“Valet” AutoStrop Razors - Posts and Discussions

[Whiterook]

Razor: AutoStrop B1 Set
Blade: Feather FHS10 single edge
Brush: Rudy Vey Badger & Blade 2020 Group Buy #4/30
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Shannon's Soaps Botanica
Aftershave: Pinaud Lilac Vegetal
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder

 

[Whiterook]

Haven't shaved with them yet. I have to order blades and I like my straight razor a little too much.

Yes, there are two boxes of what look like unused strops. I also have a strop for the Vb2 or vb1, but it's a pain to get in the case.

I have some original blades somewhere. Not sure what kind of shape they are in

How can you not? Gears! They have gears!

 

[ouchyfoot]

View attachment 1342115
Razor: AutoStrop B1 Set
Blade: Feather FHS10 single edge
Brush: Rudy Vey Badger & Blade 2020 Group Buy #4/30
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Shannon's Soaps Botanica
Aftershave: Pinaud Lilac Vegetal
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder

Yep. That’s a true B1. I have one in the mail. My other B1 has a valet blade holder on it. I can tell by the blade stops it’s not a VB1.

 

[Jbird45]

How can you not? Gears! They have gears!

They are an awesome little piece of engineering

 

[ouchyfoot]

I got my B1 AutoStrop today. I was glad to see it was made exclusively in Toronto. It seems to me that the adjustment lever pushes the front of the razor (comb) out way farther than my Valets. Much like how the A1 pushes it out.

 

[Whiterook]

I got my B1 AutoStrop today. I was glad to see it was made exclusively in Toronto. It seems to me that the adjustment lever pushes the front of the razor (comb) out way farther than my Valets. Much like how the A1 pushes it out.
View attachment 1344410
View attachment 1344411

That's a nice example, Peter. Will you wait until Friday to shave with it?

 

[ouchyfoot]

Friday seems to fall on my shaving day this week so…yes.
Tomorrow I’ll be trying out a dubious Krect razor I found in a junk shop.

 

[ouchyfoot]

Razor: AutoStrop B1 - 1916-19
Blade: AutoStrop - “Valet” Vintage (2)
Brush: Semogue - Owner Club 24mm (Boar)
Pre-Shave: Stirling Pink Clay - Facial Bar Soap
Lather: Canada Shaving Soap - Unscented
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Reserve - Classic

A good shave, but I might have gone at it a little over zealously, especially my chin area.
First time using this B1 AutoStrop. I gave the blade 20 strops, but the razor did not flip the blade on the 15th forward strop and I removed a prosciutto thin slice out of my leather strop.

 

[Whiterook]

Razor: Valet AutoStrop VC1 Gold Single Edge Razor
Blade: Feather FHS10 single edge
Brush: Rudy Vey Badger & Blade 2020 Group Buy #4/30
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Shannon's Soaps Indigo Oud
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder

 

[Tanuki]

I gave the Model C and its vintage blade shave number 8 today. The blade seems to have lost a step, CCS only.

Strop compare. I gave the first pass to a Robeson ShurEdge SR.

 

[Whiterook]

Razor: Valet AutoStrop VC2 Gold Single Edge Razor
Blade: Feather FHS10 single edge
Brush: Elite Razor Kingman Turquoise, Manchurian White fan
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Shannon's Soaps Indigo Oud
Aftershave: Pinaud Lilac Vegetal
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder

 

[Tanuki]

Spotted this in the wild today. The seller indicated flexibility on the steep price, but I didn’t want to go lowball.
I didn’t see AutoStrop branding (or any other) on the case. This set may have been assembled by the original user. Two strops, brush, stub of soap, styptic pencil, two blade packs, one full, one partial.
If anyone is interested I can send the shop contact info by PM.

 

[ouchyfoot]

Wow Tanuki, that’s some find. It almost looks like a military assemblage. Of course you have my interest, but something tells me it’s out of my price range. Is that a mirror at the top? I’m wondering if those are pre-Valet Autostrop blades. You know I can’t resist Autostrops. What is he asking for this kit? Is that the price on the mirror?

 

[Tanuki]

That was the price tag, lying on the mirror. The owner indicated flexibility. A long discussion of appropriate pricing ensued, though I made it clear that I was not in the market and not bargaining. It was clear to me that the tag price was a shot in the dark.

I would have bought it, but not at anything approaching that price.

I said I thought that the right buyer might go over $100. For myself, I would want to look thoroughly for some branding on the case. I did not remove most items from the case. An authentic set seems to me to have more value than a set of pieces collected from various other sets.

The mirror is in good shape. I did not unroll the strops. The B razor looked undamaged, but I only gave it a quick once over.

 

[ouchyfoot]

Razor: AutoStrop Valet VC4 (1940-1946?)
Blade: AutoStrop - “Valet” - Vintage (3)
Brush: Semogue - Owner Club 24mm (Boar)
Pre-Shave: CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser
Lather: Extro Cosmesi 17° Stormo
Aftershave: Extro Cosmesi -Vaniglia

I wanted a little less agression than my last B1 shave so I gave the vintage valet blade a good 30 strops before shaving. Between the stropping and the gentler VC4 solid bar…all was well. There were some minor stubble spots still on my neck but I decide not to pursue them any farther.
I forgot about it still being OCtober when I chose the VC4.

 

[Whiterook]

Razor: Valet AutoStrop VC3 Gold Single Edge razor
Blade: Feather FHS10 single edge
Brush: Rudy Vey Badger & Blade 2020 Group Buy #4/30
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Shannon's Soaps Indigo Oud
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder

 

[ouchyfoot]

Razor: AutoStrop - 7 O’Clock (1911-12) London, England
Blade: GEM (Personna) PTFE - Modified for 7 O’Clock
Brush: Henri et Victoria - High Mountain White Badger 22mm
Pre-Shave: CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser
Lather: Arsenal Grooming - Cabaret
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Reserve - Classic

 

[Tanuki]

I just have to unwrap more of the Valet blades I've got. My other plan is to get some Kai BEST and some carbon Feathers. I will fit some AutoStroppery into OCtober.

I’ve used both of these plus feather stainless in both AS razors and a OneBlade Genesis. My final order was Stainless>High Carbon>Kai Best. The Kais were scary bad. I tried stropping all of them, strop and use the Genesis, even tried honing. Nothing was better than stainless out of the pack. I think production technology has come far enough that these old techs, while cool and fun, just don’t bring it to the table anymore.


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Wishes (perhaps ill-considered wishes) have come true, thanks to @Sniperx !

Feather carbon FAS and Kai Best appeared on my doorstep after the voyage from Japan. Just as Slantember and OCtober released their hold, I have a new science project.

Here is the test setup:
>Three VC2, including one English model, plus a blue cased wild-caught razor
>Two VC4, both in similar condition, one in from the wild
>A clean AS strop
>A stack of Kai Best
>A tuck + 1 of FAS carbon
>A tuck of FHS, one currently loaded to a VC4
>Maybe a usable vintage Valet punched blade? I may unwrap some Valets and see.
>A brace of vintage safety blade hones - Aloxite and Rex
>Deep reserve? SR pasted strops. I will not paste a vintage AS strop. Also a bottom-of-the-line OneBlade and a well-tested VC1 if I want to test in a more familiar razor.

With Sniperx's review as a caution, I am about to ignore my mother's question: "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?". I will be jumping into the deep end (Kai Best) in just a moment. Sink or swim!

 

[ouchyfoot]

A man after my own heart. Don’t worry about what might happen…find out what actually happens.
After I’ve done with my vintage Valet blade I’m going to try one of these vintage Drexel blades that were made to fit “Valet” razors.

 

[Tanuki]

BEST shave

I waltzed into the den with my two VC4s. Both have the same punch/pin pattern. Those pins properly locate a Feather blade, but not the Kai Best. It shifts out of position during stropping, unsecured by the L and T pins which allow the vertical center and T punches room to shift.

So in came the three VC2s and the vintage bladed VC1. I had the VC1 on hand in case I wanted to directly compare either stropping or shaving action.

Only my English VC2 would allow the Best blade to load, so it will be my Best pinned shaver from here to eternity.

Total lap count for the Best blade: 30

I did extremely thorough prep using an age-appropriate reknotted Opal boar. A Col Conk Amber puck melted/mentholated into a stick supplied slickness and cool hydration in the prep phase, then bowl-ensconced Arko sticks made the shave lather.

I was worried about a rough shave. Perhaps 30 laps took care of that. I rode the cap and never felt abraded. The issue was sharpness, or lack thereof.

Pass 1 (WTG and XTGish) did not even approach my modded Gem and vintage AS blade shaves. Pass 2 (primarily ATG) was somewhat tuggy and topped out in SAS territory. CCS? With a third full lathering, it was quickly apparent that buffing and playing with angles would cancel Comfortable without catching Close.

With all that, I did not give the VC1/vintage blade a chance to improve the shave. Too late in the game.

The BEST blade is a lovely carbon blue. I gave it a hot water rinse and a blow dry with my heat gun. That should hold it while I contemplate my next move. Pasted strop? Vintage safety blade hone? Give it a break and unwrap a Feather FAS tomorrow? With today's result, I will have good stubble for tomorrow's test.