random thoughts and questions - all things shaving

anyone use those self stropping razors like the rolls razor these days?

What are they like? Any good?

Always been intrigued by these tbh
 
saj1985 said:
anyone use those self stropping razors like the rolls razor these days?

What are they like? Any good?

Always been intrigued by these tbh
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The Rolls Razor is an astonishingly good piece of kit which you can (still) pick one up in perfectly serviceable order for very little money. It's an intriguing object in its own right.

Funny to think that the company ditched razors and went on to make washing machines!
 
pjgh said:
The Rolls Razor is an astonishingly good piece of kit which you can (still) pick one up in perfectly serviceable order for very little money. It's an intriguing object in its own right.

Funny to think that the company ditched razors and went on to make washing machines!
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Really? Didnt know that!

Is it as good as these de blades available these days?

I also seen the wilkinson sword seven day set, is that seven blades but with a strop?

Would love to try these out one day,
Oh yea I still haven't tried out a gem razor yet
 
follow on question, what's considered to be the best stropping safety razors out there? The rolls razor or wilkinson 7 day set?

Btw are there more out there?
I don't really know of any others tbh
 
Wedge blades were commonplace in safety razors in the early days and persisted for a good few decades after thin blades became the norm. Check out the Heljestrand Kindal. Oh, there was a Darwin strop box akin to the Rolls, too. Loads of other examples. Le Coq, Le Grelot, L'Essor, Louis ... and many others not beginning with L. Henckels. The Wilkinson hollow ground blades were pretty special.
 
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pjgh said:
Wedge blades were commonplace in safety razors in the early days and persisted for a good few decades after thin blades became the norm. Check out the Heljestrand Kindal. Oh, there was a Darwin strop box akin to the Rolls, too. Loads of other examples. Le Grelot, L'Essor, Louis ... and many others not beginning with L. The Wilkinson hollow ground blades were pretty special.
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Looks interesting that Darwin razor too

Just stumbled across this YouTuber,
he's got some cool vintage shaving collection , seems to do restoration I think too

 
saj1985 said:
anyone shave just WTG?
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Well Yes and No.

Yes ... if i just want to look clean shaven, a bit smarter, at a glance. Certainly in the Summer when i am wearing a shirt with an open neckline and am just socialising (remember that ?) casually.

No ... if i want to get rid of the irritating wiry stubble from around the neckline, which destroys collars, so usually its WTG, then XTG, then ATG.

Then i have a blissful 12 hours or so of smooth face and neck skin, before the sandpaper reappears in anger.
 
saj1985 said:
Seen one a vid that the Wilkinson sword 7 day razor is adjustable which I think is pretty cool too
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The mechanism can be quite sloppy on older (and cheaper) examples, giving a poor impression of what was otherwise a really advanced razor. If you were keen on buying one, look for the later model - the W19 (in a metal case) or the very rare W12 (plastic case).

Wilkinson Sword W12

We're now into the 1950s and Wilkinson Sword have really modernised the look of their best selling Empire model with the W19, but anachronism rules ... Presenting, the W12. One of the last of them. ... as it arrived. Grubby and a little tatty but otherwise largely unused, I suspect...
www.theshavingroom.co.uk www.theshavingroom.co.uk

... and my W19:

YhIW_jUZLDX8WEsfN6wZLliIyHdAJ6lwUtsdpoSAzFFLd_NA4FKJJe2cSYPh8RFRJVTFdRiXeo-sezWARsNGud2_vSM0bnix-29-cHOnkjlyr6Gqincyq9GA91Q0sw0yQiiu-5RfR_-tRsjPcatQzBZMxNWh8VUMm7osVTFFOUJHoxt2gW0TUTctMQKJ6dO9s5wp_ZsCTdha6F7ddcBJPAc5rX4-1qgekc3o91jZV0LwAiT9HbBJ4iwAwKJqKRWIjxhujqiBBy2sU_HDZkGPSNiU65V_IB7Hdq-u3PUFQEtAWw2ZYzRJPSdKAEYgsQBJapg8EyAccbo3tDChVux1xres62lNlwDVyvhe9_JjEjhO-Hiu9WEwCHyLFOle5bcienjIgA-4m5_jeK0DASDOBw5XXeBg0jVntotP3GZVwViSrg84DCDmd158bqoy-fy0kZbT5BJy5PrixcQP2sokskpxuu_LMPmODdLuFMxckdI2E38pD2TJlfzivHWAoTjL7V02cImjaLAe9JOzUYZAZ67CmO1oBLLWyFMiaA8jfEyo1U3wg_Pj6fwQQWniBCQmOgjNuS6E9g2bP496Qfz3gZYvKM0lPsKI5olkWVUi-82YLVpcQR3gd_32vmpLcJ4HyiGkJs5jNTT701hgpf4Hb7kNYqqVwqke-o0HeCwB0eqGUP0nxB2Qato8krvkbGsn58BACabnV29ujuw7Y5y-y9IA=w800


You can use them with the hollow ground blades, which you can get honed up. Or, you can remove the spine from the back of a GEM blade and it will push to the back of the razor so long as you crack the back corners off the blade (pliers will do).

Here's a good resource for the history of Wilko safety razors: https://wilkinsonsword.blogspot.com/
 
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