I would like to start a Rolls Razor club.
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I would like to start a Rolls Razor club.
Hello DanE,
This is the right place to start this club. It will grow over time.
I have several of the Rolls Razor sets but have never shaved with one. I believe that one of our guys, Dresden, has used them and likes them. Also BKratchmer.
I did a search of this site for "Rolls" and it brought back many threads regarding Rolls Razors. Here is a link to the search..........
http://straightrazorpalace.com/googl...Fforum.php#923
I've seen a few rolls razors at antique stores and have wondered what they're all about. Do you guys have any good links (or could explain here) how they work?
I have at least 4 maybe 5 complete Rolls Razors, very nice product/system. I"ve shaved with all buy one of them and they do give a good shave with the right face prep[just like at good razors!!]
There are a lot of them out there and a club would be nice, Rolls did more than just sell the shaving units, they had soaps. travel brush's. Ect......... it was as I understand it quite a common personel item for a gent to take traveling with him.
Great Idea!!
tinkersd of SRP!
I have several Rolls Razor sets. The best is a 7 day set. Probably the most valuable is a set of WWII aluminum bodies; one Imperial 2 and an early Vicount. Both have the very rare cork strops, both in perfect condition. One has an original 1941 razor.
My intent is to refurbish and renew various sets to the original condition and replace all the broken hones with new ones manufactured in the USA, so they can be used not just collected. I will offer them on ebay.
Quick question: how often do you hone? Have you done anything to adjust the friction clip?
Take care,
Dan Ellis
I just had my second shave with my Rolls. I am loving it. Both times now I used my Clubman Pinuad after and no burn at all.
The Rolls in a Viscount and came with the hone intact and a cork strop.
How can put a date on this model? Serial number on the side of the case possibly?
As the instructions say with the kits, keep the blade "Almost" parallel to the face and go LIGHTLY across the beard, works for me!!!
tinkersd
Over the past week I've fallen in love with my Rolls, by far my favorite razor so far! I'm up to 3 completes and 1 case. 2 model 2's and a model 2a. +1 to the question about dating these things, anyone know how to go about it?
I've got a half dozen. Great shavers. I've given a couple away, to boot - they are an interesting introduction to traditional shaving.
I have always wanted to try one of these...they look very interesting!
I just won one on ebay for a song, but the seller emailed me and said he didn't think that it was a good price and wanted to renegotiate the price... So I am in lmbo intil ebay can squeeze the guy into sending me my rolls :(
Well, if it doesn't work out for you, shoot me a PM.
If you buy another on ebay, you want to make sure the hone isn't cracked. Make sure it has the handle - they are often missing. If it doesn't have the directions, I could e-mail you a set, if you want them.
In good condition, I'd guess them to be worth between 7 and 12 bucks. If it has a spare blade, add two or three bucks to that, and if it is basically NOS I'd go as high as 20, if shipping is reasonable. If you do get a NOS, don't hone the blade to start with, try stropping it - about 60 strokes - and see how it does.
Mine give a good, serviceable shave. Not as close as some of my straights, but perfectly acceptable. They also are a great way to introduce someone to wet shaving, I think.
Lots of info on the Rolls here The "what is" and " how to" thread for the Rolls Razor | TheShaveDen
I won This on the bay a couple of weeks ago, it's in beautiful condition, the fitted strop and hone are A1, included were two spare strop leathers (unused) , two spare hones (unused), one spare blade, spare blade clip, and a leather case to boot! I have been waiting for a nice one to come up for a while, and for £7.81 I think I got a bargain.
I shaved with the fitted blade after a good stropping and was surprised at how close the shave was, I treated one of the spare strop inserts with Crox paste and gave the blade five up down passes then stropped as normal, and got a very close to BBS with a two pass shave.
I have been trying to get an exact date on mine, I have not been able to find any kind of data base for the serial numbers, so I'm relying on the date code that is stamped into the blade spine, mine is 49, the spare has no date code which fits with the info in the Shave den post, so I'm reasonably happy to accept my rolls was made in 1949.
Yep, you did good.
I just watched a leather cased rolls travel kit go for just over 200.00. Only one I'd ever seen, but still, that seems a bit much.
My pile of RR's has grown to 7. Would have been 9 except there were a couple of birthdays this last year. Well, there are now 2 more Rolls fans out there.
What was the sellers ID? You could open a dispute. I sell on ebay, don't think I could get away with pulling stuff like that.
Gave my Rolls a workout tonight. Shaved half my face with my rolls, and the other with one of my better straights. My wife couldn't tell which was which...
I have an Auto Rolls and it had belonged to my grand father. But the blade has some rust on it and frankly shaving with it scares the crap out of me! Lol!
I have been using straights for a few years now and have no issues shaving with them. Are there any good tutorial video's out there?
Also any suggestions on how to restore them?
Cheers!
I won a bid for one of these things because there was a double duck brush laying with it. I wrote the seller and said I was more interested in the brushes she had up. She kept the razor and sent me both brushes. Maybe I should have shut up and at least tried it? I did like the brushes.
Personally, I would have tried it. They are just so interesting and cheap that everyone should at least try one out once. You hone the blade like a straight so in theory they should be as cheap to operate as a straight. Intimidating to use like a straight also.
Bob
I've had several of them. I still keep two. I use them when I travel.
As long as the blade is sharp, they give a really nice shave.
If the barber hone in the kit isn't enough to restore it to sharp, the guard can be removed and the blade honed like any other razor. I have brought a dozen or so back to life that way.
I'm gonna have to hone mine that way, HNSB.
I just used her for a stroke or two, horrible, had to finish with a straight.
Yep, if they shave, they are super! If not, send your blades to HNSB! Simple! :D
I just came across this exact same Rolls but it has signs of major usage, looks really cool but too rough to collect.
Then while looking for info on the Rolls I came across an advertisement for a brand new "Rolls Razor Kit" so new it has only been opened only once and that was to photograph.
I'm not a collector but perhaps I should show more interest in this, do you think?
Ralph
I've just started using my dads old Viscount model...loved it!! So much so I've just bought a couple on eBay...imperial No2 chrome case and today I received an imperial No2 but in the box is a piece of card that says No3 which apparently is a stainless case, which is what it looks like! They are easy to use and I've never had a closer shave! Because of that I've also just ordered my first straight.
I've seen on the web to date the Rolls the figure on the spine of the blade date it, mine are a 37 and a 46 but because of the models I need to find out a bit more as the No3 is the older date, so all I can think is that the blades have been moved around.
Cheers
Seems there are a few of these out there......
Here are pictures of my new Rolls I picked up recently. :rock:
Attachment 133451Attachment 133452Attachment 133453
It appears to be in great conditio. Thanks for sharing it.
Similar/identical to above photo with two blades, Dad gave me his maybe 30 years ago. He bought it during WWII with the idea of not having to search for razor blades. Said he used it once and it scared the piss out of him. I never shaved with it.
On the other hand, I never shaved with a straight razor until two weeks, either. :D I have got to try it out.
I have 2 & they quickly became display pieces. Make sure you read all you can on the forum about them, first. It will give you a more educated first experience. Use the "Advanced Search" button, above right (Not the GOOGLE Search Box),,,this will take you into the forum search area & put in keywords "Rolls Razor" ,,,this will give you back all the threads that pertain.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...5326_980-1.jpg
My Rolls Razor is a Viscount. It isn't special other than:
- it was a gift from my dad
- he bought it new and only used it once
- it came with a spare blade
- original box, instructions and literature are intact
- blades are more or less pristine
I never put the thing to my face until this morning and, somewhat to my surprise, this perpendicular-handled VERY short device afforded not only a good shave but it fulfilled the solution to a BBS problem - the pockets on either side of my somewhat protruding throat. Getting into an otherwise classic tight spot is complicated by a 4x cervical fusion. The sugery limits how far I can tip my head up and back - I'd say most of you can take that stretch for granted and get a little more working space than I enjoy. Shaving across the remaining crevasse-like scar, incidentally, is no longer a problem thanks to SRP advice; a small diagonal stroke plus a big leap of faith took care of that problem. :D
So I finished up a two-way shave with a conventional straight razor that passed the hanging hair test. That shave nailed just about everything except a couple of neck patches. I followed up with a test; a third guillotining-pass on my neck using the Rolls and was rewarded with an excellent finish. Coulda knocked me over with a feather. The ease of use and results were beyond my first-try expectations.
If you have one, and if you think it's sharp, give it a try. I watched a couple of youtube videos and tried to do like the happiest campers who kept the blade at a very shallow angle to the skin - virtually flat - repeatedly short-stroked and stretched well. I think the Rolls crybabies had dull blades or kept too steep of an angle, or perhaps both. Shaved like a breeze for me. Who knew?
I'll join the club.
That is a very special Rolls,...enjoy.
Thanks for sharing.
Oh yeah,....welcome to the Rolls Club :rock:
I love my Rolls Razor but I have a couple of spare blades that wont' shave well at all, I tried to sharpen them without much success. Is it possible they are just to old or just duds?? I have sharpened Rolls blades before with a good deal of success and I hone my own Straight Razors and find with a good blade of good steel honing is fairly routine. But with these 2 blades I have even hone to 1200 grit without a decent shave.
Any thought's out there??? love to here them,
by the way I have in the past beat my head against the wall with one or two straight razors that were just not able to put a good edge on because of them just being bad eggs.
Sincerely, J.Doc' [tinkersd]
1. Are you trying (and failing) to sharpen them with the Rolls machine or manually on a hone?
2. If you have honed/stropped and failed with certain blades on the Rolls machine, have you succeeded with other blades on the Rolls machine?
Trying here to rule out a problem with blades contacting the machine hone/strop with inadequate pressure.
By the way, I had a great shave this morning. It was 2/3 straight and 1/3 Rolls. The Rolls is the schizz for neck patch clean up and a few upward strokes below the lower lip.
Tinkersd....
Could it be that the edge on your blades have a "frown" shape and not a smile or straight?
Good Questions!! I do my blade honeing on Norton stones I own 220/1000/4000/8000 grit's
I use green compound on leveled balsa wood strops. when I'm done with the stones.
when a blade 1st feels either "grabby" of 'Skips' over my beard I use the Rolls honing side of the mechanisms and then about 3 minutes of stropping.
If that doesn't work I go to my stones and yes I have had great success with this paradigm except the blades I wrote about.
I hope that clears up what I was trying to talk about.
I think a great shave can be had with a keen edged Rolls and always try to have a decent blade inserted in the shaving handle.
Thank you all for your interest, have a great shave on me!!!
tinkersd