The other night I won a vintage Valet Auto Strop razor for ten bucks on an online auction. I was wondering if anyone has any info on this razor based on these pictures the seller provided. I also bought some Feather FHS10 blades to use in this razor as well as a vintage strop for this razor. Advice on how you shave with this razor would be greatly appreciated.
Depending on which autostrop model it is, standard Gem blades work. ...and it shaves like any other SE razor. Did it come with the strop?
Hard to tell without seeing the side of the razor but it is either a VB1 or VC1 if it says valet auto strop razor on the razor head. If it just says Auto Strop Razor then it is what is called a B2 . Either way any of those models will work with a standard despined Gem blade. They also work with the Feather FHS-10 and FAS-10 blades.
The only real difference between a B1, B2 or VB1 besides when they were made is what is printed on the razor holder. B1 will say Auto Strop, B2 will say Auto Strop Razor and a VB1 will say Valet Auto Strop Razor. VC1 the razor head was redesigned and in turn shaves differently.
Only shave advice I can give with these is the lift lever for the blades tends to be all over the place as far as tightness goes. If that one is loose then you'll want to keep pressure on the lever with your thumb or find a way to stiffen it up so the guard doesn't want to drop while shaving.
I just got my Valet Auto Strop razor; it says Valet Auto Strop razor on the head. The back tab of the razor is not loose at all. Strangely enough on top of the case it says “Daily Kentucky New Era”. Anyone have any info on that?
Most likely a promo item from them and given out to people. Just a little history on them...... "The circulation of this newspaper is 9,121 per day. The Kentucky New Era is the main source of news for Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the major daily newspaper in Hopkinsville and the surrounding area. It was first published in 1869. It has a daily circulation of 7,809."
@Angelo85 , you got a good one there. Modifying modern Gem blades is easy, and they work great. You can use the Feathers, but I believe them to be over priced and short lived. Here is a video I made with one of my VB1 razors. I used a modified Treet blade for this shave.
Got my Feather stainless steel SE blades in the mail today and I easily loaded the blade in my Valet Auto Strop razor. I’ll let everyone know how my shave went with this baby tomorrow.
Angelo it looks like a C1 model Valet auto strop. It looks like my Canadian Valet auto-strop variant and it gives a reasonable good shave. I use modified Gem blades in mine and they are superior to the Feather FHS for longevity IMO. I will say the Feather FHS blade on first use does a fine job but it drops off quickly after that. (old archived photo) Have some great shaves!
Just had my first shave with the Valet Auto Strop; I used a Feather DHS10 blade, Proraso red soap and aftershave as I’m familiar with that as well as the Razorock Beehive brush (28mm synthetic). I did 2 passes, WTG & XTG and got a DFS shave with only a very tiny nick under my chin. I really thought this razor would be super aggressive with the amount of blade exposure; I found it to be rather mild instead. I did hold the razor almost flat against my face and used no pressure to shave with it.