Acquisitions, 1st October to 31st October 2015

LeeBot

LeeBot

Joined
Monday February 10, 2014
Location
Merseyside
No thread up so I'll get the ball rolling this month!
Slant.jpg

Saw a grooming kit with little to no interest and looking at the pics could see what looked like the head of a Slant poking out. No brand name or anything but certainly nice enough and the brush might be OK after a good clean.

Just shy of a tenner including P&P so worth a punt I figured.
 
Just picked this up from the DO:
21676991188_404468499b_c.jpg

21677948009_b0d5a6a31d_c.jpg

21874445771_721444c174_c.jpg


its currently sitting in this as it was fairly dirty:
21875946711_b9ab7261e5_c.jpg
 
Received a Rolls razor this week. Looks fantastic and can't wait to try it out in the weeks ahead.

First impression, as I've never seen a Rolls razor in person, is that the whole thing was smaller than I had expected for some reason.
It all felt very solid and appeared to be of rather high quality.

The "Alligator" case looked really neat
2rgeykz.jpg


Inside the Alligator case is the neat art deco inspired metal case and I also got a spare, also freshly honed, blade in its original bakelite case.
15p3jwz.jpg


Everything inside the box was as the seller described - in great condition and very much 'brought back to life'. The blade even got a slight oil coating on it.
30sxf5s.jpg


Will be great fun, I hope, to try this 'blade on stick' thing out. I'm assuming it will be quite similar to shaving with some of the French hoe razors.
wjbezc.jpg


The seller did a great job getting it to shave-ready state but I fear that he was a bit disappointed in it selling for $30 as he emailed me telling me I got a great deal and that he thought there might be a bit of a bidding war over it due to all the work he had done.

Here's his description of what was done (sorry for those who read it in the 'waiting for thread):
"This is a refurbished and fully functional Rolls Razor Imperial 2 model.
The alligator leather case is in excellent shape and includes an outer snap pouch containing a spare blade in it's own bakelite case.
The blade itself is a 1949 model that had some discolorations that I buffed out then polished the blade which is now in pristine shape. However, the buffing removed the Rolls and Sheffield engravings from the blade which were very shallow on all Rolls blades.
I have also hand honed and stropped this blade so it is in shave ready condition and gives a great shave.

The Rolls case itself also looks great with no rust spots. Inside you'll find a perfect intact honing stone. I've lapped the hone so the surface is flat and smooth. The strop is in near perfect condition. I've cleaned the strop and applied strop dressing so it is in excellent shape and not at all dried out.

I've cleaned and degreased the case mechanisms then recoated gears with a little Vaseline to lubricate them. I also disassembled and cleaned the friction pad assembly that holds the blade to the stropping/honing mechanism and cleaned and degreased it to so it maintains the proper friction to give you correct honing and stropping results.

Finally, the main blade is another 1949 version, but was in better original shape so I was able to polish it without removing the Rolls and Sheffield engraving. It therefore also in great shape and fully functional. Like the spare blade, I have hand honed this blade's edge and stropped it so it is shave-ready. I've set the bevel of both blades to to match that of the Rolls system.

FYI, I'm a hobbyist, not a business, which is why I've taken the time and effort to restore this fine straight razor shaving system."
 
Still on a sabbatical, although a couple of things seem to have crept under the wire: VC&A Midnight in Paris (silly cheap) and I finally have a floating head injector (blue handle) - twin blades beckoning ...
 
Bought this 'used' Truefitt & Hill gift set on eBay for 30-something dollars - but it appears to be completely unused.
Came with the big giftbox in the background, a large soap jar with their 1805 shaving cream, a small "super badger" brush and a stand for it.

Never tried any T&H soaps before and I'm really curious about this one as the scent is absolutely amazing.
2j4cy8z.jpg


Really, really liking the small badger brush - extremely soft and the handle is very comfortable. Even though its a rather tiny brush I get the feeling it will perform rather well.
34oeo1h.jpg

2cwop5u.jpg


Two questions, should anyone happen to know:

1) What does "Super Badger" compare closest to? It feels rather similar to my Silvertip badger knot and I notice that the 'top band' is whiter than the bottom band.

2) I couldn't find a lof of information about the brush - and if it's still in production. I think it might have been sold as "Compact Super Badger" but seems to now be a discontinued brush. If anyone knows for sure I'd love to learn more.

Photo to show size of the brush:
34qsbop.jpg


All in all I'm really happy with the set for the price.
 
That is a small brush! Kind of sorry I didn't hop on that when you gave me the opportunity, DB. :)

As for 'Super Badger,' it would be considered 'Silvertip' here in the States. I think the British Super Badger is a higher grade than your typical Chinese made Silvertip, and the knot probably is more densely packed.

Simpson's hair grades in order of quality/expense:
Pure
Best
Super
Extra Super (aka 'Manchurian')
 
Given the print on your brush, DB, it's look to me like a Vulfix made brush as PoM has touched on. I have read that Vulfix's Super Badger is the same as Simpson's Best Badger i.e. as good as if not better than many folks' Silvertip. Nice set.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom