Figured someone here might be interested....
Scored an NOS Valet complete with pristine strop and five blades last week. Took it for a spin tonight.
If you know how the strop mechanism works, you might think it's foolproof, but not so. Unless you angle the handle in the direction you're moving the razor, the blade will catch the strop instead of flipping over. The strop itself is not leather but some rubberized, neoprene like material. So even though I nicked it, the damage was minimal and I don't think it will be of any functional importance. Stropped around 15 times, locked the blade down, and started to shave.
The razor is top-heavy, as you might expect, and cumbersome at first. The rollers, gears, etc. combine to make it the opposite of, say, a GEM Featherlight, despite some passing resemblance. A great deal of the blade is exposed. The cutting angle seems about the same as the GEM (for me), maybe 20 degrees, maybe a little more.
The sensation of blade on face is unique. I suspect it could have used more stropping, although 5 strokes is recommended. These were, after all, "new" 70 year-old blades. Anyway, it felt a little dull. No sound, not exactly "tugging," more like feeling each whisker being dealt with. I had a Dovo on hand, and almost turned to it, but the results seemed adequate, so I pressed on.
I didn't expect a great result. But at the end of my usual 4-pass shave, I had the usual results -- BBS everywhere. The alum block revealed a little stinging -- again, about the same as I usually get.
A quirky, but competent razor. I don't see it becoming a favorite, but I'll try it again. With a new modified SE GEM blade it may become something special.
Scored an NOS Valet complete with pristine strop and five blades last week. Took it for a spin tonight.
If you know how the strop mechanism works, you might think it's foolproof, but not so. Unless you angle the handle in the direction you're moving the razor, the blade will catch the strop instead of flipping over. The strop itself is not leather but some rubberized, neoprene like material. So even though I nicked it, the damage was minimal and I don't think it will be of any functional importance. Stropped around 15 times, locked the blade down, and started to shave.
The razor is top-heavy, as you might expect, and cumbersome at first. The rollers, gears, etc. combine to make it the opposite of, say, a GEM Featherlight, despite some passing resemblance. A great deal of the blade is exposed. The cutting angle seems about the same as the GEM (for me), maybe 20 degrees, maybe a little more.
The sensation of blade on face is unique. I suspect it could have used more stropping, although 5 strokes is recommended. These were, after all, "new" 70 year-old blades. Anyway, it felt a little dull. No sound, not exactly "tugging," more like feeling each whisker being dealt with. I had a Dovo on hand, and almost turned to it, but the results seemed adequate, so I pressed on.
I didn't expect a great result. But at the end of my usual 4-pass shave, I had the usual results -- BBS everywhere. The alum block revealed a little stinging -- again, about the same as I usually get.
A quirky, but competent razor. I don't see it becoming a favorite, but I'll try it again. With a new modified SE GEM blade it may become something special.
