First shave with Rolls and a few questions

[routeinfo]

No blood or irritation but I only did a one pass shave.

I was lucky to find a Rolls Razor in excellent, hardly used condition. Hone has no cracks and strop seems perfect. Really beautiful. The paperwork shows a New York address without a zipcode and is marked Imperial #2 nickel plated. It has a 2 piece handle. Here are my questions.

1. The blade looks new and everything I read said not to over hone it so I gave it about 40 passes each way. However it is still not sharp as it should be. How much honing is safe? Is it OK to just go at it for 15-30 minutes to get it back in shape?

2. I disassembled the hone/strop mechanism per the wiki and cleaned some black goo off the brass barrel. Inside the cylindrical clip there is a redish brown spacer that goes between the barrel and the clip that I did not see mentioned anywhere. After careful cleaning the mechanism is still rather hard to push/pull and it is difficult to keep the blade from slapping. Is this normal?

3. How in the heck do I shave under my nose while keeping the correct blade angle? Seems impossible.

Thanks in advance for your help and wisdom.

 

[GoldenBacon]

Check this out: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Rolls_Razor
I hope it helps.
Also: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/group.php?groupid=111

 

[routeinfo]

GB, thanks for the reply.

I read the wiki and I posted here because the group does not have a lot of traffic. I guess my main question is how do I get the blade into shave ready condition.

 

[galopede]

I have three Rolls and I have got them just about right. It has taken me quite a few returns to the hone. I hone, strop then try it. Not sharp enough? Hone again. It will get there.

Each time I've given mine around 100 trips up and down the hone before stropping and shaving. It worked for me.

Still not as smooth a shave as a nice new blade in a DE but the resulting shave is far closer. Go figure, as you Americans say!

I like my Rollers!

Gareth