Even old farts fall in love - first shave with a Rotbart Mond-Extra RFB

[pigmypuncher]

Hello,

it was made not earlier than 1931 and not later than 1937. It’s basically identical to the earlier three hole head, just altered to only accept the new slotted Gillette blades. Rotbart was produced by Roth-Büchner, a German Gillette company, they were the only ones who could produce the new type (slotted) blades in Germany.
D.r.p. angem. means Patent for Germany filed, this patent was Gillettes patent for the new slotted blade.
The weight is very odd, 0.9 oz is around 20 g? I sold all of mine, so can’t compare them, but it doesn’t sound right. The tube, comb and cap looks to be brass so should be around 40 g at least. The inner tube, where damaged, looks like aluminum.

Adam

Wow, thanks for that info Adam! I'll have to dig to figure out who's razor that might have been. I think we hit great grandfather range at this point. To be sure on the weight - I just checked the scale using a 500g calibration weight - it registered 499.8g. Then re-confirmed my original weight of this razor and it again showed 0.9 oz / 25.6g.

Looking at jmudrick's pics above - it seems they sold several variations of this razor, and I'd bet different metals as well..

For an additional weight comparison - my late 80s Gillette Super Adjustable with Diamond knurled handle weighs in at 2.06 oz / 58.4 g on the same scale (just measured after using the calibration weight). so, over twice as heavy as my Rotbart.

 

[romsitsa]

There were several variants and materials used, but it’s new to me,p that this design also existed in aluminum/zamak.
Could you check the outer barrel please, is there a ROTBART script on the smooth band or something else?

Adam

 

[pigmypuncher]

There were several variants and materials used, but it’s new to me,p that this design also existed in aluminum/zamak.
Could you check the outer barrel please, is there a ROTBART script on the smooth band or something else?

Adam

Hi Adam, I did find the below words inscribed on the lowest 'smooth' part toward the bottom of the handle:
ROTBART
MOUND-EXTRA
(all caps, and ROTBART is centered above the MOUND-EXTRA line)

I also found this older thread on B&B tonight
Rotbart Razors

In that thread I see yet another variation to this razor in much better condition - see pg 1 post #20 by member Winblows. Note the handle barrel in his pics have 2 full and a partial 1/4 knurled rings around the base where ours have a full three rings..

 

[pigmypuncher]

I wanted to bring this full circle. I was hoping to get the razor restored, but was told it's too far gone. I went ahead and loaded a feather DE blade and gave it a whirl - actually 3 whirls to be fair. I found it to be too mild a shaver to work for me. For reference, when not using a straight razor - I used a Gillette Slim Adjustable around 7 and most recently a Rockwell 6C with plates #4 & #5 (5 was more aggressive but tended to leave nicks & 4 consistently delivered a BBS shave with 3 passes). The Rotbart Mond-Extra was so mild my daughter was able to used it to shave the fuzz balls of our cloth covered couch without any issues. It was very effective in this role. I honestly was surprised as I expected with the open comb it would be much more aggressive.