Thread: Rolls Razor

I am clearing out a house of my wife's uncles as he is now in assisted living. He purchased a Rolls Razor while in England and in the service to give to his father between the years 1950 and 1954. The box is marked 17.00. I dont know if that is pounds sterling or dollars. It is in immaculate condition, has both sides, no nicks, and looks barely used. Sharp as hell as I have already cut a finger trying to figure out how it goes together before realizing that it even has the original instructions in the original box. Lucked out on finding some good autographed baseballs of Wally Moon, Nolan Ryan and Satchel Paige & Joe B Scott (on one ball). Been a good day.

I figure I have at least 7 of them, travel case on 3 ,couple of new blades etc.
I think I will try removing the blade and honing it on the 4/8-
NOt sure how to go about using a hanging strop with it so I will end up using the one with the RR. I have put small wipes of neatsfoot on one to try and rejuvenate it a bit. Watered the hone a bit, not work too well so me thinks its an oil stone
Noisy thing slapping that mechanism back and forth.

Just bought my first Rolls Imperial 3 over the weekend and its in great shape. The extra blade looks like it has never been used still in the oil/wax paper. I'm going to work with it alittle today and give it a try tonight and see how it shaves.

Just had another look at my rolls, which I gave up on a long time ago - It never got sharp enough.
Am I right in assuming that if you hone it on a regular hone that angle is different than that which is used by the mechanism? It seems that in the box the spine doesn't touch the hone, but if you do it on a regular hone, it does.
Surely by honing and then putting it back in the box to strop would break off the edge as it would be stropping effectively with the spine lifted?
Not sure what is wrong with mine - it has trouble even cutting the hair on my arm so I'm not putting it near my face any time soon!

Nick,
It might be possible your hone stone in the RR is too thin to make contact with the spine- just a guess. I have about 5 of them in cases and they will get sharp but I have not tried very hard to do so.
I did pull one blade and give it a few passes on a norton and that was about all it took- Not worrying about breaking it on the RR strop but its sharper.
I do think the RR as is using its hones and strop produce more pulling than any well honed and cared for str8 I own. RR was a bit of a rage back in its day for some good reason so maybe we are just doing it wrong.
Have a great weekend all-
Mark

Originally Posted by tat2Ralfy

I just honed mine tonight using regular hones (coticule and bbw for me) heres what I did:
Remove blade, remove blade guard, then half strokes 50 a time on each side on the coti with slurry until it shaved arm hair, thats dead easy if your hone is lapped, just pop the blade flat onto the hone, and with 2 fingers near the edge and your thumb on the spine you can get a right fast shuffle on. then I took a chopstick, trimmed it until it was a snug fit in the plain hole on the side fo the blade and viola! blade on a stick, using the stick as a handle I did 30 regular x strokes on fresh slurry, then same again on bbw with light slurry, back onto coti with water for 50 or so laps and 30 strops on linen then 60 on leather to finish
Put the guard back on, handle on, and shaved. VERY smooth shave and it all took less than an hour
Hope this helps any questions just PM
The rolls is a wonderful invention and would be my choice if I had to equip myself for shaving and only had room for 1 sturdy little box

You took the guard off without cutting yourself? I bow to your skill I found it so difficult and I still have the scar. I finally got it sharp and it'll come in handy as a travel razor.

Originally Posted by bevansmw

I'm contemplating getting a rolls razor and just wanted to see if there were some people here that use one and how good are they. I tend to use my DE a lot but really prefer the closeness that my straight provides, but don't usually take the time for a straight shave. I read a little that the rolls razor is the closest thing to a straight that isn't one, anyone have some experience with them? What models should I look at when considering one? Things to look for?

Also was curious if anyone has tried replacing the strop material in the cases that comes with them or if the hones that comes with them (I'm assuming just for touching up) works well. Thanks for any input

I am now shaving with a Rolls Razor. It was my dad's, he kept in very good condition so I thought I'd try it. I will never go back to multi track Razors or an electric one either. Yes disposables and electric Razors do give you a very close shave, too close if you ask me. I realized they were giving me ingrown whiskers and were growing back very ridged and thick. You know, the coarse sandpaper face. When I started shaving with the Rolls Razor I noticed that it gave my face a really nice feel and that my whiskers had that soft silky feel to it when they grew back. Your sweet heart will love you for it.
If you do use the Rolls I would suggest that you don't strop fast on the stone side and slap the razor aganced it, it will shatter it. Strop fast with the leather side only. The leather is only to remove any burr on the very edge of the blade after sharpening it on the stone. When shaving run it under very hot water to expand the steel. It will stretch the blade and keep it very sharp while you shave. Don't go with the cold water theory. I find that the steam in the bathroom helps the skin too. I never bring the case in the bathroom just the razor in its handle. I give it cleaning and drying after every use. Another hint is to put Rain-X on the mirror every two weeks, you'll see why. It sounds like a lot of work but I remember how long it took to clean my electric razor and if it wasn't disinfected I would get a horrible skin irritation. Rotary and reciprocating razors are too much ware on the skin. straight razors and Rolls Razors are enough to make you look neatly groomed. I've heard that some guys say that they hate shaving, I don't. It's a guy thing, it's a ritual like smoking a pipe and cleaning it or making martinis or building a bar-B-Q. Let the girls laugh at us. Happy shaving. Paul

I just found a Rolls this morning at my uncle's house while cleaning out some of his things. How can you tell what type of Rolls that it is and what type of case I have? I also found a Kriss Kross. Both are in good shape and he had not used either of them for over 20 years. I would appreciate any help you all can give me.

Originally Posted by ghnumber1

I just found a Rolls this morning at my uncle's house while cleaning out some of his things. How can you tell what type of Rolls that it is and what type of case I have? I also found a Kriss Kross. Both are in good shape and he had not used either of them for over 20 years. I would appreciate any help you all can give me.

There's a fair bit of info on identifying them here:
Rolls Safety Razor Page

I really couldn't tell you how much the razor is worth. I just saw one today selling for $50. All I know is how to shave with them.