Well, this afternoon, I came across my dad's Rolls Razor that Mom had given me on a recent trip home. Actually, I don't think Dad ever used it; it was a gift from his brother. Anyway I thought I might give it a try in the morning. Looks to me like you have to shave VERY carefully. Thought it might be a nice change from my M3. Anyone around here ever use one? Are you still alive? If you don't hear from me after this evening, check the emergency room.
There may be a reason your mother gave that to your father and it may be the same reason your father never used it.
Better? Hey, you noticed anyway. BTW, I used the M3 two days out of the past year and a half. You got a problem wid dat? ::sesel
Still alive. Guess I didn't hone/strop enough. One WTG pass cut nothing (beard or face). All it did was "tug" at the stubble. Started over with a real razor. May try again...may not.
Did it come with instructions? You need to keep the blade quite flat against your face, about 1 width of the wedge back away. Unless the blade was well-oiled before such a long storage, it may have rust nicks on the edge. Most of the blade is nickel plated, so won't show any rust, but the edge is of course bare carbon steel. The built-in hone is not really adequate to take those out, you may need to hone the blade as if it were a straight. The strop will certainly need a good application of neatsfoot oil after all those years. I have several Rolls razors, and can shave with one, but you will have to put some work on the blade first.
I agree. I have a few as well and only recently tried to shave with one. My conclusion was that I don't know enough about honing (yet) to get mine into shape. I plan to work on it. Any pointers? Good links to Rolls restoration? What would/did you used to hone it? Can one put a different stone in the Roll case? Do you take the guard off? What kind of handle do you hone it with? An I asking too many quesitons? Should I stop? CAN I stop??? Are we there yet? How many more miles? I have to go potty. No...really... I have to go potty! :happy102 See ya! Thanks!
Well, I had several different blades, and you need to adjust the honing depending on the starting condition. Say you have one with rust on the edge and little nicks. You'll want a 30x loupe to look at that anyway, as well as during the honing process. Generally, you'll want to put a piece of black electrician's tape down the spine, so you don't wear off the nickel plating. This also helps to compensate for the fact that when in the case and being honed/stropped, the spine is a little off the hone as well. I left the guard on. Start with a 1000 or 2000 stone (or sandpaper on a glass block, if you don't have such a stone). You can point the long dimension of the stone away from you, and pull the blade towards you, using both hands, forefingers on top of the spine, thumbs touching about 2/3 of the way down the blade. Use about a pound of pressure or two. (You can put the stone on a mailing scale until you get the feel for the pressure.) You can then flip the blade over the spine, thumbs on the spine, forefingers on top of the blade, and push away to the far end of the hone. (Try to make sure the guard stays off of the stone, so as to not grind off its plating.) Check the edge about every 5 laps under 30X to see how you're doing. You may need 10 to 40 laps to get the edge smooth, even, and free of rust and nicks. Then, it's on to the Norton 4K/8K, or the Spyderco Fine and UltraFine, as you would a straight. If you have a 4-sided paddle strop, that would be good. The hone and strop in the Rolls case may do more harm than good. Shave with it a few times using the paddle strop, and when you think it's getting a little dull, try out the built-in hone and strop. If they work, then great, but if not, just use the pasted paddle strop, or touch up on the UltraFine or a Belgian if you have one.
Man, that is WAY too much trouble - for me anyway! If I can't get it sharp enough with the stuff it came with, I see it quickly becoming a cool looking anachronism. For that matter, even if I CAN get it sharp enough with the stuff it came with....
I have my Grand Dad's and it is still a good shaver. I use is once in awhile just for the fun of it. While shaving with it, I notice how much I look like his twin.
