First Shave with the Valet AutoStrop

[duokun]

Today I went to check the mailbox and waiting for me was a package courtesy of Dave (itsmedave) of a Valet AutoStrop and some Feather spineless SE blades. Normally i would not have shaved today as i just shaved yesterday and shaving two days in a row usually nets me some nasty irritation as my skin just does not like it. I was all set to wait till tomorrow until I decided to clean it up a little bit. after that, there was no way I was not going to try it out today.

I filled a bowl with hot waterd and began soaking my Black Badger Whipped Dog brush and hopped in the shower. Afterwards i lathered up with the VDH Deluxe that i have been using for the past few days. On a side note i am pretty pleased with the VDH soap, it works well. I tried to go easy since my skin doesn't like the daily shaving and since I am keeping a bit of a beard currently i am only shaving my neck, which just so happens to be extra sensitive.

W ias impressed with how smoothly the Valet shaves. There wasn't as much audible feedback as with my ER 1912, but it was very smooth. i did WTG and then ATG which is normally all i really do on my neck. i should have done a bit more touch up, but i was worried about irritation. I did get a little bit of irritation, but i kinda expected that. Its what I get for not waiting.

Still, I was impressed and I am looking forward to my next shave with this razor.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Very nice. That model will also use de-spined SE blades, which are a bit cheaper and easier to find than the Feathers.

 

[itsmedave]

Enjoy it. It was given to me and didn't get used much (due to having far too many razors) so I'm glad it will see some use

 

[retturn2blades]

The Valet is a very good razor and it affords the owner more options than with most old razors. You can use Feathers, de-spined SE blades or use the NOS Valet blades that are still fairly abundant. You'll need to use the auto-stropping feature but it works. My son has used the Valet blades with great success...and, yes, he stropped the blade.

Enjoy!

 

[duokun]

Very nice. That model will also use de-spined SE blades, which are a bit cheaper and easier to find than the Feathers.

don't you still need to snap off part of the blade because of the notches?

 

[HoosierTrooper]

don't you still need to snap off part of the blade because of the notches?

I don't.

 

[duokun]

Hmmm, well, seems I need to look into this.

 

[duokun]

Ok, i see where i was having problems before. I had popped the spine off an old GEM razor blade i was about to toss, and looking at it i was confused because the cutouts on the side are different. looking at the two blades side by side makes more sense.



The feather blade is slightly taller than the GEM Blade. this means when i first tried to load the GEM blade like i would the feather, ie. with the bottom of the blade at the bottom of the holder, the cut outs don't line up. slide the GEM blade in a little higher where the cutouts are and not only does it fit, but sits at the same height as the feather. wonderful.

i guess i also got confused because i watched a video on youtube where the guy was talking about removing the spine and then snapping parts off the side of the blade so the cut outs were larger. seems silly now.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

That's Dave Irving in those videos. I never quite saw the reason for snapping off the corners because they load just fine without that step.

 

[santamariasteve]

How heavy is your beard? That info is useful, when evaluating your experience with the razor.

 

[duokun]

That's Dave Irving in those videos. I never quite saw the reason for snapping off the corners because they load just fine without that step.

I don't get it either.

How heavy is your beard? That info is useful, when evaluating your experience with the razor.

My beard is moderate i guess, and not too fast growing. That being said, i feel the Valet shaved pretty well, my only problem with the shave was the irritation, and that i feel was just because i tried shaving two days in a row, which always gives me irritation as my skin is a bit sensitive.

 

[Deltaboy]

Thanks I got the pliers and will do some tomorrow.

 

[duokun]

It's really easy to remove the spines, grip juuuust the edge of the spine with the pliers, grab the blade (be careful) and wiggle a bit. The spine should loosen up easily then just pull the blade out.