Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13
Like Tree1Likes

Thread: Valet Auto Strop

  1. #1
    Senior Member ethermantis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    Posts
    168
    Thanked: 69

    Default Valet Auto Strop

    I just got a fantastic Valet Auto Strop razor - it's one of my favorite non-straight razors! It's my first SE and it's inspiring me to look at the beautiful old GEMs. It didn't come with a strop and I've done my best to thin down some strop leather that I had around, but to no avail - I just can't shave it thin enough.

    Does anyone have any idea where to find leather that is so thin it will fit through the mechanism?

    Many thanks!

    Julian

  2. #2
    Snicker Snack
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    311
    Thanked: 67

    Default

    Your best bet would be on auction sites. These come up pretty often and are generally cheap.

    One thing: The stropping will destroy any coating on your blade (all modern blades are coated), and that will probably make it worse to shave with, instead of better. Modern blades don't need stropping.

    Of course, not stropping on the Valet will make it just another SE razor - but that doesn't matter to me. It still shaves very well.

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to yohannrjm For This Useful Post:

    ethermantis (06-15-2011)

  4. #3
    Senior Member ethermantis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    Posts
    168
    Thanked: 69

    Default

    Good point - I didn't give the coating piece a thought. That being said, I am using "real" Valet blades (they have the name cut out of the blades)...I'm assuming that these are still coated? I guess the silly question is - is there really a need for the stropping at all? I have noticed that the blade is getting draggy after about 7 shaves (I was fortunate enough to get the razor in a case that had 10 original blades in their sleeves and box).

  5. #4
    Snicker Snack
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    311
    Thanked: 67

    Default

    If they're NOS Valet blades then they're not coated. These blades should benefit from a good stropping session.

    You can get new blades from Feather for these razors. The feather blades are superior, but can't be stropped.

    Stropping does help the old blades. I have several of the old wedge blade SE razors and those really benefit from stropping. If they're uncoated, then they behave similarly to straight razors and can shave well for a long time with adequate stropping.
    Geezer likes this.

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to yohannrjm For This Useful Post:

    ethermantis (06-15-2011)

  7. #5
    Senior Member ethermantis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    Posts
    168
    Thanked: 69

    Default

    Great to know! I just found the Feathers at razorbladesandmore - they look like they'll fit just fine. Perhaps I'll save the rest of the old Valet blades for show and buy the Feathers to use. As far as the strop goes, I'll look around - it would be great to have something that would work on the old blades!

  8. #6
    HLS
    HLS is offline
    < Banned User >
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    134
    Thanked: 21

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to HLS For This Useful Post:

    ethermantis (06-16-2011)

  10. #7
    Senior Member ethermantis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    Posts
    168
    Thanked: 69

    Default

    HLS - thanks for the link! I appreciate all the good advice!

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to ethermantis For This Useful Post:

    HLS (06-17-2011)

  12. #8
    Senior Member simpleman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    361
    Thanked: 110

    Default

    Thats a good link. FWIW the rubber strops seem to work the best. Ive got a few leather ones some were NOS and some where used and a rubber one. The rubber one works the best from what i can tell(this is assuming your looking for used and dont want to buy new)

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to simpleman For This Useful Post:

    ethermantis (06-19-2011)

  14. #9
    Senior Member ethermantis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    Posts
    168
    Thanked: 69

    Default

    Thanks for the reply! Tell me about the rubber...in my research, I haven't come across anything other than what looked like the old, thin, leather strops. Is there anything you might recommend that can be had "from scratch"? When the $ comes, I'll look into the roo strops.

  15. #10
    Senior Member simpleman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    361
    Thanked: 110

    Default

    It looks just like the leather ones but is made of rubber. I havent spent alot of time looking but I havent seen much thin enough to work.

  16. The Following User Says Thank You to simpleman For This Useful Post:

    ethermantis (06-20-2011)

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •