- Thread starter
- #101
Keep on trying, man. If you've prepped the blade as above, you'll get it.
Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk
The Society of Ancient* Rolls Razor Shavers (SOARRS)
- Thread starter gdgeorge
- Start date
Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I'm not ready to sign up yet, as I still have a lot of refurb work to do, but I now have my eye on this club 
I need to properly clean up the strop, stone the blades, and try to make sure the integral hones are both flat first. I also want to try and get the Darwin hollow ground up and running first. I think that will be a good way in for my to learn the new techniques safely. I can keep cranking up the aggression on the Darwin till the safety bar is irrelevant, at which point I should be ready to make the leap to the Rolls.
I hope to be adding this to my sig line some time next year
I need to properly clean up the strop, stone the blades, and try to make sure the integral hones are both flat first. I also want to try and get the Darwin hollow ground up and running first. I think that will be a good way in for my to learn the new techniques safely. I can keep cranking up the aggression on the Darwin till the safety bar is irrelevant, at which point I should be ready to make the leap to the Rolls.
I hope to be adding this to my sig line some time next year
Went by a Trade Days booth after a church lunch and The Boy and I found a really nice, clean, hardly-if ever, 1950 RR in a bottom-half of the box.
When I opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised at the condition.
While it is not perfect, it’s in better shape than I expected.
This is going to The Boy. He wanted it, and wants to shave with it. So, it looks like we both will eventually learn how these thing work best. He will learn with a DE safety razor first...
When I opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised at the condition.
While it is not perfect, it’s in better shape than I expected.
This is going to The Boy. He wanted it, and wants to shave with it. So, it looks like we both will eventually learn how these thing work best. He will learn with a DE safety razor first...
- Thread starter
- #104
We didn't get beat up on a $20 transaction did we?
Seems like a good deal. A little polishing should bring the blade back to a nice shine and remove rust spots. If not, keep your eye open for single RR blades which are all interchangeable. If rust is not on either side of the edge though, even if you can't get rid of it elsewhere, it won't affect your ability to get a good shave shave.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
i have been using mine a lot lately, and i have gotten much better after learning a lot more about straight razor shaving as well
Playing around in B&B and found this community thread. Had to say hi. I love my Rolls. Mine was a gift from a co-worker. Strop unused and hone was fine. Sent it out to get professionally rehoned. That was a couple years ago. Been using it ever since. Now just waiting for strop dressing.
I don't use it every day (too much variety), but I have to say that lately, I've been more interested in doing my nightly shaves with stroppable blades rather than disposables, so the Rolls has been getting its action in.
This thread now has me interested in putting some lapping paper on the hone. I'd just been using the hone, which works fine as is, but maybe an additional protective layer to the stone with the added benefit of some extra tooth wouldn't hurt.
I don't use it every day (too much variety), but I have to say that lately, I've been more interested in doing my nightly shaves with stroppable blades rather than disposables, so the Rolls has been getting its action in.
This thread now has me interested in putting some lapping paper on the hone. I'd just been using the hone, which works fine as is, but maybe an additional protective layer to the stone with the added benefit of some extra tooth wouldn't hurt.
Thought I would share a thread I started in another forum that heavily features the Rolls. I got one of the original Rolls popular models today and I wanted to show photos of how it compares with the later models. Hope you find it helpful.
Photo Comparison of the Popular and "Popular" Rolls Razor - https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/photo-comparison-of-the-popular-and-popular-rolls-razor.65198/
Photo Comparison of the Popular and "Popular" Rolls Razor - https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/photo-comparison-of-the-popular-and-popular-rolls-razor.65198/
I used my Rolls for the second time today. Such a neat shaver.
Greetings to all anachronistic, but auspicious, users of the arcane Rolls Razor. 
I've been using my Rolls Razors about once a month for quite some time. As I believe I've mentioned in a thread or two in the General Shaving Discussion forum, the Rolls Razor helps improve my technique and keeps me honest with DE razors.
However, I've recently begun to wonder if anyone else flips their blade in the handle between passes, or if I am the only one that crazy.
When I use a straight (rarely any more), I know I use both sides of the blade.
With a DE, I clean and reload the blade after each shave, probably flipping it multiple times before banking it.
With my Rolls, I figured, "Why not? I strop both sides like a straight, might as well use both sides during the shave!"
So, am I alone in my eccentricity, or do others flip?
I've been using my Rolls Razors about once a month for quite some time. As I believe I've mentioned in a thread or two in the General Shaving Discussion forum, the Rolls Razor helps improve my technique and keeps me honest with DE razors.
However, I've recently begun to wonder if anyone else flips their blade in the handle between passes, or if I am the only one that crazy.
When I use a straight (rarely any more), I know I use both sides of the blade.
With a DE, I clean and reload the blade after each shave, probably flipping it multiple times before banking it.
With my Rolls, I figured, "Why not? I strop both sides like a straight, might as well use both sides during the shave!"
So, am I alone in my eccentricity, or do others flip?
I haven't gone that deep... 
Yoo Hoo ... Anyone still here?
April 14 (Birthday shave)
Rolls Razor, Viscount
Tabac
CRV
April 14 (Birthday shave)
Rolls Razor, Viscount
Tabac
CRV
@RumpleBearskin
Yep, still here.
Happy Birthday! Hope it's a good one!
(But, with that shave, how could it be a bad one? )
Yep, still here.
Happy Birthday! Hope it's a good one!
(But, with that shave, how could it be a bad one?
)- Thread starter
- #115
Wow. Hard to believe that I haven't checked in on B&B for a year and a half! Of course SOA*RRS was the first place I've stopped... And, why you ask? Well it just so happens that I switched back to my Rolls a couple of weeks ago. I don't have a formal rotation or anything, it was just time for something new. March and part of April were Gem months, first a 1912 and then a Flying Wing. Prior to that, I ran a couple of blades through my Gillette (Birth Month) Adjustable. Prior to that I spent about a year with my Sextoblade.
Anyway, it had been a bit since I got the Rolls out. I reclaimed /restored this one in 2014 and have used it off and on since. When I got it out this time I remembered that I had one blade sharper than the other coming out of the restore but hadn't bothered to fix it.
This time around, the first shave (with the good blade, it turns out) was, how should I put this? Well, it sucked. Pulling and tugging and not close at all! "Well," I thought to myself, "I guess this was the duller blade." Wrong! Tried the other one and it was worse. So I stropped them both. Hmm. That's better, but still not great. So I honed them both, in the case.
The process was simple, about 15 slow and easy strokes (back and forth--remember that you should hear "click" as the blade guard lightly strikes the hone,and then "snick" as the blade sets up for the stroke.) Then rotate the case end for end and do 15 more strokes. Then flip the blade (15 more) and then rotate the case again for the final 15. Follow by stropping "for at least thirty seconds." I actually do about 60 back and forth strokes with the same rotation as I use on the hone.
Today's shave, with what was the duller blade was nice. La Toja stick with my home-turned silver-tip brush. Smooth with no tugging and, while not a BBS, is certainly better than SAS.
Best,
Jerry
Anyway, it had been a bit since I got the Rolls out. I reclaimed /restored this one in 2014 and have used it off and on since. When I got it out this time I remembered that I had one blade sharper than the other coming out of the restore but hadn't bothered to fix it.
This time around, the first shave (with the good blade, it turns out) was, how should I put this? Well, it sucked. Pulling and tugging and not close at all! "Well," I thought to myself, "I guess this was the duller blade." Wrong! Tried the other one and it was worse. So I stropped them both. Hmm. That's better, but still not great. So I honed them both, in the case.
The process was simple, about 15 slow and easy strokes (back and forth--remember that you should hear "click" as the blade guard lightly strikes the hone,and then "snick" as the blade sets up for the stroke.) Then rotate the case end for end and do 15 more strokes. Then flip the blade (15 more) and then rotate the case again for the final 15. Follow by stropping "for at least thirty seconds." I actually do about 60 back and forth strokes with the same rotation as I use on the hone.
Today's shave, with what was the duller blade was nice. La Toja stick with my home-turned silver-tip brush. Smooth with no tugging and, while not a BBS, is certainly better than SAS.
Best,
Jerry
Good day Jerry,
I'm holding two Rolls Razors, one is my father's and I purchased the other recently. Both are in excellent condition but the blades are d-u-l-l. They're probably around 90 years old. I have had a local gentleman have a go at honing them. He tells me that he went to a 10000 grit stone which should be enough but they still pull (I think knife sharpeners don't have the patience to reach the necessary edge). Certaily not up to my memory of using Dad's when I was 20. I'm thinking of buying a stone of my own and trying it. The built-in hone and strop are short and I'm hoping that a longer stroke can get them to the point that their case hone/strop will keep them up to snuff. Otherwise, I will have to look for a specialist who knows what to do with a razor blade. I'm glad to hear of your success in honing those blades. My time will come, I hope. BTW, do you know of anywhere that does mail-in sharpening of these blades? Regardless, stay safe.
Sincerely, Bill.
I'm holding two Rolls Razors, one is my father's and I purchased the other recently. Both are in excellent condition but the blades are d-u-l-l. They're probably around 90 years old. I have had a local gentleman have a go at honing them. He tells me that he went to a 10000 grit stone which should be enough but they still pull (I think knife sharpeners don't have the patience to reach the necessary edge). Certaily not up to my memory of using Dad's when I was 20. I'm thinking of buying a stone of my own and trying it. The built-in hone and strop are short and I'm hoping that a longer stroke can get them to the point that their case hone/strop will keep them up to snuff. Otherwise, I will have to look for a specialist who knows what to do with a razor blade. I'm glad to hear of your success in honing those blades. My time will come, I hope. BTW, do you know of anywhere that does mail-in sharpening of these blades? Regardless, stay safe.
Sincerely, Bill.
Sharpening a Rolls Razor blade should be a simple process if you treat it like sharpening a straight razor, not like sharpening a knife.
Tape the spine, prep your stone or sharpening film, lay the blade flat on the surface, and stroke both sides evenly. I don't think I've ever gone beyond 2000 grit before transitioning to the Rolls Razor's case hone and strop. (The hone in the case will create a slightly wider microbevel anyway, since the spine is held a bit off the surface by the mechanism.)
What type of razor have you been using of late? Shaving with a Rolls is more like shaving with a straight, or perhaps a single edge, rather than like a DE.
One thing I learned with a Rolls, is to keep the blade flat against my face to get a better shave. If I hold the handle at an angle similar to a DE, I start having problems. I try to work my straights and Rolls Razors into my rotation fairly regularly, lest I forget how flat they like to work.
Tape the spine, prep your stone or sharpening film, lay the blade flat on the surface, and stroke both sides evenly. I don't think I've ever gone beyond 2000 grit before transitioning to the Rolls Razor's case hone and strop. (The hone in the case will create a slightly wider microbevel anyway, since the spine is held a bit off the surface by the mechanism.)
What type of razor have you been using of late? Shaving with a Rolls is more like shaving with a straight, or perhaps a single edge, rather than like a DE.
One thing I learned with a Rolls, is to keep the blade flat against my face to get a better shave. If I hold the handle at an angle similar to a DE, I start having problems. I try to work my straights and Rolls Razors into my rotation fairly regularly, lest I forget how flat they like to work.
- Thread starter
- #118
When I sharpened mine "out of the case," I finished it up on fiberoptic polishing medium. I also have a RR strop painted with chrome oxide and I keep the one in my case dressed with Fromm Strop Dressing and a bit of iron oxide. If the razor is just puling a bit, try stropping it again using the method that I described above.
Best,
Jerry
- Thread starter
- #119
Agree on the really shallow angle. Also, note:: I cut the fiber media to fit a piece of luan that fits inside the strop holder. You could also just cut it to fit the strop .
- Thread starter
- #120
I happened into a place on the web that offered mail-in sharpening whilst searching for Rolls parts. Don't remember the name but Ifelt like they were trying to make the razor out to be some fabulous and rare acquisition and their prices matched that notion. There was a fellow early in the group who offered to do them too. I've got an article on my blog at Rolls Razor articles See part two of the "Rolls Renovation" article.
Similar threads
