Rolls Razor (contains pictures)

hitemfrank

I figure I'd make a thread about these as I bought two of them in the last month. For those that don't know what a Rolls Razor is, it's a type of safety razor that is quite like a straight razor. It came in a case that contained both a hone for sharpening the blade and a strop. It has a button on either end and when you press one it will release either the hone or strop depending on which button you press.


Case on the left with the hone and strop removed (they both clip into the case)

The first one I bought was missing the handle but the blade was in great condition so I decided to just buy a second one for the handle. I bought it for £1 minus shipping only knowing that there was a handle.

When the second one got here it was in pretty rough shape. The blade was all rusty and the case was a little nasty. Well I figured I may as well try clean up the case and save the blade. Well today was the day that I set about it.

Pre cleaning;



After some time (~half hour), Brasso and elbow grease;





I don't have any pictures of the blade before I started cleaning it but it was pretty much entirely red from rust. The blade of the Rolls Razor is like a cross section of a straight razor so I started sanding it to see if the edge of it was free from pitting (it wasn't).


I've taken the safety bar off the blade in the picture to show the cross section better.

After sanding it I moved onto honing it. I knew I had to remove some steel to get past the pitting on the edge. So I decided to use my Chosera 1k to do that job and I used lapping film once the bevel was set. I used the Chosera as the lapping plate this time. Lapping film used was 12, 9, 5, 3 & 1 micron.

I've cut the lapping film into strips so that I can actually use it in the Rolls Razor honing thing-a-ma-jig. The fit between the hone and the clips that hold the hone in place.



But today I just put the film on the Chosera hone and honed it by hand. It should be just as sharp as my most of my straight razors.



Having honed the first blade I got, in the case with the lapping film and using it, I know how good of a shave they can deliver. It does kind of make the DE razor I have and rarely use even more redundant now.


So, anyone else use one of these?

MadsL

I have one, in very good condition with original documents. Just haven't got around to A. Shaving with it, or B. Selling it.

hitemfrank

If I'd known that I'd have made you an offer on it.

Get it honed and use it man.

John Divney

I wouldn't trust myself to get a smooth edge on it, but it looks like a great tool in the right hands, really should be more popular for what it offers, the ultimate low cost shaving.

Amalgam

Nice rundown hitemfrank. I always thought these were just an exotic sharpening system, on sight of them. Doh.

Funny thing is, they turn up in very good condition, quite cheaply, on even the busiest shaving forum.

An 'overlooked' shaving item.

I guess the holding\shaving angle is going to be pretty steep, against the face?

MadsL

I have also seen people selling replacement strops for them*. Using 3M film on top of the hone is genius, was that your idea Hitemfrank?

*On Straight Razor Place - can't find the guy now unfortunately.

hitemfrank

Amalgam wrote: »

Nice rundown hitemfrank. I always thought these were just an exotic sharpening system, on sight of them. Doh.

Funny thing is, they turn up in very good condition, quite cheaply, on even the busiest shaving forum.

An 'overlooked' shaving item.

I guess the holding\shaving angle is going to be pretty steep, against the face?

They do turn up very often on ebay and in good condition too if you wait for the right one. I didn't

The angle is about the same as for a straight razor but it seems really steep as you hold it in a different way than a straight.

MadsL wrote: »

I have also seen people selling replacement strops for them*. Using 3M film on top of the hone is genius, was that your idea Hitemfrank?

*On Straight Razor Place - can't find the guy now unfortunately.

I was inspired by someone on badgerandbalde who got a metal shop to make a spike on a stick so he could hone on his coticule.

Considering I set the bevel on the Chosera I decided it just to put the lapping film on that.

I've heard of people making replacement strops but for now I'm just putting my regular strop on a table and stropping on that. It does the job quite well but I might look into getting a replacement strop.

Amalgam

Picked one up today. Pleased with the price, put it this way, just a little bit cheaper than the least expensive Merkur, including postage.

Talking of Merkur, this isn't quite as savage as I thought it would look, if you've used the Merkur 15C, or a Gem, there isn't much of a wild progression, to the Rolls.

Very pleased, minimal, if any.. signs of use on the strop\hone. The blade is immaculate, the only marks are my fingerprints.

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Forgot to point this out the other day, YouTube Rolls shaving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqKgnzgIh_U

The unique stropping mechanism that also acts as a razor container.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRdf3pT_hTE

A very manly\imposing razor to own\acquire, relatively inexpensive too.

Delighted with my purchase.

Amalgam

There's different models. I have no idea what unique features each one has.. Mine is an Imperial No 2., I've seen a Viscount on YouTube.. pretty much the same inner case, though some come with full hard leather-like outer cases, as opposed to card.

StupidLikeAFox

Rolls Razors, Ltd, made several models with variations based solely on casing material, finish and shape. The earliest models have a pebble-finish metal case. The nickel plated Imperial No. 2 is the most common along with the silver-plated Imperial which was packaged with a hard leatherette storage box. During World War II, the case was made all Aluminum. Older razors, pre-1930, do not have a Greek key pattern on the case. A gold-plated case was made before 1930, but is very rare. The two main shape variations were the “standard” Imperial which had a flat boxy shape with rounded corners and the Viscount which had a softer profile with shaped sides and rounded corners.

From wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls_Razor

hitemfrank

Amalgam wrote: »

Picked one up today. Pleased with the price, put it this way, just a little bit cheaper than the least expensive Merkur, including postage.

Looks in great shape. Now just get it honed and start using it


Was that one of the ones I had sent you a link to by any chance?

Drakus

Very nice setup, have heard of these but never actually seen one. I have a similar setup but it's a Darwin, made in the UK, the box is a bit longer than the length of the rolls. The blades(2) look very similar but are pretty old, a bit pitted with black marks/rust and not at all sharp, they also have little screws in them(micrometer) to adjust the blade when it is in the holder. I was thinking about trying to exchange the stropping material in the case, one side is marked fine, the other coarse but am not sure what material to use, I would probably try to use something similar to what is there already whatever that is. I would like to sharpen the blades but as I have been trying to sharpen my straight for the last 2 months(combo coticule) without success I won't be trying that anytime soon.




















Better Images here:

http://imageshack.us/g/405/p1013504p.jpg/

cruizer101

Just got myself one of these from ebay fairly cheap I think.

Its a viscount model which i think is most recent. Seems is quite good condition too.

I did try hone and strop and have a shave with it but wasn't really sharp enough, it was cutting a bit but dragging a lot so will need more sharpening.

I might pick myself up some and have a go of the lapping film in the case and see how that goes. I've no experienceof sharpening mind so we'll see.

Here is a few pics

hitemfrank

Here is where I get my lapping film.

You would want from 12 um down to 1 um. It's just important that you don't move from one film to the next until you've removed the scratches from the previous.