My new Rolls...

[Evil One]

Just picked up a Rolls Razor at my local flea market.This thing is a work of art.
From the quality of the materials, to the shine of the nickel plated case... you know this is a special piece of equipment in your hands.
On my normal sunday morning run to look thru the various and sundry items the populace had for sale, I happened to stop where a gentleman had a few DE razors on display.
A few Gillette NEW, Gem, a couple of schicks... and a larger 2 tone blue box.
I recognized it instantly, as I have been thinking of heading out towards the NY border to pick up a new in box rolls that I saw advertised for sale.
I request to look at it, and it is in mint condition.His price on it is more than I am willing to spend however.
I can only assume that he has had the razor for a little while because I end up purchasing it for $25 less than he had it stickered for.
Which made the purchase price the same as the NIB one that would have consumed a couple of hours in the car and the associated fuel that would consume.
So i get mint not NIB... thats fine with me as I intend to use it and not just put it on display.

The blade in this razor is amazing, it looks like a section cut out of a very thick straight razor, held onto the handle at what looks to be pretty much a right angle with screw tension.
Simple, elegant, brilliant.

If this razor shaves my face as well as it entices my eyes I will be a VERY happy man.


Jim

 

[Belegnole]

That is one razor I am going to pick up when I see one that is completely usable. They are just too cool....

 

[Evil One]

I am looking forward to giving it a run soon.


Jim

 

[indykramer]

Keep us posted on how she shaves.

How do you strop or hone that ?

 

[Evil One]

I this picture you can see the hone and the strop.

It has an internal mechanism for honing and for stropping.
Before a shave you take the hone panel off, grasp the handle, and pull it from end to end of the case.
This strops the blade. After shaving you dry the blade and strop it again.
If it needs the edge rehoned you use the hone panel instead of the strop panel.

Hope this helps for a basic understanding.


Jim

 

[crichton]

I'm not much into DE's but that is COOL! Almost enough to make me want to try one......

 

[galopede]

I use mine regularly. My father had one when I was a lad and I used to play with the stropping. Can you imagine a ten year old being allowed to do that these days? !!

I picked mine up from evilBay and it was almost unused. Cost me about £8, $16.

It took a couple of goes on the hone side to get it just right but it's now a fine shave, Smooth, no nicks and BBS!

It looks a bit frightening but it's quite gentle in use. Go for it.

Gareth

 

[Evil One]

I think I will be using it tomorrow.
I am greatly looking forward to it.
Not exactly fear, but more of an excitement about conquering the unknown.


Jim

 

[prewt]

Sure does look cool but I think my face would run away if I tried to use it.

 

[indykramer]

Thanks for the pics. This is the first Rolls where everything was displayed. Well done. I hope it shaves as well as it looks.

 

[crichton]

There's one over at rubylane.com for $29.....and as much as I'd like to pick it up I think I have enough AD's as it is....lol......

 

[Evil One]

Its a beautiful piece... and rather unusual, Figured people my like to see a little about what it actually is.
I predict quite a learning curve when it comes to figuring out how to shave with it.
If I can get it sharp enough, it "should" shave about as well as a decent straight.


Jim

 

[galopede]

I predict quite a learning curve when it comes to figuring out how to shave with it.
If I can get it sharp enough, it "should" shave about as well as a decent straight.
Jim

Don't give up after the first rough shave. As I said above, I had at least three goes on the hone after shaving with it but now it's very smooth. It's not quite as sharp as a DE blade of course, same as a straight. Hard to explain but it does shave well.

As you say, it's like a chunk of straight razor so you have to watch your angles but I can honestly say I've not cut myself with it. It looks dangerous but it seems safe! The most dangerous bit is fitting it onto the handle or back onto the stropping handle in the box!

Persevere, it gets better and better.

Gareth

 

[Evil One]

Yea, when I got it out of the box the bade wasn't properly sharp... possibly why it was sold.
I plan on honing and stropping it tomrrow and checking the blade.
I am stubborn, or maybe just not smart enough to quit sometimes


Jim

 

[TimmyBoston]

 

[LX_Emergency]

I love those things. Used one once. The guy wanted $100+ for it though....so I passed.

 

[Finnigan]

I definately have to give mine more hone and strop time. mine wasn't shaving very well. it is a really cool piece of engineering though.

 

[rodd]

Saw one of these in a redish orange box last night at an antique store for $35, looked nice. I thought it was cool that the blades are engraved. I did not pick it up, so if someone is really looking for one let me know, I will pick it up for you at cost.
(they don't particularly like you taking pictures in antique stores, but this is on a camera phone, sorry about the quality)

 

[kestrel]

Evil

I got mine at a flea market too - 20 bucks Can. - and it shaves a treat. It's the one item in my collection that people are really fascinated by. Mostly they're frightened of the straights and bored by the DEs, but that little box with the moving parts seems to make people happy in the same way crayons do.

Have fun with it.

Graham

 

[petrocrab]

Saw one of these in a redish orange box last night at an antique store for $35, looked nice. I thought it was cool that the blades are engraved. I did not pick it up, so if someone is really looking for one let me know, I will pick it up for you at cost.
(they don't particularly like you taking pictures in antique stores, but this is on a camera phone, sorry about the quality)

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That one might be an Imperial 2A Model (pretty rare). They came in a red scotch-grained box like that. If the handle is telescopic, that helps identify it as a 2A. The Imperial 1, 2A, and 3 all had telescoping handles.