Worth getting a Valet auto strop?

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I have been intrigued for some time now by the Valet auto strop razors and would like to add one to my collection, however it comes with a caveat, i'm only interested in getting one if i can use it to shave with, i'm not interested in collecting razors that are to all intents and purposes display items.

So having seen a few on ebay i'm wondering are there still blades available that will fit these?

Thanks.
 
I have been intrigued for some time now by the Valet auto strop razors and would like to add one to my collection, however it comes with a caveat, i'm only interested in getting one if i can use it to shave with, i'm not interested in collecting razors that are to all intents and purposes display items.

So having seen a few on ebay i'm wondering are there still blades available that will fit these?

Thanks.
Some of the earlier ones will take an Gem blade that has been converted to fit or you can use the Feather SHS-5 blades that are available at Connaught Shaving. The later ones will only take NOS Valet blades and Feather SHS-5 blades, so these old razors are still very useabale .P
 
You can still get blades to fit Valet razors.
The blades are called FHS-10 and can be found here: http://connaughtshaving.com/fhs10.html
Make sure not to get the Feather FAS-10 carbon blades. They are rubbish.
Quiz: The Feather blades don't have the word VALET cut out, but HAâ–¡NE. What does HANE mean?
Ha-Ne is the pronunciation of the Japanese word ç¾½ - which means Feather.
 
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You can still get blades to fit Valet razors.
The blades are called FHS-10 and can be found here: http://connaughtshaving.com/fhs10.html
Make sure not to get the Feather FAS-5 carbon blades. They are rubbish.
Quiz: The Feather blades don't have the word VALET cut out, but HAâ–¡NE. What does HANE mean?
Hane is the pronunciation of the Japanese word ç¾½ - which means Feather.
I had often wondered what Hane was all about! Thank you for the education :) P.
 
I'm not a a fan of the FHS-10 blade so find I use the VC-1 more than my other Valets as it takes a de-spined Gem blade.
 
Valet had made awesome razors, remember to keep a very swallow angle.

The one on the left is a B1 model (1916) and needs a despined GEM blade, it also has adjustability . About 56grams.
The one on the right is the latest VC4 model (1940) with safety bar , and works with a Feather FHS-10. About 67grams.

Both provide smooth and effective shaves. The VC4 is a lot smoother thought. If you find one mind the plating it's very sensitive so don't use strong detergents or metal particle abrasives .

Model B1 (1916-1919) Model VC4 (1940-1946).jpg
 
How does it adjust? Similar to a W.S. Empire, a screw changing blade exposure?

It alters the exposure of the blade by pressing down the lever that locks the base plate into position . It's very simplistic but thoughtful (and it actually works).
The Wilkinson Empire Sets is a different kind of animal , thought it does provide adjustment , i found extremely difficult to hone the blades properly .

Found a scan with the instructions, but its not very clear.
valet1.jpg
 
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Greetings

The early model Autostrops are not adjustable, certainly not in the proper sense of the meaning, you can move the blade back a little away from the blade stops using the normal opening lever but this is not adjustment proper no more than unscrewing the handle of a three piece DE razor a quarter of a turn is adjustment. There is no proper method like the Wilkinson Sword which as you say is properly adjustable.

The blade stops are there for a purpose and the blade should be hard up against the stops, this is much more important when using modified GEM blades because the little half moon cut outs on the bottom of the original Valet blades which were there to prevent the blade being pulled out of the housing during stropping by the friction of the blade on the leather, will not be there on the modified GEMs, thus the only way of stopping movement of the blade is the blade stops.

From a practical point of view when choosing a Valet razor for shaving you might like to take into account that the early models using modified GEM blades are a good bit more aggressive than the newer models that take only Feather SE blades.

Modified GEM blades are very cheap and take literally second to modify and all that is required is a pair of pliers.

Feather Stainless SE blades are relatively expensive and short lived but (IMHO) do give a lovely shave.

There are many more of the more modern Valets available than the older models.

Regards
Dick.
 
I have been thinking... would it be possible to use a Dremel to remove the blade pins on a newer Autostrop and then use a modified GEM blade? I'm not a fan of the Hane blades.
Greetings

That's an interesting idea to which I do not know the answer, perhaps when the blade was pushed up against the blade stops it would not move, my initial thought would be that the last two models that is those with the 'ears' that secure the blade would probably be more likely to work than the models with the side hinged opening gate.

I suspect you could only solve this by trying, a potential stumbling block may be the fact that GEM blades are not quite so deep as Feathers/Original Valet blades.

Regards
Dick.
 
Greetings

Another thought:- Would the cutout in the middle of the GEM blades marry up with perhaps one or more of the projections on the Valet razor, I accept there are shed loads of slightly different models all with different cutouts and projections.

Regards
Dick.
 
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