Saturday I bought the Valet razor shown below at an antique store. I'm trying to find a resource online which will tell me which model this is, but I'm not having any luck. Does such a resource exist? Otherwise, any help on the model or type of razor this is would be appreciated.
I think you have the model VC3 1934-1940 I think? , as I guess you know it takes a proprietary blade. Feather makes a SE blade that will fit however. Did you get the strop with it? There is also a review on the 4 types (VC1,VC2,VC3,VC4) of AutoStrops on the "shave my face(SMF)" forum by a guy called "ShadowsDad". And a guy named D. Irving has a youtube video on how to modify a Gem SE blade to fit the VC1. Apparently he's an AutoStrop guru from what I've read. I hope this helps you out some.
The guy your talking about is Dave. I had the pleasure of talking to him about Valet razors, before he dropped off the radar. If you search through this site and possibly SMF, you will get a bunch of info. As for blades you can use, I have a pretty good review of that HERE, and I believe there may be a link to Rodd's review in the thread also. From the looks of yours, I don't think you'll won't be able to use the feather blade because of the peg on the "E" (see below - Feather on top of Valet blade). However you can still find valet blades around. I know some people still use them if you have a strop. Beautiful find!
Great find, mate! Got one just like that. Great shaver. Enjoy! When I stumble upon a VC1 I might just try that one as well because it takes the modified Gem blades (better priced blades!).
Thanks for the input, Luke. One thing, though...was that double negative on purpose? I just want to be clear on what you're saying.
Go to www.stropper.com and enter Valet in the block that says Enter Search Word, Letter or Leave Blank It's a pretty good resource.
There's a lot of them listed but I didn't see any that matched mine. This would be the closest (bottom one) http://www.stropper.com/home/stropper_view_details.php?id=812 And there's one shown here that seems to match under VC3 varations: http://www.stropper.com/home/stropper_view_details.php?id=1378 Except mine is made in Canada. None of the Canadian models listed matched this one. There were two US models that only had pictures in the box, so they may have been close too. I guess I'll call this a Canadian VC3 model and be done with it.
Oh well, I did order a pack of the Feather blades that may or may not fit this. If it doesn't fit this one, it may fit the one my brother is giving me. He has a US Army issued Khaki set that he got from a old friend of my Dad's (long since passed).
I've acquired a UK made VC2, with a ball end handle, and I'm awaiting some Feather blades for it. It was in its nickel plated box, and I think a good find at GBP 3.99. Whether it will take it's place in the rotation I don't know. The Feather blades are a bit pricey! Like 5 Savages I'll know for sure that Feather blades fit when I try them. It looks good in my cabinet. A little plating loss but it cleaned up well. I'll post a pic!
The Feathers have fit in all of my VAS razors. In one it will only fit one way, if I flip the blade over it won't.
3, and I have a Van Dyke so I'm shaving less area. When the Feathers I have are gone, I doubt I'll purchase any more. I'll just stick to using the early Valet's that take de-spined SE blades.
Well, the blades arrived and I had my first shave this morning. It was pretty good, quite a mild shave. I'll see how many shaves I get out of the Feather. I don't think it will be my go-to razor, but it was fun shaving with such an old piece of metal. I do like the fine appearance, with the moving parts and gear-wheels!