You might try this page. Lots of info.
It's where I discovered I'm the happy owner of a Luxe E set!

Here's another informative page

And you might check out this TSD thread: Rolls Razors... which is the preferred model?

I think “The Traveler” versions of the Rolls razor were a 1950’s model designation. Travelers were series 2 Imperials and Viscounts with cases that contained an extra blade.
Imperial Traveler


Viscount Traveler


The Traveler I travel with

Got my first of two Rolls in the mail today. Its an Imperial 2 nickel that looks to be in great shape with all paperwork and case. Pics to follow.

Thanks to Greg's very engaging writing style as well as the very well documented and informative thread, I have also become very intrigued by the Rolls Razors. After some extensive homework and scrutinizing of those on offer in the bay (which included an exchange of emails and some photos with a Vendor) I decided to pull the trigger and placed my bets (bids) on 2 models, one of them being apparently NOS. I was however rather convinced that my maximum bid (which was also the lowest bid allowed to place) would be blown out of the water by one of the other 'watchers'.

Alas, this was not the case. And a few days later, I was notified that I had also won the bid for the other model, allegedly an 'Imperial No. 3' - the stainless steel model. I paid more for that than I thought I would, starting bid was about 3 Quid and I ended up with just over 11 Pound. Still, acceptable in my books.

As I have not received them yet, I won't be able to post any photographs. However, if I may, here are the links to a couple of the "NOS": Photo 1; Photo 2 & Photo 3 and here is one of the Imperial No. 3.

Greg, please stop posting pics like that! I'm drooling all over the place!

Excellent haul! Enjoy!

Life is short, so I figured I might as well pick up two of these from the Bay just in case I needed to cannibalize parts from one. Well it looks like they are both in pretty good shape. One of them has some rust inside the handle, but it doesn't affect mounting the blade. They are both Imperial 2 Nickel and both have nice cases and all the paperwork. Both blades have 50 and E 5 on the spine. Does that make them both from 1950? Neither blade appears to have any issues. I am going to try to make them look like a brand new set of twins. Sorry for the fuzzy phone pictures. Both Strops and Hones appear to be in really good shape too.

View attachment 32095

Mike,
Just trying to remind folks that these things weren’t the moldy, oxidized wrecks they see on Ebay and junk shops today. They were a luxury item selling for hundreds of today’s dollars. Somebody at Rolls definitely had a flair for presentation and for a few bucks and some elbow grease, they can snap back to their former glory. A morning shave with one of these things on the counter is a fine experience.

Yeah, they are awesome. And so are yours! I've got a stainless steel traveler set, but that hasn't got the shine of yours. D' you think the stainless ones were polished to a shine as well - back in the days? Then I'll have to put some elbow grease into it!

Stainless steel is HARD and difficult to polish. To do a good job of it will require a buffing wheel and several polishing compounds not to mention pre-sanding the scratches. Nickel on the other hand, is easy and responses well to good old fashioned bumper polish.

I have a series 3. Do to the fact that when I got it, it look like it had been well cared for and in constant use up until I got it, I didn't restore it but just cleaned it, conditioned the strop and flat-sanded the hone and put it back in service. How many years do you think it takes to wear the chrome off the handle?

Well, a razor that is so much used over the years, must be 1) of great quality and 2) a well loved item! And deservedly so!
It makes me think of Gary's excellent series of the Two Brothers. What if that Rolls could speak!

Ha, 50+ years of "Would you please quite making all that noise in there! I'm trying to sleep."

Unfortunately mine is missing the hone. I don't know if I'll ever use this one or not, unless I can find the hone without buying an entire set.

I took the hone and strop out of the better of the two imperials I have and cleaned them with the baking soda concoction. One thing I have noticed on this one is that there is residue from rectangular stickers on both lids. Included with the razor was all the paperwork including a $15 The Razor That Pays For Itself sticker. I'm guessing with the residue still on the lids that it was not used much.

Was there another sticker on the other lid? I'm going to try some googone or similar to remove the residue.

Hi there

Just wanted to thank everyone for contributing to this thread, i found this forum only a couple of days ago. My dad has two of these razor's, one is a beveled edge and the other is the round / flat case, will post a photo later.

I don't know what has possessed me to try out this razor, perhaps nostalgia, i've spent the last few days cleaning one of them up, the one with the beveled case. Only i've not been able to get the blade sharp. Is there a point at which the blades become useless? The edge is a good 3-4mm away from the safety bar.

I've followed the guide, cleaned the stone and leather, I've also oiled the leather with some vitamin E oil, which has made it more supple then it was before, seeing as it was stiff as a board lol I did encounter the messy glue, which I removed, I've not yet cut any card to compensate for the depth difference.

Now I've only been reading about these razors for three days, before that, i was blissfully ignorant of Rolls Razors! So I'd like to know if I'm doing anything wrong..

I'm wetting the stone before i hone, which i do for about 10-20 back and forth motions. There's a single dark speck on the edge of the blade, which will no vanish, which is making me think the blade isn't being sharpened by the stone.

I then move on to the strop, which i run back and for about 10-20 times.

Thus far the blade doesn't seem able to cut a single hair from the back of my hand.

I'd appreciate any advice

Many thanks
James

The Rolls razor requires (at least) 60 strokes (to and back is one stroke) for normal honing maintenance. To bring a Rolls blade back to shave ready condition usually requires several series of 60 strokes. After a normal honing, a further 60 cycles on the strop is required. Usual day-to-day stropping can be less;(30 before and 30 after each shave seems to be about right.

An alternative to the several series of 60’s, is a pro style honing. You can expect to pay about $20+ for this but the blade will be perfect to start and easily maintainable after that.
Another approach is to find an NOS blade. You may need to buy a few to actually get a real NOS.

What sort of places offer blade sharpening? I'm over in England, ironically Sheffield! I have just been to my fathers and while i was there, i removed the blade on the second Rolls and brought it back with me. There's at least 2mm more blade on this, so about a 2mm gap between the guard and the edge of the blade.

This one feels sharp, so should i still run it over the honing stone for 60 strokes? is just wetting the stone with water ok? I've read on this thread that some people just use it dry. But I'd like to get in to proper routine.

Many thanks
James

I did find another set that was reasonably priced, that included the hone. I too, would like to find someone to give the blades an initial hone so I can try these out.

I believe we at TSD use Gssixgun as our "go-to" guy for honing. He may know or can direct you to someone in GB for the same function.

Ah....don't wet the stone and certianly never "oil" it. It was designed to be used dry.

One of the keys to the honing/stropping process is the friction pad assembly. Make sure it is in good working order or you'll just be wasting your time.

I would try 2-3 sets of 60 on the hone with a 60 strokes strop between each set as a place to start. Once the blade starts to show signs of comming back, you can start to dial it in with further sets. When it's right, then just maintain it with the single cycle process as required.

Note: we have a set of Rolls owner instructions available on the TSD site.

Maybe I lied. Can't find the Instructions section any more.
Here's a set: