The "what is" and " how to" thread for the Rolls Razor

WOW. That 'd be the mother of all hauls!

 

Curious on how fast you all strop your blade. I know the manual says when stropping to do it "briskly" My concern is that even though the blade is slamming against leather, that it will damage the edge. I have many blades that have hair cracks in the blade and wonder if thsi is due to slamming during honing and/or stropping. Any downside to stropping at the same speed of honing or am I just worrying too much??

 

YES. OUI. DA. KAIN. SI. YUP. INDEED. OK. ROGER.
YOU BETCHA. AND HOW.

Mickey

 

I think some of his prices are rather high.
I have paid $10.00 for new unused blades still encased in grease and wrapped in their distinctive paper.
eBay sold - not asking prices are realistic on most items although some with cracked hones go for too much. Possibly the buyers have not asked and are not aware of the damage.

Mickey

 

Yes I agree with what your saying about the price of blades I bought two new and a used one with some new autostrop blades for $12.00 that's why I was surprised at how cheap he stated he'd sell me the whole lot for but I haven't seen it yet so I don't know what that entails but from the sounds of it I think it may be a good deal of course the shipping costs will probably be outlandish to Canada

 

Are you sure the guy is legit? Where is he selling these that he is getting these prices and why would he be selling the lot so cheap ad not putting on e-bay?

 

These are some pictures he sent today he told me he would unpack the rest of it and send me some pictures on Monday

 

Greg...Mike...Anyone who uses a Rolls, I have a question for you.

~How do you take care of your strop?~

I have a Rolls that I cleaned up (got it a while ago for a few bucks from the UK) but I cannot get the strop back into working order. I did everything in Greg's tutorial except useing neatsfoot Oil. I used another leather conditioner (best on the market because neatsfoot destroys the leather...over time) called Lexol. It does the job, but only for a short time. My strop is very, very dry and I can't get it moist. Any ideas? Should I just go out and get the neatsfoot? I do plan on getting some stropp dressing once the strop is better...Everything else on the razor is perfect...just the strop...

Thanks!

 

I use Lexol on my leather seats but not on my strops....

I use Fromm strop conditioner. I rub it in with my fingers and wait 10 or so minutes and do that again several times. My last application I let sit overnight and before I put on some Dovo red strop paste. I have done this to about 15 of my Rolls and has worked great on every one of them. I follow up a light coat of Dovo Red paste ont he strop of my daily shaver about once per month.

 

I used Horka Leather Balm (with bees wax). I got it from a store where they sell saddles & stuff for horse riding. It's German, all natural ingredients and all. I left the strop in the sun behind the window to warm up. Then I rubbed in a fair amount of the balm and worked it in with a soft cloth. I'm sure that on your side of The Pond they 've got similar shops.

 

You could also use a hair drier to heat the strop up before you apply as well as after.... If you have central air, you could also leave it sitting on one of the register vents for a bit when the heat is on....

 

I picked up a Rolls Razor the other day. There is a big gash in the strop. I have a leather guy in town I can get a strop made cheap but I don't know what leather to use. Can anybody tell me what type of leather would be best?

 

Define "big gash" I have sanded out quite a few gouges out of my rolls strops... I use 400 grit sandpaper wet. You may be surprised on what you can restore. You can also use some 100 grit dry on the strop (that is about the grit that came with the Rolls strop paste kit which advises to dry sand the strop to remove old paste and imperfections prior to applying the strop paste). I prefer the wet sand method better but you need to condition the stop afterwards...

 

Somebody ran it without the blade in it. Its not all the way through it but close. The leather guy is a friend of mine. He will most likely make the strop cheaper than the sandpaper would cost me.

 

Have a Rolls that needs attention. Looks more like a museum piece than your beautiful ones. You've provided a lot of much-needed info and inspiration. Thanks.

 

You need ether a top grain leather not full grain from cattle or you can use horse pig and kangaroo

 

I have a strop in a very old or ill treated Imperial. No matter what I tried, including soaking it in water overnight, I could not get it flat. I checked it using the suggested marker on the edges of the blade. A great suggestion.
Finally, out of desperation, I resorted to sandpaper. First a medium grit. Then 400 grit Wet which I used dry. The sandpaper was used on an appropriately sized block of wood. Then I applied some Dovo red.
After some marker trials I put 1 thickness of letter grade paper under the strop. It is as good as new. I shall keep it conditioned with Lubriderm.

Mickey

 

Very good to know. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

 

This is about the Rolls Razor case, not the blade.
Microfiber cloths come in different degrees of courseness.
Some that I bought for my camera lenses are very fine. They measure 6"x6-1/2" and cost $4.99 years ago. I suspect they may have come down in price by now. They are still effective.
I just recently bought some from Lee Valley tools. They are much courser but still soft. They do an excellent job on my lenses, mirrors, window panes, eyeglasses, wine glasses, tableware, etc. They measure 12"x16". They cost 60¢ each.
They do an super job on the steel, nickel plated and aluminum Rolls Razor cases.
They are washable and may be used wet or dry hundreds of times.
They do nothing at all for the blades though.

They also work wonders on metal and painted/enameled camera parts except the lacquered brass.

They are made in Korea. and called
HI-LOOK
"It's more than a cleaning cloth."

Mickey

 

Not necessarily, Mike. ;-)