Calling All SHaDs - Autostrop Valet

Urban Hermit

Urban Hermit

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1,446
Location
Sheffield, UK
I cleaned* up the Autostrop Valet, which I got in a very cheap bundle off ebay.co.uk when I first started looking there for blades and stuff. The same bundle has the Ever-Ready from one of my other threads, and the third seems to be a 1905, 2-ring open comb Gillette.

Wondering if anyone can help ID date etc for this Valet.

Says "Valet" across the blade cover plate.

Says "Autostrop safety Razor Co Ltd" over
  • "London England"[/list:u] on the swing open blade gate (the 'press' button bar).

    Says, to the left of the handle, "patent in..." then to the right of the handle "...184808" above:
    Says, to the left of the handle, "28605..." then to the right of the handle "...287411" below.
    • I'm not certain but there might be stuff where the ellipses are, but the locking lever is in the way to make sure.[/list:u]

      ... and that's about all it says anywhere.

      I suppose if I had a single edge blade I could take it for a spin; maybe I might get me a pack of them someplace.

      *NOTE: Gallery of pics for before and after cleaning. There are duplicates as I took some with & without the flash on.
      • Before:[/list:u]




        • After:[/list:u]

 
Valet auto strops were common around the 1912 period , pretty much same run as the Ever ready Lather Catchers.
Much more than that i don't know yet tbh..

They used a very specific blade, however you can modify a current SE blade to fit - there is a helpful vid on how to do this.. (Done it myself, and its very simple).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4exDJXACHg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Bq0nLygEg[/youtube]
 
Thanks Jon.

  • Educational stuff.
    • ... sadly. [/list:u][/list:u]

      Not only do I not have an original blade as a template, nor do I have the mystery "Grampa's Wonder Gizmo", but it really looked to me like mine is the one he said is a PitA to convert anyway. Ah well, saves me money on SE blades to convert.
      :lol:

      • PS: Any luck on that maybe Ever-Ready you were digging into for more info for me?[/list:u]
 
Ok , you don't need to worry about a template, nor do you need a Gramp's old wonder tool.

What hes using is basically a very old pair of Tin snips. You should have something similar lying around in your tool box.
To remove the spine , you can just use a basic pair of Pliers as its not attached directly to the blade, just compression folded to grip the spine - all the rocking motion does is loosen the grip enough to let you pull out the blade.
To cut away the notch you will need metal/tin snips - nothing fancy required. Honestly, i didn't use a template either.. If you look at the razor and then put an SE blade next to it
It is very apparent which bits need to get removed, and very little metal actually needs to be taken away (plus your not snipping near the cutting edge so you don't have to be amazingly accurate.)
All your doing is widening the notch.

Besides at 50p a blade.. what the hell?!

The Autostrop is an interesting shave, Not the best Ive had certainly, but i do like shaving with the older razors.. just for the feel of history.

As for your Maybe Ever-Ready - honestly im still a bit stumped. From the looking around Ive done i still find no reference to an 'Ever-ready' brand DE.
Pal / Gem / ASR - all did DE's and they are the same company.. so i wouldn't entirely rule it out, but the search continues.

It does has a handle reminiscent to some of those made by the ASR company at the time .. but a British company named Shavex also used patterning very similar (shavex were also remiss in branding many of their razors) so its hard to tell..

Thing is the Blade wars period created a bucket load of knock offs / clones and one of a kinds.. Its almost impossible to know for sure.
Tho It may be in the 'Waits’ Safety Razor Compendium' which im hoping to get my hands on at some point.
 
Thanks again Jon.

I'll see if maybe I can get a few SE blades and knock something off to fit.

RE: "Ever-Ready" - more thanks again. That handle looked very familiar to one (at least) sample that you had posted pics of before, so I thought it might possibly be one of theirs, or a Franken-Ready or such. I've never seen a ER by them either so I was really quite curious.

I have shaved with it. Most aggressive shave I can ever remember, but with practise would be fine - for somedays.

Cheers.
 
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