Any Rolls Razor experts about?

N

neocaligatio

Joined
Monday July 13, 2009
Wasn't sure of the posting location as technically Rolls are single edge, but they're not straights either :?

Anyway...

I've got my great-grandfather's Rolls Razor, but the blade and mechanism have some serious rust issues. Other than that it's in good condition (i.e. the 'strop' and 'hone' parts and the handle). Having wanted to give it a go for a while, I recently picked up what was labelled as a 'great condition' Rolls set that is identical to mine. I haven't yet got this new Rolls, but the idea is to combine the parts from both to make a single, usable set.

My questions therefore are:

1. What (if anything) can I do to make sure the razor operates well? e.g. oiling certain parts, using paste on hone/strop sides etc.

I've found a decent guide on B&B that explains usage and maintenance, so that will be a good start:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1032949&postcount=13">http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.p ... stcount=13</a><!-- m -->

2. Has anyone got any experience with restoring these? Here's a quick pic to give you an idea of the damage:

3504992594_249d482c60_b.jpg


It would be nice to have a set with two usable blades at the very least - the rust is only light surface rust from the last decade or so of little use.

3. Who's used a Rolls? What should I expect from the first shave?

Maybe we should start a 'Week of Rolls'! I was at Kempton antiques fair today and must have seen 3-4 perfect condition sets going cheap...

Chris
 
Hi Nice looking rolls you have there, could be the silver plated imperial number one, with the telescopic handle.

The blade will polish up fine and a good honing and stropping will work wonders.

I would be more carfull about removing rust on the central pin (friction pin) getting grease etc on there could actually harm the operation of the unit.

The original instructions recommend a little bit of Vaseline on the rolling mechanism, id apply it with a cotton bud directly inside the case on the serrated rolling edge.

You will need some strop paste for the strop.

Other than that these beasts are pretty bullet proof and will go on for years.
 
Chris

I bought one off Millay a few weeks back which he had cleaned up. He did a great job of it, so you might like to PM him. I also recall that the guy who made the post you linked to on B&B has written a LOT on the subject so I would suggest searching under his name too.

I was tempted by a second set that was going very cheap on ebay that said it had two unused spare blades (Millay's blade was in great condition, I just fancied an unused blade). Anyway, turned out to be a waste of (not very much) money as both blades were clearly used. Next time you are in Kempton, if you see a genuinely unused blade going with a set for less than a fiver, please grab it for me! I will cover postage for the blade and you can keep the set!

I would certainly be up for a week of Rolls (otherwise it may take me a while to get round to it), although you have to give me a bit of notice first to read through all the explanations on how to prepare the blade etc. At least I now have a spare set to wreck first!

David
 
neocaligatio said:
Wasn't sure of the posting location as technically Rolls are single edge, but they're not straights either :?

Anyway...

I've got my great-grandfather's Rolls Razor, but the blade and mechanism have some serious rust issues. Other than that it's in good condition (i.e. the 'strop' and 'hone' parts and the handle). Having wanted to give it a go for a while, I recently picked up what was labelled as a 'great condition' Rolls set that is identical to mine. I haven't yet got this new Rolls, but the idea is to combine the parts from both to make a single, usable set.

My questions therefore are:

1. What (if anything) can I do to make sure the razor operates well? e.g. oiling certain parts, using paste on hone/strop sides etc.

I've found a decent guide on B&B that explains usage and maintenance, so that will be a good start:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1032949&postcount=13">http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.p ... stcount=13</a><!-- m -->

2. Has anyone got any experience with restoring these? Here's a quick pic to give you an idea of the damage:

3504992594_249d482c60_b.jpg


It would be nice to have a set with two usable blades at the very least - the rust is only light surface rust from the last decade or so of little use.

3. Who's used a Rolls? What should I expect from the first shave?

Maybe we should start a 'Week of Rolls'! I was at Kempton antiques fair today and must have seen 3-4 perfect condition sets going cheap...

Chris
Click to expand...

I was also at Kemton today, if you go there again, there is a guy with glasses with an estate car that set's his table up right next to the Food stall as you go into Kempton, he normally has Razors, i have had 2 slims, a sticky, a few ever-readys, and gillette old type's, he doesn't put them on display, you have to ask him, i had an ever-ready off him today.

Also try Apps Court car Boot in walton, you normally find shaving sets with Tech's in them, and normally see old spice mugs... and always see Rolls razors for a couple of quid each.
 
Further to the first message:

Used the rolls today after a bit of a clean up with some fine sand paper and brasso (photos tomorrow)

The shave left a little to be desired - I don't think I honed it enough first, so will go back to the drawing board and carefully re-hone for the next shave. I'm eagerly awaiting the new one to see how that one performs :)
 
be interesting to see the results i would have been scared using sandpaper, but yea I bet your honing is off and it wont strop brilliantly without paste.
 
I'm only using 1500 grit, so it's a polishing paper.

I'm going to follow the B&B advice and clean the strop up soon. The hone is perfect on the reverse and only a bit of wear on the face, so will turn that round too...
 
Be really careful with the hone, and take carefull thought about if it is worth moving.

They can get quite stuck in with crime and will crack rather than come out a lot of the time, loosening the retaining strips helps but again they can become brittle to.
 
Well the hone lifted out very easily, and fits back in easily too. I'm thinking of putting a very thin layer of cloth behind it to cushion it.

The strop looks in excellent condition but is very dry.
 
neocaligatio said:
Well the hone lifted out very easily, and fits back in easily too. I'm thinking of putting a very thin layer of cloth behind it to cushion it.

The strop looks in excellent condition but is very dry.
Click to expand...

Mate, if you need a spare hone and strop, i have a Rolls set that is missing a Blade and handle
you can have it (See Pic). as it's just sitting here doing nothing...

If you want it...PM me your address and i can drop it round quickly over the weekend as your close by.

Let me know ;)

Cheers
Steve
DSC00324.jpg
 
My mate at work has one of these. He's all excited. I've asked him to bring it in and I'll have a look at it and maybe post pictures for you all to study. Actually he says he has two, one is much smaller than the other. He said the smaller one might be for ladies... or maybe for travel.
 
I have one of my grandads rollses.
I completely stipped it as per the info from the bnb guy. The bit NOT to grease is the brass drum/spindle and the celluloid friction sheath.
Have not used it yet as I need strop paste to bring it up to usability. i really want to use it now and then though.
There is a weird vid on utube of a guy shaving with one in his garden.

C
 
My mate, as promised, brought that Rolls Razor in to work... and then bequeathed it to me. Wow. I don't really know what to do with it. I'll post pics of it if I get a chance this week (am a little busy, eh?).
 
The Rolls blades often need some special stropping to get sharp enough to give a comfortable shave. Chris Moss at shavemyface.com recommended red strop paste, or a homemade version made from hematite and petroleum jelly. There are 2-3 long discussions of the Rolls over there.

I have a Rolls with one blade that's sharp enough, and one blade that looks fine, but will need some special treatment to be sharp enough.

It's not hard to find good ones for low prices on eBay, especially the 1950's reissues, as opposed to the original ones from the 1920's.
 
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