Never had the bug to try a GEM, but congrats on finding your "zone".
With such glassy smooth SE shaves, no one will ever call MajorBurnz "ferret face"!
With such glassy smooth SE shaves, no one will ever call MajorBurnz "ferret face"!
Why I decided to dump my DE's.
- Thread starter MajorBurnz
- Start date
I want so badly to get the results you talk about with my Gem Bullet Tip. Lots of pulling, but that could be as easy as trying a different blade.
It's nice to hear these AD's come to a successful end for some, I can only hope I get there someday
It's nice to hear these AD's come to a successful end for some, I can only hope I get there someday
I completely understand. Much as I love to try, I only end up keeping what really works for me and that I also find myself reaching for.
Sounds great. I've been happy with my vintage gillettes, but joined this forum to learn more about SE, wedge and straights.One more step away from the disposable blade razors:
I recently tried a Rolls Razor for the first time. Wow, what a great shave!!
I honed the blade on the hones I use for my straights (not on the included Rolls hone), and was able to get a really smooth, sharp edge.
As someone else stated: The Rolls is basically a straight-on-a-stick. The shave combined the best parts of straight shaving (smoothness, closeness), with the best parts of safety razor shaving (ease, speed, safety). The lack of a disposable blade makes it even better.
I also tried the Henckels Rapide, that comes with a full-hollow blade. It also gave me a lovely shave, and has the same characteristics as a lather catcher.
Best of all: The shaves are as much fun as with a straight.
So far I've tried a 1912 ever ready, it's OK, but you have to be extra careful and definitely can't get away with sub par lather or prep.
A DE can perform OK if you are lazy, but excellent if you do everything right.
An SE will give horrible shaves unless you get everything right, and sometimes I don't. So I've had great shaves and disasters with an SE, and I've used DEs for years.
I've got a rolls, but can't get it shave sharp no matter what I've tried (never used a straight or a hone). But that's what I want to move to soon.
Right now I'm in the city, paying a mortgage, working out a deal to cut ties (develop the property with a $450k loan and then sell for $1mil), and I've been running my own business for the past year to i) sell, ii) learn the skills, contacts and knowledge to start a new business servicing small towns.
So my plan is to make some cash and move out in the sticks where I probably can't even buy DE blades or get them delivered.
That's why I'm working on moving from DE to SE to Rolls for now, maybe straights later when I am a pro with a rolls.
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- Thread starter
- #25
Yes, the guard pops off fairly easily. When you look at it, you'll notice that the guard is a little further away on one side than the other, use a small screwdriver on that side to lever the guard bar off. Be careful and make sure that the guard bar doesn't touch the edge. On the newer Rolls models the guard has two hole for pins visible on one side, and only one hole visible on the other - pry it off on the side with only one pin hole visible.
Again, be careful when you're doing this. I've had one person mention to me that he messed up and broke a guard bar. I've not had any problems with the three blades I've honed. You can pop it back in without any tools. Again be careful not to touch the edge with the guard (or your fingers).
I used a progression of DMT D6E, DMT D8EE, Spyderco Fine, Ultra fine and C12K and vintage Thuringian to hone the edge. While the edge off the Spyderco UF is the sharpest, I found that the Thuringian produces the smoother shaving edge. I'm not certain about the grit values of these hones. I know the D8EE is 3 micron, but the rest of them are uncertain. The Spyderco hones were lapped flat too (changing the grit value).
On the Rolls Razor Social Group page (see my signature), we've had discussions of the capabilities of the included Rolls hone and strop, and we've cone to the conclusion that the edge produced can be sharp (the strops originally used to be pasted with a mildly abrasive paste), but not smooth enough to shave with these days. It would have compared well with the edges on old uncoated carbon steel blades, though.
- Thread starter
- #26
On the Rolls Razor Group page (see my signature) there's a guy who's offering to hone the blades for new members. I've not personally used his services (I hone my own blades), but others have and have reported great shaves from them.
This is not an endorsement of the honemeister, just a suggestion of an alternative way to get your Rolls Blade honed properly.
Sending the blade off to any good honemeister is one way to get started. Make sure they're willing to hone the blade though, as it's a little more of a pain to hone than a straight (it doesn't have a convenient tang/handle to hold it with).
- Thread starter
- #28
To my regret my Rolls have too dull blade, which you can not shave
Yep, they do tend to come in a non shave-ready state and they have to be honed properly before use. Try and find an experienced straight-razor honemeister near you and have them hone the blade if they're willing.
You can't shave with it without first having it honed.
Yohann
As someone who benefited from your personal journey and has now two very very fine DEs to show for it....I must again express my thanks!!!! Everyone is a winner from your story!! Thanks again my friend
As someone who benefited from your personal journey and has now two very very fine DEs to show for it....I must again express my thanks!!!! Everyone is a winner from your story!! Thanks again my friend
