Unique Pass-Around of Vintage Leresche #77 Razor

1st shave today with the Leresche. Special thanks to @filobiblic for the opportunity to try out such a rare and interesting razor.

I am not going not go in to a long winded review here but simply share my initial impressions. Once I have given the razor a decent run I will be better placed to provide a more in depth analysis.

Initial impressions are that the razor looks intimidating. The blade gap looks to be amazingly large. I loaded the razor up with a Voskhod as I usually find these to be a great middle ground blade, reasonably sharp but also reasonably forgiving. Upon loading up the blade one notes that not only is there a lot of blade gap but there is also a lot of blade exposure. The blade appears to bend considerably however with the cutting edge facing fairly steeply towards the safety bar and sitting well inline with it as well.

I was surprised to find that the razor is really quite mild and actually not as efficient as I would have initially thought. One tiny weeper on the chin and only the smallest amount of feedback from the alum in a couple of the places that are known to be regular offenders. 3 passes resulted in a nice easy close shave and I was reasonably impressed.

As mentioned above this was only the first run and I am reluctant to give an over the top review just yet. I will share some more thoughts over the coming days :)
 
3rd shave with the Leresche today and I thought I would share some further thoughts on the razor.

@filobiblic PM'd me as he was surprised to read that I felt that the razor was mild. He noted that in his experience the razor requires a somewhat different angle to work effectively and I concentrated on that for the second shave. I was also able to take a little more time on the second shave and whilst I found the corredt angle quite easily I still did not feel that teh razor was performing as well as it could. For this morning's shave I swapped out to a Swedish Supersteel blade which I find to be a little sharper than the Voskhods. The change of blade reminded me how much difference using the right blade can mate. I had guessed that the Leresche would benefit from a sharper blade and was spot on. Today's shave was smoother than the previous shaves and actually felt milder on the face but the result was significantly different. The razor showed itself to be very efficient and I was happy enough that two passes was suitable for the work day ahead.

One or two more shaves with the razor and I will be passing it along. I did note that today marks one year since I started my wet shaving journey and as a result I have a couple of special shaves planned out over the next few days so it will be back to the Leresche on Sunday or Monday for my final thoughts :)
 
Great review @nsavage (y)

I think you should try out Ladas - the best middle ground blade for any razor ;)

On a more serious note, I was also very surprised, how mild/smooth/forgiving but definitely not ineffective the razor is.

If you feel up to it, maybe close it up fully and then loosen the knob a tiny bit. Or shim the blade, to simulate old thick razor blades...
 
alfredus said:
Great review @nsavage (y)

I think you should try out Ladas - the best middle ground blade for any razor ;)

On a more serious note, I was also very surprised, how mild/smooth/forgiving but definitely not ineffective the razor is.

If you feel up to it, maybe close it up fully and then loosen the knob a tiny bit. Or shim the blade, to simulate old thick razor blades...
Click to expand...

Echoing the praise for some good thoughts @nsavage

Good comment @alfredus on the thicker older blades. I enjoy using vintage blades in this razor -they work a treat.
 
Well I missed the thread but thankfully Phil put me on it as you lads know i did a SOTD vid and i have to first say a thousand thanks to Phil for including me in the pass around. Initially the pics he uploaded and the first sight in the hand i thought WTF then using it was a massive surprise a really great razor i can see why he holds it in high regard. Agressiveness was nothing like the level I thought it would be the blade was easy to load and the balance of it in the hand was comfortable. I kept the angle initially high on the cheek so not to ruin what ended up to be a really great shave, i likened it in agressiveness to my Feather ASD1 which im in love with so this Laresche was on the money. I gave it 3 passes with a Vodskhod Blade and kept my usual style on each pass unchanged and found it worked well with no tugging and no nicks incurred except for a pimple on my throat no fault of the Razor. Thouroughly enjoyed many thanks Phil
 
Thanks for you comments and for giving it a go @FatBoy58 [emoji1417]
 
@filobiblic apparently 28mm width at the base of the bars.
As a reciprocal and humble gesture for a loan of the Leresche 77 (Frankenstein) is there any of my razors DE or SEs that you would like to try?
 
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