Thread: Certain questions arise when Zak buys a Rolls Razor.

So today I hit some local-ish antique stores and picked up a Rolls Razor in pretty good shape. $35 was low enough to be worth experimenting.

And after experimenting with it for a little bit, which basically consisted of polishing the case with some Mother's and then honing and stropping the little blade on its little hone and little strop, I am left to wonder:

Is there *any* widely used, now 'obsolete' shaving technology which *isn't* superior to modern disposables?

I totally understand why not everyone wants to use straight razors. This makes intuitive sense to me. Why DE's fell out of fashion, however, I cannot fathom. They're superior in pretty much every regard to cartridge and disposable razors.

And then there's the Rolls Razor. No consumable parts. Easy to use and care for. It looks like it'll shave *great* (I've only got a tiny bit of stubble, but it took it off with ease). Why aren't these things still made?

Oh yes, because most people would only ever need to buy one of them.

I have no idea why things like the Rolls Razor fell out of style either. I have one and it's great. I agree that it is probably because there is not likely to be many re-sales due to the longevity (and perhaps also a lack of interest) of the product that would keep companies from bringing this sort of thing back.


Mick

Well this is an easy question. Just think about it. Why do so few people drive with a manual tranny, why don't women wash clothes in the bathtub with a washboard, why do see people's shopping carts in the supermarket filled with convenience foods and prepared meals?

It's all about convenience and ease of use. Most folks think you're crazy for using a straight. Who wants to fuss over a shaving implement and hone and strap and risk cutting themselves every day?

Also not many have knowledge that str8s and DEs not only performs great but even EXIST!

Ah but do they really exist?! Might they not just be some mass hallucination brought about by corrupt world governments experimenting on the people of the world?!


Mick

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well this is an easy question. Just think about it. Why do so few people drive with a manual tranny, why don't women wash clothes in the bathtub with a washboard, why do see people's shopping carts in the supermarket filled with convenience foods and prepared meals?

It's all about convenience and ease of use. Most folks think you're crazy for using a straight. Who wants to fuss over a shaving implement and hone and strap and risk cutting themselves every day?

Oh no, I totally agree with you about straights. They aren't convenient and that, frankly, is why I love them.

What baffles me is DEs and things like the Rolls Razor (of course, I haven't actually tried shaving with it, so maybe it provides a lousy experience and I shouldn't be lumping it in here). At least with a DE there isn't any added convenience to cartridge razors. The sole area where cartridges win is that I can buy more blades at the grocery store and that's purely because of market dominance. Market dominance that comes through no identifiable intrinsic quality of the product.

And if you notice ,you CAN buy DE blades at the supermarket, BUT you cant buy a RAZOR almost anywhere???? Whats up with that !!!
And buy the way use the rolls first before singing its praises,I have two,and there OK.............not great, but they were around for a looong time.

I'm not sure I'd want to USE most of the DE blades I see in supermarkets, but that's truly an excellent point about buying the razors. I haven't seen them new in a store in a long, long time (and I know there are new ones being made).

I did give the Rolls a go. First I looked up the instructions to see how they suggested doing the honing.

The instructions say you should A) hone it at about 60 strokes per minute for 30 seconds, with a stroke being both forward and backward and B) that you should not make the blade hit the hone too hard. Maybe I'm missing something, but I cannot do BOTH of those things.

After a ton of using the built in hone I've got an edge that only has a little bit of serration.

It HURT.

So now I'm gonna see if I can get my Chinese polishing stone cut down to fit where the old hone is now

I have said this somewhere else before I know, take the rolls blade and using some small care, hone it similar to how you do with your open razors. Using your full size hones to do the task. You'll have to work out how best to do this for yourself, but I just apply enough finger pressure to guide the blade down the hone, flip it over end wise and guide it down the hone again. I start from the end of the hone furtherest away from me and guide the blade towards me.
The hone in the rolls kit is good for minor maintenance, and that is about it. The good thing about that though is that minor maintenance is easy with a rolls. If you really don't like it, send it to me...


Mick

I actually did a little bit of that with the CNAT, but I got concerned about bevel angle since laying it flat on the stone is a very different angle from the way it gets honed in the case.

If I don't like the second one I bought, I'll send you that one.