AutoStrop B2 -- First Shave

[Jgreenepa]

Fred:
I realize this is a very delayed post, but I have 5 of the Model C Auto Strops, and would beg to differ with the gentleman who said stropping has no effect on Feather blades. I‘m both a daily head and face shaver. I treat the blades as I would one of my straights and strop each blade 40 times minimum the night before I plan to use the razor. My favorite model is the VC4, but all the Model C’s I own are great shavers. I can easily get 20-28 shaves per blade.

 

[Cool Shave Luke]

Nice looking razor. I like my autostrops but never had luck with Gem blades. Feather makes a great SE that has cutouts that match the original blades

 

[karacha]

I use modified GEM blades in my Valet Autostrop and it works great.

 

[Jgreenepa]

I use modified GEM blades in my Valet Autostrop and it works great.

I’ve used Gems in my VC1, but all my model C models (I own all with the exception of the VB1.) work only with Feather or original Valet blades. I strop all the blades in my razors and have never failed to get less than 20 shaves per blade. I‘m a daily head and face shaver.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

I’ve used Gems in my VC1, but all my model C models (I own all with the exception of the VB1.) work only with Feather or original Valet blades. I strop all the blades in my razors and have never failed to get less than 20 shaves per blade. I‘m a daily head and face shaver.

Kai makes a compatible blade as well. It's carbon steel and as such should respond well to stropping. I haven't used one so I can't vouch for them. I tried the Feather carbon blades and found them to be unacceptable even fresh out of the wrapper.

I palm strop my Feather FHS10 blades and, while I don't think that I'm improving the edge on the stainless steel blade, I do think it does a good job of cleaning the edge. I can go 2 weeks on one, if I don't get bored with the razor and move on to something else.

 

[rudyt]

I'm curious to hear from other AutoStrop users -- especially those using GEM blades -- do you get similar results, or is mine an outlier?

Just stumbled onto this thread. Before diving head-long into the Sextoblade universe, my favorite category of shaves were the AutoStrops. I have an A1, B, B1 and a couple of VB1s. I don't remember which one was my favorite, but it was the one where the blade stops come off the front and point backwards, not the one with the clips that come off the sides and point inwards.

Both my VB1s are Canadian, and one is the one I call The Tank, which has a solid ball-end handle. One of my razors has a solid straight knurled handle, and the other 3 have hollow handles with the little lip.

I won't buy one that doesn't take GEM blades. To me, they're all smooth and efficient shavers except the A1, but that one has issues with the doohickey that tensions the blade against the stops. I should fish one out of the box, dust it off and start using it again. The fact that I don't remember which was my favorite tells me I can have the fun of exploring again. I know it's not The Tank, the A1, or the solid knurled handle, but I'll pretend I don't know that ;-l