I have gotten a good number of Autostrops in razor lots, and actually threw most of them away unfortunately. Besides NOS blades I was not aware of any way to make use of them. They are really cool razors, but they don't have much collectible value, and I couldn't use them, so away they went. A little while ago Dave told me that he had gotten some Feather single edge blades from our Paul. He said that they had cutouts so that you could use them in any Valet razor. I promptly ordered 10. I have been sitting on these blades for a while now, afraid to give them a chance, but I finally cleaned up a razor and gave one a shot. I wanted to offer a pictorial so that you can see how it works out. There are other types of Valets also, but this is the only one I had on hand still. Dave says they all work. Thank you Dave, I promise not to throw any more away.
Pretty well actually. I started off like a typical DE user and attempted my usual angles, ended up with a decent nic, but once I remembered what I was using and put it flat to my face like a standard single edge, everything was smooth sailing. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Yeah, sorry, Pauldog. Here is the thread where he has them for sale. They aren't cheap, but it is so worth it to be able to use these razors.
No. The few I have are in a very nice Bakelite cases with a matching blade holder, no strops though? I was thinking of the strops when I got them a few weeks ago and the case is compact enough that I can't imagine where a strop would go inside one.
They fold up and go under the razor, in the lid, or in a separate box. I think even NOS Valet strops are probably beyond using at this age. They did made a non-leather strop at one point. I'm not sure if it's synthetic or not. I might take one for a spin, but I think I'd get a new one made (right width and thickness) if I were going to use it on a regular basis. Or just get lots of Feather SE blades. I got some Feather blades from Paul too and have been meaning to try them out in my various models. Way back I did try a NOS Valet blade, the cleanest I could find. I wasn't very impressed with the shave, but back then my experience was limited.
