Razzia

[efsk]

@Clouds post in the new acquisitionsthread reminded me I had this funny French thing.
This one comes in a nice tin. Cutouts for the parts, pack of blades, instructions on the inside of the lid, neat and tidy. I had another one once, that I've sold years ago, that came in a plain very small cardboard box. This tinned example looks way better.
The razor itself is an unsightly aluminum thing, with a punched bottom plate, you almost wonder why why made it. Tin case must have been more expensive to produce.
Well, that question is answered by the black shim that has to be placed between the blade and the baseplate. That shim springs, and makes the razor stepless adjustable: the handle can be tightened more or less, creating a more or less large blade gap, while the shim keeps the blade tight. No markings, so reproduction of the preferred position is a bit on feeling, but you can replace all complicated adjustmentmechanisms by a simple black piece of metal..
Haven't tried it yet, maybe @Clouds can say something about the shave?

 

[gvw755]

So I am wondering what is flying in the air in that picture of the gentleman shaving on the blade wrap. Is that his whiskers or drops of blood?

 

[efsk]

I first thought he was crying, but I've come to think it's his whiskers.

 

[Clouds]

I'll add a few things.

The bottom plate has a recess which was obviously designed to accomodate the "springs" in the adjuster shim.

I thought that a heavier handle would be in order but the thread on the handle is non-standard. It looks like a 5mmx0.75 - so a full turn will open it up 0.75mm.

My shim has a very fine layer of oxidation, so I'll need to keep it oiled.

How does it shave:
In the interest of research (and my own curiosity) - I started with it closed and its mild. I immediately opened it up 3/4 of a turn. There is a fair bit of blade feel. Its a pretty good shaver, I ended up with a BBS after a 2pass plus some touch-ups.

 

[ehv]

I saw this razzia on the french ebay. The box is the same as the one shown by @efsk. The difference is you see the name perfecta. I have seen de razors before with this name. These were mainly Gillette old type copies, but also single edge wedge style razor. I think that I read somewhere that their straight razors were labeled St Joanis Arbost.

 

[efsk]

Nice. Maybe there's Perfecta underneath my instructions too, never tried to pry them out When I search a bit (bit much actually) I think I can find my Perfecta straight.