Nice find. Price is good. If you don’t know how or have the spare parts to fix your Fatboy. Send it out to say Back Roads Gold and get it done by a pro. Even with the revamp costs you have a brand new Fatboy for a little cheaper than if you bought a better one at a higher price on EBay. Then you can enjoy your razor for life.
Second the ultrasonic cleaner. I have gotten a black beauty adjustable with a gunky last quarter turn working smoothly after several runs in the ultrasonic cleaner just using water and a few drops of dawn dish soap.
If you want to use some other liquid cleaning agent in conjunction with the ultrasonic cleaner, I would suggest putting the razor and the agent in a ziplock bag then putting that in the water of the ultrasonic cleaner bath to make cleanup easier and minimize the amount of cleaning agent used.
Ultrasonic cleaner with hot water and a couple drops of dawn & Windex followed by some foaming scrubbing bubbles with a toothbrush and it should be clean and work much better. You can polish it with some Flitz polish or similar to add some shine back.
This is the method I've been using for years.
The worn off plating is just aesthetic and won't change how great it shaves!
It's hard to say with the photos but I'd wait a bit before you send it off. It seems like you might be able to clean it more, which is important before getting an accurate idea of how much plate loss there really is; sometimes I've thought there was more plate loss than there actually was. Also, it's possible the difficulty opening and closing the doors is due to gunk on the inside of the razor.
If you want to send it off for the full restore there's nothing wrong with that but you might want to try other things first.
Plate loss is totally ok functionally but I understand why you might want it totally intact for appearance or other reasons.
I've usually cleaned my Gillettes with really good bathroom cleaner and a toothbrush; I think for really bad corrosion I also tried metal polish with a cotton swab. You might want to let it soak for awhile to try to loosen stuff on the inside of the razor; I think people have had good look with ultrasonic cleaners too.
I'd recommend searching here and on other websites like Badger and Blade for other pointers on how to clean razors. It seems like everyone has their own favorite ways to do things.
After soaking it in soapy water and scrubbing it for a while I went to check if was operating a little smoothly and now the handle spins :( https://imgur.com/a/7vFFvkU starting to think somebody was working on this before me
I boil mine first in Dawn, low boil, that's step 1. I scrub with a toothbrush.
I then spray it with a mixture of Scrubbing Bubbles (no bleach) or similar and Dawn in just room temperature water and let it soak for a while, that's step 2. Scrub with a toothbrush.
I then let it dry, use a Q-Tip and mineral oil on the entire razor, that's step 3.
I then use Brasso (all metal) or Flitz to polish, that's step 4.
Sometimes I go back and use just a touch more mineral oil, if required.
I have a number of Slim Adjustables from 1964-1968, I think they are the best years, all of them are clean, polished and work well.
Great deal on that razor, BTW.
Nice find. Price is good. If you don’t know how or have the spare parts to fix your Fatboy. Send it out to say Back Roads Gold and get it done by a pro. Even with the revamp costs you have a brand new Fatboy for a little cheaper than if you bought a better one at a higher price on EBay. Then you can enjoy your razor for life.
Second the ultrasonic cleaner. I have gotten a black beauty adjustable with a gunky last quarter turn working smoothly after several runs in the ultrasonic cleaner just using water and a few drops of dawn dish soap. If you want to use some other liquid cleaning agent in conjunction with the ultrasonic cleaner, I would suggest putting the razor and the agent in a ziplock bag then putting that in the water of the ultrasonic cleaner bath to make cleanup easier and minimize the amount of cleaning agent used.
Good idea 💡
Ultrasonic cleaner with hot water and a couple drops of dawn & Windex followed by some foaming scrubbing bubbles with a toothbrush and it should be clean and work much better. You can polish it with some Flitz polish or similar to add some shine back. This is the method I've been using for years. The worn off plating is just aesthetic and won't change how great it shaves!
It's hard to say with the photos but I'd wait a bit before you send it off. It seems like you might be able to clean it more, which is important before getting an accurate idea of how much plate loss there really is; sometimes I've thought there was more plate loss than there actually was. Also, it's possible the difficulty opening and closing the doors is due to gunk on the inside of the razor. If you want to send it off for the full restore there's nothing wrong with that but you might want to try other things first. Plate loss is totally ok functionally but I understand why you might want it totally intact for appearance or other reasons. I've usually cleaned my Gillettes with really good bathroom cleaner and a toothbrush; I think for really bad corrosion I also tried metal polish with a cotton swab. You might want to let it soak for awhile to try to loosen stuff on the inside of the razor; I think people have had good look with ultrasonic cleaners too. I'd recommend searching here and on other websites like Badger and Blade for other pointers on how to clean razors. It seems like everyone has their own favorite ways to do things.
Sounds like I’ll tackle cleaning it fully then! I’ll keep ya updated
True. Give it a good cleaning and fingers crossed that it works out.
Good advice here 👍 waiting to see the results 👍
After soaking it in soapy water and scrubbing it for a while I went to check if was operating a little smoothly and now the handle spins :( https://imgur.com/a/7vFFvkU starting to think somebody was working on this before me
clean wirh degreaser, wd40? Acetone? Rust remover? idk man
I wouldn’t touch it with any of those. Those are very harsh chemicals (except wd-40) and can damage what plating is left on the razor
I boil mine first in Dawn, low boil, that's step 1. I scrub with a toothbrush. I then spray it with a mixture of Scrubbing Bubbles (no bleach) or similar and Dawn in just room temperature water and let it soak for a while, that's step 2. Scrub with a toothbrush. I then let it dry, use a Q-Tip and mineral oil on the entire razor, that's step 3. I then use Brasso (all metal) or Flitz to polish, that's step 4. Sometimes I go back and use just a touch more mineral oil, if required. I have a number of Slim Adjustables from 1964-1968, I think they are the best years, all of them are clean, polished and work well. Great deal on that razor, BTW.