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

Thanks Macaronus, I bought a whole second one on the Bay. It is missing the stone and lid for that side. The blade is in far better shape than mine, and it has the strope. Hopefully between the two of them I have a working razor.

 

19 April 2013
It is now 3-1/2 months since I repaired the blade. I use the razor almost every day. Give it the usual stropping and a light honing of four or five of gregindallsas' quadruple strokes weekly. It still is together and doing its job.

Mickey

 

Hi Guys,

I'm new, but I wanted to thank everyone who has contributed to the Rolls refurb information, particularly Gregindallas. My great-grandfather (1880) had one (Imperial No2 - nickel) and it has been in our family since he passed away many years ago. I recently resurrected it and it is now nearly ready to "Roll."

I did have one question however. When the handle/friction pad assembly is removed from the gear track there are two large (15mm) brass spacers left inside the frame, one on each side. I faddled about for a while trying to work out how they could be removed to polish them (if it's brass it should be polished). Anyhow I couldn't work it out, they appear to be trapped in the frame. Is there a trick to it. Being able to strip the whole rig down would be a pre-requisite to any re-plating endeavours.

With thanks,

Sol

 

Sol,

Polish is pretty but it is also dangerous to MECHANISMS. Because any abrasive particles left in a mechanism will in time cause premature wear and possibly ruin it. So if you cant clean the parts perfectly after polishing do not polish. Which especially applies to assemblies like those rollers that I belive have bearings through the frame. Also polishing them may change the friction and consequent blade honing and sharpening. Maybe Gregindallas can advise further.

Good luck
Swigman

 

Thanks Swigman

 

Sol,

You may consider the family heirloom Rolls as just that and keep it just as a show piece. Then get another Rolls for experimentation and shaving. Functional Rolls on eBay are common and not too expensive. Then with the heirloom find out it history and document it. Making it much more valuable to your family and as an antique.

Just an idea
Swigman

 

That may well be a good idea. My Ggf was merchant seaman for all of his life and his nickel plated imperial No 2 has seen a lot of the world. (Pretty rough and tumble.)

I have professional polishing gear and a stainless No3 on its way from the UK so I may go in that direction.

 

I was warned...

I now have three Rolls Razors, a stainless No3 and a Deluxe E (I think.) I say " I think" because when I checked the razor is actually silver plated, not stainless. I am not sure the seller realised this as it was black when I received it but with cleaning the plating is magnificent and the spare blade (only one present) is in perfect condition.

The No3 is my everyday shave and it seems to get better each time I use it. The change to shaving style took a bit of getting used to but my wife thinks it is smoother than a zillion blade disposable.

The hone door on the No3 has one of the hone retaining tabs snapped off. This means that the hone can come loose. I was thinking of sticking the hone is with flexible contact adhesive. This would keep it secure but would make it difficult to ever remove. Any thoughts, or should I just shop around for a No 3 with a broken hone but a good door.

Darn RAD.

Regards,

Sol

 

Glad you like the Rolls Razor as much as you do!
As for the hone: I'd glue it on with glue that dissolves in water. That way the hone is safe (as long as you keep the hone & door dry ). In the mean time you 've got time to search for another No3 Rolls.

Of course you could swap the water dissolvable glue for some other adhesive which you can dissolve in another way (dunno what right now, perhaps an alcohol dissovable glue or double sided adhesive tape which you might remove with the help of sticker remover?) At any rate I'd test it out beforehand!

 

Well I am now the proud owner of 4 rolls razors. One is in great sshape almost mint. Was able to restore it with this forum. The others are less than perfect. Was able to make 3 out of the 4. Pics to follow.

 

I'm lucky to have access to a commercial polishing rig. This is my stainless Imperial No.3

I have followed Gregindallas' instructions and it's now a great shave. A wee dab of red strop paste and shaving oil instead of soap (that took a bit of getting used to) and all is well. Two of my mates are after one now.

Regards,

Sol

 

Nice looking rig Sol.

 

Epic Rolls case Sol.

Today I received a "Parts" RR I found on Etsy locally.

I had eschewed the Rolls in favour of my old Straight, but now the flame has been rekindled. The major reason I couldn't get the Rolls shave-ready was the friction pad thingamabob. After installing the old blade in the new mechanism and doing a circuit of 3 x 60 hones and strops it's finally and abruptly shave-ready. If you can't get a relatively unmolested Rolls blade shave-ready, chances are a well-greased friction pad assembly is the culprit. See gregindallas' Post #13 for pics of the friction pad assembly and later posts by the same author which detail how to clean and degrease it. After reading the thread again, it seems so obvious, but in the preceding months it didn't even occur to me that the friction pad assembly was the root of my woes - probably because I had no frame of reference as to how much resistance I should feel when honing or stropping.

My original Rolls was my Grandfathers, manufactured in 1949. It was well-used and the exterior nickel-plating has many fine scratches and even some tiny nicks. The strop has always been in great condition and in the 8 years I've had the razor, I've treated it a couple of times with leather conditioner to keep it supple and working great. It is stained grey along the blade's track, but it still works perfectly. The hone likewise is in great condition, although it's dented where the blade guard first contacts the stone. This doesn't appear to have had an effect on the honeability of the hone, so I'll avoid flattening it as long as possible. The "49"-marked blade is stained and covered in scratches and swirl marks to such an extent that the engraving on the sides can no longer be read. This one has had a hard life. A lack of proper post-shave care by Yours Truly in a tropical environment saw the very edge of the blade rust, causing rust chips, which needed to be honed out - first on an oilstone, followed by a 1000/6000 water stone and three hone/strop cycles on the Rolls Razor's own mechanism. It's now shave-ready again. The strop handle of my original Rolls has most of the nickel plating worn off, probably by me.

The new "parts" Rolls came without a hone. This is not a surprise since the Etsy listing went out of its way to avoid showing the hone plate. What the Etsy Rolls DID come with was two blades and a handle. These two blades are in awesome condition, and after working on each for about half an hour this evening, both are shave ready. One is dated 1938 and the other is dated 1940. If I had to guess, I'd say that the whole assembly was manufactured in 1940 - or 1938. The mechanicals are in great condition, although the tracks need a bit of a clean and re-grease. The friction pad assembly is working perfectly, but there is a little bit of rust round the base of the "spike". No hone as stated earlier and the strop looks almost unused apart from a nick at one end. I'll attempt to resurface this one so I have a spare strop. The case is rough. It has the "1927" date on the patent data but on both covers there are areas where the nickel plating has worn off and areas of brass are exposed. I've test fitted the 1949 covers on the 1940 one and they fit, so I'll run it that way until I sort out the friction pad assembly on the 1949 one. Interestingly the handle on the 1940 razor doesn't seem to unscrew. I WAS able to unscrew the "C" head, but I don't think you're supposed to. With the handle tightened up, you can slide in the blade and it snaps into position. I think that for under A$30 shipped the "parts" Rolls was a bargain, even without a hone.

Post like the one you have just read suck without photos, but I have some more info to relate in a later post so I'll be sure make it all pretty and interesting.

 

Received my new "Parts" Rolls - a 1940 Imperial No. 2 bought off Etsy.

The sight which greeted me upon opening the carefully bubblewrapped parcel - A missing hone. Obviously I knew they'd broken the hone since it didn't appear in any of the photos on the Etsy listing, but there's another problem with the unit (not the handle - the handle was included). Despite the issues, this was a sweet deal - now I have two extra blades and a restorable strop. The blades are great - 1938 and 1940 respectively. The 1938 one is my favourite.

A detailed examination of the parts Rolls -
The rail/track on this one is cleaner than on my Grandfather's but will still need degreasing and regreasing. The Friction Pad Assembly on this one is a little grubby, but it works perfectly so I might just leave it for the time being.
The freakin' strop. The slice in the strop happened AFTER I'd ordered it but before I'd received it from the Etsy seller. They had packed the razor for shipping with the spare blade laying directly on the leather with the safety bar raised. A sliced strop is the predictable outcome.Luckily, the slice is not on the working surface of the strop, so it doesn't affect the quality of the stropping. Someone had also dragged the handle down the strop without the blade attached, meaning the spike gouged a nice furrow in the surface of the strop. Luckily this isn't too deep, and after cleaning the strop with a baking soda paste and then applying leather conditioner, it has mostly gone. It's a shame the strop had these issues since it's pretty much brand new condition otherwise.

Although the 1940-build doesn't have the cutout in the rail for the handle, said handle it can still be stowed properly.

I've been carrying my spare blades in an old 35mm film canister until I can get a metal or bakelite spare blade case.

The blade is loaded into this handle by snapping it in sideways, however if one applies enough pressure, the head screws off... not supposed to though...

Old style ("old" being a relative term) patent data with the 1927 date. I understand the very first Rolls Razor was sold in 1916, so why the 1927 date? Was that when the Imperial No. 2 was released?

So the biggest takeaways from this post, aside from the fact that I need to clean up my razors, are that the spare blade should NEVER be transported inside the case unless the blade is masked, and if there's no hone in a seller's pics, then you can bet the house on the fact that they broke it.

EDIT: The above may sound a little disjointed since my pics were no longer showing.

 

Since my "parts" Rolls is fully functional but lacks a hone, has anyone ever looked into a way to make a replacement? I'm thinking a suitable lapping film PVA-glued to a shaped piece of wood would be one way to proceed. In the event that the lapping film needs replacing, just damp it down with water and it should peel off the backing. An icecream stick is very close to being the right thickness (two layers), so I wonder if it comes in sheet form?

Another thought I had was making myself a new cardboard storage box as well as greasepaper wrappers for the spare blades and a newly-printed instruction sheet for the "parts" razor. I'll post templates if and when I get around to creating these.

 

Box template for Imperial No. 2:

http://www.mediafire.com/?x6bkci8jon32o1o

Print in colour on A4 paper/cardboard

For best results make your box out of strong card first, then print this out on matt photo paper and glue onto your new box.

 

I just received a Rolls Razor in the mail today (gift from my dad) and boy was I glad to stumble upon this informational thread! I still need to get a nice brush and some soap, as well as revitalizing the razor kit itself (it's seen better days, but serviceable).

Thanks for sharing all the great info!

 

Hi there. I'm new here and I just got my first Rolls in the mail thanks to an anonymous stranger. (here's an album explaining it to redditors) This thread will come in handy coming up. Can't wait to get going on getting it shave ready inside and out.

 

... and shave with it! I love to use mine (I'm lucky to have three - and three spare blades). They're a joy to use!