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Muhle Rocca R95 Birch Bark - Durability?

Used mine for the first time today after applying fretboard oil on it yesterday, what a grip and like someone has already mentioned it the only handle that gets grippier once wet..

you can tell the v1 and v2 easily By the base plates but v3 and V4 share the same look but the V4 is cnc machined and can tell the difference from the underside of the cap I think...

reckon I have seen comparison pics somewhere will try find them.. The V4 is my ultimate razor giving me the perfect balance of smoothness and efficiency and have ended up buying the R94, R95 and R96

here is the handle after the oil treatment

View attachment 1184961
You forgot to say you own THREE (3) of these v4 razors now!!!!!
Ah ****.... now I re read all your message. But where is your full jet black version??
 
If they made smaller handles (85mm max) I would be all over it

The handles look big but they actually work really nicely with the head. I have my Birch handle screwed to a Timeless SS, match made in heaven
IMG_20200909_083159.jpg
 
The handles look big but they actually work really nicely with the head.

I agree—it’s a longer handle than I prefer but feels “just right” for this razor.

Ive got some Tru Oil so may give it that treatment. I also just purchased the ridiculously priced little stand that holds the razor inverted. My first Rocca shave yesterday was so good! Can’t wait to use it again this evening.
 
I wrote to Muhle about the Birch bark handle construction.
They replied....
"...many thanks for your message. The birch bark handle is made of single rings of birch bark layered on an aluminum tube. I can confirm that the birch bark is a long lasting material. The material itself is very light and the heat isolating capacity of birch bark is correspondingly high, even when wet. Therefore compared to other natural materials, the birch bark is extremely stable, especially when exposed to moisture: no swelling or shrinkage.

To keep the colour of the handle we recommend to oil it from time to time".

I emailed Muhle again, and asked what is the 'oil' they recommend to use on the Birch bark handle.
They replied...
"You can use cooking oil such as Olive oil or maintenance oil such as Ballistol".

So there you have it straight from Muhle.
I think that Ballistol would be better than Olive oil.
But, I used Tru-Oil on mine (it's used on gun stocks, etc) just to make sure that no soap finally penetrates into the pores of the Birch bark. Gave it 2 coats.
The handle looks great. Has a nice sheen to it, and no loss of grip.

Thanks for sharing! :punk:
 
If you are



No .. there is some confusing annotation here... The R** is almost the handle description. Unfortunately there is effectively another version number underneath representing the revision number. So in this example there may be (depending on when the birch version came out) perhaps a R95 v1 R95 v2 R95 v3 R95 v4. The r94 is steel, the r95 is birch. The r96 Rocca is the black handled one. Though weirdly apparently even this rule doesn't make sense since there is a r96 jet black and a r96 handle black.

My only conclusion is a German car manufacturer employee who came up with the annotation schemes for BMWs or Audis moved over to Muhle and thought to bring the same logical sensibility to the German shaving world..

Joking aside, so you are looking for the r95 v4. If you can figure out who has that (or how to guarantee this) other than buying it directly from Muhle I am curious too. I am looking for the r96 handle black (not jet black) v4.

Avi
It only gets worse ... I had an older R95, probably v2, which wasn't very smooth. It was a MIM manufactured head. I contacted Muhle when they released the new all CNC head. They requested pictures and must have seen something that appeared to be a defect because they sent me a new CNC head. But here's where it gets odd. The invoice that accompanied this new Rocca head referred to it as V3.

So I wouldn't put much stock in the version numbers - look for an all CNC head. There are some old threads that show how to distinguish the CNC head from the older MIM head.
 
That birch handle looks awesome.....crap, now I want one. Looks like the head is similar to the EJ 3one6. Does anyone know if they are the same design?
 
They are not the same design
I have another post somewhere comparing the two. While the designs are different, I find that these two razors are more alike than dissimilar. They are comparable in efficiency and aggressiveness and both have what I would call a traditional three piece design. The Rocca doesn't have drainage slots, the 3ONE6 has a ridged safety bar, and the handle of the 3ONE6 (I have the knurled stainless steel handle) is noticeably smaller in diameter. But when compared to a bunch of other DE razors I have used, e.g. Rockwell 6C, Merkur Progress, Merkur slant, Fatip Piccolo, RazoRock Gamechanger, Merkur Futur, Edwin Jagger DE89, these two are as close to each other as they are to any other razor I've used, with the possible exception of the DE89.
 
Personally, I wouldn't put olive oil on there as suggested by Muhle. Isn't there potential it could spoil and the oil goes rancid?

This is a beautiful razor; exciting to hear all the positive reviews.
 
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Personally, I wouldn't put olive oil on there as suggested by Muhle. Isn't there potential it could spoil and the oil goes rancid?

This is a beautiful razor; exciting to hear all the positive reviews.
Yes, I was very surprised to see Muhle recommend olive oil. I wound up using the Howard Feed-N-Wax that I had on hand. Based upon the photos the other folks posted who used Tru-Oil and fretboard oil, the Feed-N-Wax does not add any sheen whatsoever to the birch handle. I'm assuming that since it's orange oil and beeswax it will provide added protection like the other oils.
 
I went ahead with two coats of Tru Oil on mine. Usually when using this on wood tool handles I'd do a LOT more coats, but I may stop here, or possibly do just one more, as I don't want that polyurethane look/feel you can get with 6 - 8 coats.
 
OK, here it is...has a slight sheen to it. This can be altered by a light buffing once the Tru-Oil has dried. For a gun stock the buffing gives a satin finish.
I like this as it is though. The colours in the Birch bark look 'richer' to me.


Not to be an idiot, but how did you apply the Tru Oil? I have some of that oil and have at R95 on the way and want to treat my handle with the Tru Oil. Thanks for any advice.
 
I just put a few drops of Tru-Oil on a cloth and rubbed it on.
Let it dry overnight and put on a second coat. Used a clean dry bit of the cloth to wipe any oil off the metal ends of the handle.
You can just use your fingers. I always used my bare hands/fingers when doing a gunstock, and Tru-Oil even says that's OK to do. Nothing toxic in the oil.
Tru-Oil is great stuff, and I'm sure will keep the R95 handle looking great.
We need photos from you though, once your R95 arrives!
 
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