PERFECTA!

A while ago a grabbed off ebay a strange lot of very old SE razors.
2 French Lather Catchers and another I can not really recognize.
The Lather Catchers were of the PERFECTA brand.
One came with an oversized wedge blade, in poor shape.
I used a spine to hold a GEM blade in place.

The shave was very aggressive, as you can see from the picture, the blade gap and angle can be summarized with one word: YIKES.

Looking at it with the intended blade, you can see the design was not that aggressive.


After some fiddling, I managed to wedge GEM spine, to re-create the angle, with a GEM blade, like so:



I was a bit afraid to try it again. The previous time i got a small cut.
To my surprise, with proper angle, this became to be a fine gentle razor on one hand, but very efficient and smooth on the other.
A keeper for sure and an honorary member in a GEM rotation.

Plus it is a beautiful piece of art deco...


Cheers,

Erez

Congratulations and that is a lovely-looking razor.

Very cool razors and great photos too!

very nice. ShadowsDad might have some more information on the razor...I know he's very into the older SE razors.

Interesting find. Glad you were able to bring it back to life!

I have no info' on the razor, but I have to admit that it's a beauty! I did look it up in Waits Compendium, but it had virtually no information other than it was French. I have no personal experience with it.

You might try shimming below the spine to better mimic the gap that the wedge blade gives. From what you posted, and from what I saw, you were basically using a blade w/o a functional safety comb on the first shave. I like that type of razor, and it gives a great shave, but many folks look at it and instantly shy away from it. It's just a mind game if one possesses good technique . Do a search for SEvette to understand what I refer to. I know you'll find it on the TOST (The Other Safety Too) forum because at least 2 of us posted about it there. Maybe here also, I just can't remember where I posted it. Basically a SEvette is a SE razor minus the safety comb; just a bare blade held in place on a handle. Yes, it can be off putting, but with proper technique it gives a great shave, but I think I'm repeating myself now. Think of it as a hoe handled, and extremely sharp, cutthroat razor. It works through pure technique.

Thanks Brian.
I will take another look to see what else could be done shimming-wedge-wise.

I saw the SEVette ... I thought it was a bit over the top.
I have another razor that might qualify as one, without modding, that I am afraid to use.
I will post pictures later...

This was the 3rd razor in the lot.
With a blade in, the gap is so huge it is essentially a SEVette... I have not worked up the adventure to use it.

I had two prefecta shaves the last two days.
Started a little on the aggressive side for me, but then I realized I can tweak the aggressiveness.

When the blade touches the stops, it is still rather aggressive.



On the other hand, everything is held with friction against the clamps, so I just moved the blade backwards 2-3mm, it was still held secured in place.



I found a sweet spot where it became a very mild razor with no bite at all, just the way I like it. Even with a brand new blade, and those GEM blades are very sharp when new, it was a safe worry-free sale. A little difficult to maneuver under the smeller, but doable and it does not have to be perfect, Perfacta is plenty good for me.

So glad you found a way to use it! I like that!