Thread: Rolls Razor Fans

Originally Posted by sharptonn

You could pry the leather out and use it as a template to cut a new piece and glue it in.
Could be that old strop you accidentally cut a while back will donate?

IMO, the hone side is pretty useless.
No other way to strop them other than in the box, AFAIK.

Tom, I think leather from a regular strop is too thick. They are quite thin.

Good advice. I'm lucky I didn't crack the hone. I didn't know what I had, and was moderately forcing the lid closed at first. No damage done there, though. Good advice. A strop will turn up. I'm afraid to shave with it...But I'm going to.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Tom, I think leather from a regular strop is too thick. They are quite thin.

Depends upon the strop, Richard!

Originally Posted by Smyth

Good advice. I'm lucky I didn't crack the hone. I didn't know what I had, and was moderately forcing the lid closed at first. No damage done there, though. Good advice. A strop will turn up. I'm afraid to shave with it...But I'm going to.

The lids will not interchange, as I suppose you may have noticed.
They shave a treat! Don't fear the Rolls!

Originally Posted by Smyth

Late to the party. A friend gave me a Rolls Razor over the holiday. It was her fathers. I'd never heard of them, and it took some research to even figure out what exactly I had in my hands. It looks to be in very good condition, with a nice extra little box with a second blade, apparently unused. The only thing is the strop. It seems to be indented or pressed out of shape. It is not flat. Any idea where I can get a replacement strop?

Smyth, PM me your address. I have the remains of a Rolls that I scavenged for parts and I have a strop side for you still mounted. I doubt you will have to pry it out to remount since I believe, despite possibly different models they are all the same. I will do a little reconditioning to it if you want it and you'll just need to start using it.

Do research for the instructions that usually come with them to see proper use of the hone and the strop side. There is a different blade direction for each side.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Tom, I think leather from a regular strop is too thick. They are quite thin.

It does seem quite thin.

Pay close attention to your angle of attack. The handles are different than any other style that I have used.

I honed up a couple of blades as Sharptonn mentioned separate from the box. They got sharp!

I got a very close shave that included the top of every bump/pimple! I relathered for another pass and it looked like you could play connect a dot on my face.

Pay attention to the angle of the blade and you will be fine but as I said before the angle of the handle is different.

The angle on the blade is as per a straight razor. Simply position the handle to make it so.

Bob

I never had an issue with that. The guard will tell you what it needs to shave.
Or to cut?
In use, I never had the thought of cutting myself with it.

Now, the initial trepidation is something to overcome!

I got one of these in a box lot of stuff. It looks ok but I am a little scared of the thing. I am afraid to use DE razors, so the Rolls seems like it just wants to attack my face. One day I will give it a go, but I think I am way more comfortable with a straight.

Bringing this thread back to life.

The two things I've found that make a huge difference in the performance of a rolls razor is first adding Vaseline/petroleum jelly to the hone and letting it soak in for a few hours, then wiping off the excess. This raises the perceived grit rating of the hone and allows for a finer edge. The hones were probably pre-oiled at the factory. 50+ years has dried them out.

Second, the friction assembly needs to be spotless. Disassemble and pop off the blade "spike" and blade tensioner. Don't faff about with the 'wings,' as they are fragile and easily broken. Rubbing alcohol on a q-tip will clean most of the black gunk off the fish paper. That's what that red friction pad inside the friction assembly is made from. Also clean any black stuff off the brass rollers. Every couple of months, you'll need to take a q-tip and clean black streaks off the brass. This fixes the tension issues most vintage Rolls suffer from. It should now have enough tension to put the proper pressure on the strop and hone. Once the blade is shave ready, a few passes on the hone is enough to bring the edge back when it gets dull.

The strop does need to be pasted. Rolls stropping compound is best. Any other iron oxide based compound will work. The Rolls compound is some sort of grease based stuff, like grease theatrical face paint. I've even used the red turtle wax brand automotive rubbing compound before. It's a close color match, but isn't quite as abrasive as Rolls strop dressing.

I've brought back 3 rolls blades using these techniques, and 2 other blades honed on stones outside the kit to compare. I couldn't tell the difference.

You'll want to strop twice as much for the first outing off the hones, otherwise the shave feels a bit harsh. It settles in quickly.