Rolls Vs a Straight.

OK firstly my appologies if this is in the wrong part of the forum but i was a little unsure where to post it.

ive been straight shaving for a while now, thanks to a member on here donating a razor to me and me eventually picking up another one from Ebay.

however i was wandering around the car boot sales two weekends ago and happened across a Rolls Razor in its original box with all its little bits of paperwork included

long story short i got it for £5.00 (around 8US). its in really good condition (no rust on the razor, minor bit of rust on the case tho need to sort that next ) the only thing i felt i had to-do was sort out the hone as it was badly pitted in the middle where the razor guard has been striking it for years, so i plucked up some courage, got the hone out and flipped it over. now it looks like new.

i spent 10 mins using its hone to sharpen it the other night just to make sure it was nice and sharp, as it was ok shaving arm hair but it did not feel like it would do beard hair.

So Tonight i decided to have ago with it and see what i could do, i did half my face with the rolls and half with my straight and i was blown away at how well it shaved and with so little effort.

it felt a little awkward holding it at such a shallow angle to my face after what I've learnt about Straight shaving, but two minutes into it i felt very comfortable shaving and very relaxed.

I'm not sure if i should keep straight shaving now or if I've become a born again SE shaver lol.

my personal opinion, if you get the chance to buy one in good condition, get it! there great little razors, shave really well and need no specialized sharpening skills for a beginner to maintain, its a shame to see them disappear due to cheap throw away plastic razors.. (the reason this one i bought was up for sale)

thanks for reading guys, I just figured I would share my experiences with a rolls.

Kris

I have a Rolls myself but The hone is broken in two.Tried using once and it would not shave me.I don't know the technique to hone this blade on a stone as I would a straight razor due to the guard on the blade.I'm glad you are getting use out of your one.They are neat looking things.

They are great shavers but the issue is finding one with all the parts intact. I guess the idea was combining a DE with a Straight concept. You see them come up all the time on Eboy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnnyHoodoo

I don't know the technique to hone this blade on a stone as I would a straight razor due to the guard on the blade.

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If the guard's flipped away from the stone it won't be in the way, you just have to flip it every time you flip the blade.

They're good sheffield steel and shave just as a good sheffield edge. The problem is usually the condition. The hone it comes with is basically a barber's hone, so it can produce a reasonably good edge, but you can definitely do much better if you know how to hone razors and have other hones that you can use it (natural hones work best on that steel I think).
The strop isn't very good in my opinion, but that could be fixed by replacing it with leather from a nice strop for straights. For a redneck version a piece of newspaper on top of the strop works much better than the strop itself.

If you want to hone the blade outside of the case, the little protector bar simply unclips from the blade. Makes it much easier to hone when you don't have to keep moving it.

It will only go on one way round though so check before using force to replace it!

I have three Rolls razor sets. At a local car boot a year or so ago, I found a brand new replacement hone and strop for £1 all in so now one set is almost as new. Great shaves.

Gareth

Hard to beat a shave from a good one. I don't like the handle, Though. Going to make a bit heftier one soon.

I know of one gentleman who has spent quite a bit of time with these. One thing he said is that occasionally he would come across a well worn blade that would not hold an edge. All we could assume is that some were not fully hardened. Other than that he really liked them and he modified quite a few to have something more attuned to a standard straight.

I have quite a few Rolls, and I love them, but I will never give up my straights!!! just use the rolls when i have very little time and want a better shave than a DE.

I have three, but only one good hone and two handles. All the strops have been ruined by misuse. I managed to get a piece of 9 oz (I think) leather to fit after sanding the back down, but I think 7 oz is the proper size.

I often use a Rolls and get wonderful shaves. In fact, I used a rolls practically daily for 35 years until the blade became pretty much unusable. After all those years and sharpenings the blade receded away from the guard so far that the geometry got seriously out of whack. Luckily I had another blade and I still love my rolls, although I often use a straight. One tip - strop a lot before shaving.

I hope you all have as good luck with your Rollies.

jascas