I picked up a rolls razor this weekend at an antique mall. Unfortunately, the whetstone was cracked and missing a corner. I found n the bay a hone, with the strop and whetstone, the seller does not indicate if this will fit the Viscount or the Imperial. Will this fit both models?
Rolls Razor Hone
- Thread starter ovrmnjake
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Yes, they interchange.
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Awesome! Thanks, now I can bid without fear!
What is the difference between the two models? I have an NOS Imperial.
How does the shave with a properly maintained Rolls compare to a Merkur Futur (on 3) with Feather or Iridium blades?
I found a rolls at an antique shop here locally for $20. I didn't pick it up because I don't know enough about them to know if everything was there or not. There was a hone, a strop, a handle for shaving and another handle of some sort in it. The instructions were also there in the bottom. It looked to be in pretty good shape, but you could tell it was used. Is there anything in particular to watch out for when buying one of these?
You don't mention a blade. When you're looking for these, check for missing blades and missing handles or missing hones. Seems like the leather strop is always there, but anything else could be missing.
I'm pretty sure the blade was on the handle that looked like an old fashioned can opener. The other handle looked lie a paint can opener. It was a case within a case, and I didn't want to fuss with it too much without knowing how to handle it properly unless I was going to buy it. Is it hard to replace the blades?
The first handle (like a bottle opener) is the one that operates the stropping and honing operation. The blade locks on a pin in the housing and flips over when you pull the handle each direction. You have to be sure the hone and strop are in the correct sides, since pulling into the strop will cut it. This handle is mounted in the housing and is not removable (except for servicing??)
The other handle (paint can opener) is the handle to hold the blade when shaving.
One cover should have a strop and the other cover a hone. The blade has a movable guard that serves the same purpose as the bar on a DE razor.
I can't see how it would compare at all. The Rolls has a well earned reputation for being a "straight razor on a stick". It's "safety bar" is nothing like the safety bars of latter day razors. It might help to protect your face from the blade a bit, but the gap produced is huge by DE razor standards.
If I recall correctly, the "safety bar" doesn't actually touch your face when you are shaving. The safety bar of a DE razor helps to stretch your skin, along with create the proper angle for shaving. The Rolls "safety bar" does neither one of these.
As I understand it, it's only purpose is to prevent the wedge blade from deeply cutting into your face.
Replacement blades are not available by themselves. the Rolls Razor blade is a wedge blade, which looks like someone literally cut a piece off of a straight razor. If you happened upon a set without the blade, you would need to locate another set that had the blade intact, or perhaps find someone on the board willing to sell you just the blade.
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Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
The most common fault in Rolls razors is a cracked hone. This pretty much ruins the razor, though of course you can replace the entire hone lid with another one that has an intact hone. Replacing the stone itself in the original hone lid is not practical because nobody is going to want to cut you such a thin wafer of stone. Of course you could try gluing some wet/dry paper onto a thin piece of glass, wood, plastic, whatever, but it would not last very long without having to replace the paper.
The blade does not have to be replaced, barring some unforseen shaving tragedy. The blade is meant to last for many, many years of daily shaving.
If you do a google for "rolls razor instructions", you will probably find a pdf file of the original instructions. Nearly all Rolls razors that still have the original outer box or outer case will also have the original instructions, and reading them would be enlightening for a curious would-be buyer. In fact, there are youtube videos, too, and you could do a search for one of them.
These razors are pretty nice shavers. Just keep the skin reasonably taut, as when straight razor shaving. Keep the angle of attack nice and shallow and don't press hard into the skin, and never slice sideways with the blade, and you won't cut yourself any more than with a regular DE razor.
These razors are common as dirt on ebay. Sometimes they go for as little as $5 plus shipping, with nicer ones pretty much always going well under $50, and that is for mint or nearly mint with a nice outer case and extra blade. If you buy one on the bay, first make sure that the hone and strop are in decent shape, and the blade has no nicks or deformations. Otherwise you will end up having to buy another one to mix and match parts to get one good setup.
The blade does not have to be replaced, barring some unforseen shaving tragedy. The blade is meant to last for many, many years of daily shaving.
If you do a google for "rolls razor instructions", you will probably find a pdf file of the original instructions. Nearly all Rolls razors that still have the original outer box or outer case will also have the original instructions, and reading them would be enlightening for a curious would-be buyer. In fact, there are youtube videos, too, and you could do a search for one of them.
These razors are pretty nice shavers. Just keep the skin reasonably taut, as when straight razor shaving. Keep the angle of attack nice and shallow and don't press hard into the skin, and never slice sideways with the blade, and you won't cut yourself any more than with a regular DE razor.
These razors are common as dirt on ebay. Sometimes they go for as little as $5 plus shipping, with nicer ones pretty much always going well under $50, and that is for mint or nearly mint with a nice outer case and extra blade. If you buy one on the bay, first make sure that the hone and strop are in decent shape, and the blade has no nicks or deformations. Otherwise you will end up having to buy another one to mix and match parts to get one good setup.
If you have a broken hone, you can super glue the two pieces back together, making sure that it is aligned well, then lap it with a hone lap and it will work perfectly fine.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Generally, you cannot switch the hone for the strop, because the tabs at the square end of the lid are different. It is a bit of idiot-proofing.
Unfortunately I managed to do it to a very good Rolls Razor many years ago. Hence the warning. I don't recall how I did it, but I did and it ruined the strop, and some how I cracked the hone. (not sure if it was the same incident) Anyway thats why I just bought a "New" (NOS) one.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Well, I guess anything is possible! But yeah, if the strop is on the wrong side, the blade will slice into it because on that side, the blade moves with the edge leading. But I can't envision how the hone would crack from being on the wrong side.
Congrats on finding a NOS one. They are getting hard to find.
The hones crack for a different reason - being dropped on the bathroom floor!
I just scored another NOS on Ebay today. I was looking for a used one in good condition to use, but go lucky on a NOS. I won't see it until next week.
Would you be willing to give this a go on my cracked hone? I'm willing to pay. PM me if interested.
I think the Roll's safety bar was to protect the blade edge,not your face.
I got my worst ever shaving cut due to an inattentive lateral movement with a Roll's.
You definitely need a steady hand to get good results with this razor.
I got my worst ever shaving cut due to an inattentive lateral movement with a Roll's. You definitely need a steady hand to get good results with this razor.
Do not have a Futur, but my Rollses now give me the "maximum" shave. For me that means 7-8 hours before I can feel stubble again. None of the razors I have tried sofar (from DE to SE) has given me more than this, and only a few can give the "maximum" shave. So for me they are top notch shavers.
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