Atelier Durdan N°7 razor pass around.....

Hello Gentlemen,

The razor arrived safely today from Shave Souffle . Excited to take it for a spin tomorrow and use it to start off the new year.

Pass around update....

N*7 Pass Around list:
1. GlazedBoker - North Brunswick, NJ - Completed
2. Phoenixkh - Gainesville, FL - Completed
3. cigarman - St. Louis, MO - Completed
4. rocket - Denver, CO - Completed
5. Dragonsbeard - Webster, NY - Completed
6. Dtownvino - Philadelphia, PA - Completed
7. Keto _ Aurora, MO - Completed
8. Spacemonkey42 - Williamstown, MA - Completed
9. Calm_Shaver - NY, NY - Completed
10. Big_T - King,NC - Completed
11. ewk - Goose Creek, SC - Completed
12. Bbssboss - Boston, MA - Completed
13. wyze0ne - Farmington Hills, MI - Completed
14. Marhos24 - Armada, MI - Completed
15. Stickshift - Chicago, IL - Completed
16. jbreakfield - Daphne, AL - Completed
17. Rudy Vey - South Plainfield, NJ - Completed
18. Lesser - Chappaqua, NY - Completed
19. Dave in KY - Williamsburg, KY - Completed
20. Shave Souffle - Sarasota, FL - Completed
21. Emg06 - L.I. NY - in hand testing

Happy New Year!

Started my adventures with the No 7 yesterday. 

Some initial notes on the razor. The build feels very solid and I personally like the styling of the razor. 

Interestingly compared to the handles for La Faulx et Vestige this is a much heavier and chunky feeling in the hand. Also, in the initial two uses that this handle doesn’t have a natural spot for my hand to rest. Also I feel that the balance of this razor is towards the handle. 

The flat top of the head is deceptive, as it really causes a large curvature in the loaded blade.
 



I ended last year using the 0.7 mm plate and found it to be very comfortable for a 3 pass shave. I found the razor to be fairly noisy at a steep angle and very quiet at a shallow angle. I’ll need to keep playing with it a bit to figure out what the ideal angle is. 

Today I started this year off doing a one pass shave with the 1.5 mm plate. It is aggressive, but not scary and I got a great shave without any blood letting. I think I’ll probably go back down to the lower gaps moving forward as I just don’t see myself using this plate very often.


Hope everyone is having a great start to their year. 

Happy New Year and Meilleurs vœux!

Day 3 of in-hand testing. Still liking the looks of the razor. I like the symmetry and balance of the aesthetic. While I still feel that the razor is handle heavy, finding the balance point has been easy and by the third shave today it felt quite natural. I’m still experimenting with the angle of the head.  I used the 1.1 mm plate today for a two pass shave. Did a side by side test using steep and shallow angles in my mustache. Again steep was much noisier and had a closer cut after one pass than the quieter shallow angles after two passes both sides were similar. I felt more confident in my strokes during the shallow angle and was a bit afraid of getting a nick on the steep angle but again made it through the shave safely. 

Tomorrow I’ll try the 0.3 mm.

Alright. Got to use the 0.3 mm plate for a three pass shave this evening. It was a unique experience. For such a low blade gap, there was quite a bit of audio feedback, which was actually very helpful when combined with the negative blade exposure. Went for a neutral shave angle and had an easy time of it getting as close to BBS as I typically do on my face, but leaving some whisker patches on the jawline. Some buffing would’ve taken care of that, but I decided instead to let it be. This plate is very mild, but the auditory feedback is nice when you’re dealing with a plate that has little blade feel. It acts as an independent “sensor” for the shave. Rather than the “did I load a blade today? Guess I’ll find out when I touch my face” experience we get with some other razors (like some of my Techs). 

Will probably move back to the 0.7 plate tomorrow. Thinking I’ll play with changing the handle next.

Using the 0.7 mm plate for a 3 pass shave. Didn’t shave yesterday so this handled 48 hours of growth without difficulty. I agree with the others on this thread who say the ideal angle is around neutral or just shallow to neutral. Got a very smooth and comfortable shave with no drama.

Alright. Got to use the 0.3 mm plate for a three pass shave this evening. It was a unique experience. For such a low blade gap, there was quite a bit of audio feedback, which was actually very helpful when combined with the negative blade exposure. Went for a neutral shave angle and had an easy time of it getting as close to BBS as I typically do on my face, but leaving some whisker patches on the jawline. Some buffing would’ve taken care of that, but I decided instead to let it be. This plate is very mild, but the auditory feedback is nice when you’re dealing with a plate that has little blade feel. It acts as an independent “sensor” for the shave. Rather than the “did I load a blade today? Guess I’ll find out when I touch my face” experience we get with some other razors (like some of my Techs). 

Will probably move back to the 0.7 plate tomorrow. Thinking I’ll play with changing the handle next.

Interesting idea of using the audio feedback as a sensor.  

I also had the thought of trying a different handle with it, but grew to love that handle so I didn't bother.  I'll definitely be trying different handles once my brass No.7 comes in.  I'm counting down the weeks as AD site stated 6-9 weeks of lead time.  Since I ordered 11/30 we're only at 5 weeks...

Today I played a bit with the handle. Kept the 0.7mm plate No7 head, but put it on my titanium La Faulx handle with the sandblasted finish. I actually enjoyed this configuration quite a bit. The razor was much lighter and more nimble. Using the auditory feedback, I avoided pressing too hard and had a nice 2 pass shave. I really prefer the balance of this set up to the provided handle, but that likely reflects a personal preference for a razor that’s lighter.