Autostrop First Impresions

I found this at an antique shop, not sure witch model it is. I used a modified Gem SS. I've used it twice now and I have to say I'm a little surprised at how smooth and mild it is. I thought these were said to be aggressive. I felt like it had less blade feel and audio feedback than a 1912, still a little more than my Bullet Tip. I still got a decent two pass WTG head shave almost into DFS territory. I really expected it to be more like a OCMM , 1914, or 1924. I really kind of felt like it had a very narrow effective cutting angle, almost Tech like. Now I'm wondering with model it is and if it is considered more mild or if mine is just mild for some reason.

That is a VC1. It is considered to be more aggressive than later Auto-Strops (VC2, VC3, VC4) but definitely a lot less aggressive than a VB1 or the pre-valet Auto-Strops. I'd put it somewhere between a 1912 and a 1914, but as always YMMV.

--Bob

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Thanks for the info Bob. Sounds like I need to look for a VB1 or pre-Valet for comparison.

+1 on what Bob said, FYI - Check to make sure the blade is against both blade stops the next time you use it. I have a VC-1 that hangs up just short of the rests.

Very cool.

Jcan88 said:

+1 on what Bob said, FYI - Check to make sure the blade is against both blade stops the next time you use it. I have a VC-1 that hangs up just short of the rests.

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Thanks Jeff, you may be on to something. When I loaded it I checked for evenness it was good, but upon closer inspection I see it is falling short of the ends of the stops by a 1/16 of an inch or so. Even with the blade not in the stops it falls short when the comb is all the way up. I will remove the blade and try to reinstall a little farther out and see if that bumps up the aggression to where I want it. Its not that bad now, but I would say it is at a curved cap 1912 at best. Definitely below my flat cap ER 1912 and way below my 1914. I'll let you know how it goes.

The corners of the blade need to be up hard against the blade stops. The Gem blade is indeed slightly narrower than a Valet blade or the Feather FHS blade. On some VC1's the blade may not press hard against the stops if it is installed all the way back in the blade holder.

Try this: partially release the comb and using a small screwdriver or similar push the blade toward the blade stops. Then pull the lever down to raise the comb fully into position, allowing it to push the blade back slightly. I think that the spring tension of the blade holder will be enough to hold the blade against the stops when shaving.

Of course, you won't have this problem with the Feather blade. Also, the problem appears to be unique to the VC1. With the VB1 and earlier models the comb has quite a bit more travel.

--Bob

I was able to get the blade pushed out and against the stops. It feels like it will stay there during shaving. I'll let you know haw it goes tomorrow.

Just finished my shave with it. It's much more like I was expecting it to be, even had 1 very small weeper on the side of my head. I had 2 days growth and 2 WTG passes gave an easy DFS very near BBS. I can definitely see this one making a regular appearance in my ever growing rotation.