggressiveness. The blue-tip might even be milder than 4, but as I've never tried one I can't say.
Moving it to a 5 helped a lot as I did a touch up shave tonight I will leave it at 5 and shave again in a couple days. I think the problem was I didn't know where it compared to the super speed to start with and I had no bench mark to start with. And I adjusted my angle too.
Good to hear you're having success. The 50's Flare-tip is a personal favorite razor, but the Fatboy is one a few that are very close. It's very easy to use and gives great shaves when you get the setting dialed in right.
The fatboy gives me the best shave of any gillette adjustable, and feels near rocket hd smooth (by contrast, my slim feels "flexy"). The short handle might irk some, but if you hold your razors by the tip it's fine. I usually run it at 5, which is comparable to the rocket (and probably the same as ss's). I've not felt much difference running it wider, but anything less tends to underachieve. I wouldn't say blade gap was much of a contributor to aggressiveness, but it is a measurable difference between the various gillettes. If you apply pressure, the gap becomes important, but blade exposure is real aggressiveness. I shaved once with a #21 that had both safety bars bent down, the blade just stuck clear. Was a hell of a shave, though.
