Thread: Razor or knife ?

I ran across this and just had to have it. The fellow I bought it from said he got it for a birthday 15 years ago and never used it. Had no idea where it came from. Thinking it was pre china/cheapo I checked out the Valor name from Japan. It seems they are a group of cutlery makers in a small town well known for their fine knives. Looks like a straight to me but my thumb and a small test shave says it is not ready for the face. You think it was made to shave with ? I am going to hone it and see in a couple of days. It works just like a folder and the first time I closed it I thought " Whoa, got to watch that ".



The scales are rubber, almost Pachmayr like and they only open as far as pictured. Is 404 stainless good enough to hone ?
I wonder what the 919 stands for?