Just picked up a Valet. I'm trying to figure out a few things as this is my first safety razor. How can I find out what year this was manufactured? What blades can I use on this? Will I be limited to valet blades only due to it utilizing the valet cut out on the blade it self to secure it? My leather strop is somewhat dry. Would it be a bad idea to try to treat the leather with some mink oil or some other leather additive to soften it? Thanks in advance! no pics because I do not have 5 or more posts.. lame
Can I inquire as to why you wanted a Valet? If you want to use it to shave with every day it's a bad choice. The razor and blades for it have been out of production for many, many years. You can still find vintage blades but they are not really ready to shave with. The razor with the cutouts requires Valet blades. There are models that can use modified current single or double edge blades. I have not had very good luck in sharpening the Valet blades and most of the guys that can shave with the Valet normally don't on a regular basis. I find it's more of a novelty. If you want to try shaving with a double or single edge razor I would suggest getting a Merkur or vintage Gillette DE razor. In any case welcome to the forum and good luck with whatever razor you end up with. Len
Board member iamdarkangel2005 is bringing us some Feather blades to the U.S. that will work in the Valet soon. I bought a Valet in anticipation of getting the blades and trying the razor. I am having trouble locating the thread he talked about them in right now though....IIRC, Etoyoc had requested them... Anyway, I have a Valet and I can't figure out how to release the old blade.
Oldguy, I bought blind. I got excited when I was in a military surplus store and came across a few safety razors in the glass case. The Valet looked so cool and it had everything included. I figured I would just take my chances. I usually have that type of luck of buying the paper weight when I don't do my research. I will look into the Gillette DE Thanks
Awesome, please keep me posted. I'm very excited to use it. I have some blades that came with it but they are all looking dingy. I'm not sure if I should even bother trying to refurb a blade or not; might be too much of a PITA. Do you have a small tab that says press?
I thought that may be the case. Actually anyone interested in the history of wet shaving should have a Valet, even if it's only to see the workmanship that went into it's production and the ingenuity of the design itself. I actually have three of them with nice stops and a few nos blades. Here's a video by Dave who has had some success in sharpening the Valet blade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQWrQ-xRWOg&feature=related Even though I have new blades, the same hone as he has and a good strop, I have not had good luck in getting them sharp enough. I did shave one cheek once but it pulled so bad I quit before any blood letting started. Please let us know how you make out with the Valet or whatever razor you start your wet shaving adventure with. It really is fun. Len
Len, that seems like a lot of work and now I know why there are 7 Day Wilkinson sets. You need to do this on Sunday so that you will have blades all week; otherwise, you would never get to work on time.
