Valet Single Edge Razor

A friend of mine received this razor from his mom. She said it belonged to her grandfather. Does anyone have any information on it? The brand appears to be "Valet".

Thanks!

Check out this thread for a lot of information.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/270062-Valet-Auto-Strop

I have to say that I just got one and find it to be one of the best shaving SEs I have tried. Your friend is very lucky. Doubly so that this is a family heirloom.

Tell him to enjoy it.

He'll need some of ghe old Valet blades with 'Valet' punched out of the center or some new Feather single edge blades for it. I've got severa. Valet Autostrops and really like them - shaved with one this morning as a matter of fact

I just shaved with my Valet Autostrop this weekend and it was great! Definitely a favorite SE.

Go with the Feather blades!

With that version of razor, there is no choice but feather blades or NOS Valet blades.

Thanks for the great info. I had no idea about the "auto strop". Amazing!

Actually, there are more than one variety of the Auto Strop razors with VALET printed on the head. If you look closely, there are different holes punched in the razor head on the letters, and some of these will accept Feather single edge blades and some won't. If you look at my old sale thread here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/319901-B-amp-B-Benefit-Sale-2nd-try?highlight=

you'll see the two VALET razors side-by-side, and both are the type with VALET printed on the head, but if you look closely at the letter T on the heads, you'll see that the holes cutout in the T are different. The gold one has a small circular hole in the letter T and the silver one has a dash cutout in the letter T. The Feather blade would only fit in the gold one, the silver one wouldn't accept the Feather... I tried it on both sides, etc. and it wouldn't work. I notice that the razor you have in this picture has the "dash" symbol cutout in the letter "T", so I wonder if the Feather will work. I'm certainly not the expert on this, but that was my experience with these two. Maybe someone with one of the Feathers could send you one to try in it before you buy some as they aren't particularly cheap. Anyone else run into this conundrum?

Cleave, I finally found one that the Feather won't work in. I picked up this really nice VB2, and the cutout on the letter E won't allow the blade to seat properly as you can see in the second picture. First Valet in over a dozen that the Feather won't work in.

Tom,
Thanks for posting this... I was beginning to question my experience with the one in the thread above. I don't know how to predict which ones won't accept the Feather, but both the one in my link and yours shows the second cutout in the head being in the shape of a dash instead of a small circular cutout like in my gold one above that accepted the Feather. Is there another similarity? I have several AutoStrops I think, maybe we should take pics of all the heads and post them stating which ones accept the Feathers and which ones don't? Anyone else have several of these?
Cleave

Seems like I mostly end up on old and abandoned threads. I got a Valet and am so excited about it. The closing mechanism looks so nice, and learning here it is also a good shave makes even more excited. The feathers are on their way, hope they fit.

Cheers,

I just got my Valet yesterday with 2 blades. I can't wait to try it out

Here it is. I also got some other "interesting" ones (nothing very special) but this one for some reason is the one that I like the most.

Let us know how you like it SafetyRZRBgnr78

Hey, nobody said they are also a great shave. Tried mine today with a feather se (which fits perfectly) and I really like the way it shaves. Pretty awesome.

I recently discovered the Valet Autostrops and have quickly become a fan. I started with a VC4 like yours, and have added a couple of VC1's and a VC2. I have a VB1 on the way, and I'm actively looking for a VC3 to complete the set (RAD - who, me?).

I too am impressed with the smooth shave of the Auto Strops. The VC1 and VC2 seem to have (for me, at least) just the right amount of agressiveness.

A standard SE blade can be de-spined and modified to fit in a VC1, but the newer versions must use the Feathers - which is okay, since they are great blades, albeit a little pricey.

--Bob

Hi spidey9, good to know I'm not alone. Also good to know there are more and better options yet to try.
Feathers are pricey indeed, also have read they last a bit longer than DEs. What's your experience?

Just about all SE blades last longer than DE blades. I haven't been using the Feathers long enough to wear one out, but so far so good.

--Bob

Got one in the drawer but I not played with it much.

The Valets are cool. Incredible design. A little piece of industrial art in the palm of your hand. Ingenious.

So... there was a SE razor for the Feather blades already before Cobra??? So much money to be saved.... (No I don't have a Cobra, but am on the Mongoose list. Because of the blades.Hmmm. Valet needs more looking into!