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Post by mjclark on Apr 24, 2014 13:11:18 GMT -6
After a discussion in another thread about pasting the case strop, and a bit of experimentation, here's the 21st century fully portable Rolls Razor. Hone is overlaid with 1u lapping film on petroleum jelly (excuse the air bubbles in the photo, they're gone in the finished version). Strop is pasted with ferric oxide. The blade was made shave ready on a slate and crox progression outside the case and now it will be fully maintainable using only the case equipment, as the original design intended. I'm waiting for the acrylic to cure on a chromium oxide coated case strop too to see what happens substituting that for the ferric oxide too.
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Post by PJGH on Apr 24, 2014 14:45:00 GMT -6
Bought up to date with modern methods and technology. Well played! How old is the blade you're using? It should have a date on the back, like 45, 48 or something. That said, my Viscount "new improved" blade doesn't have a date, just some letters which I don't know what they mean, but it'll be into the '50s. Gotta love the Rolls ... just like the DD, it shouldn't work, but does ... so well
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Post by mjclark on Apr 24, 2014 16:13:02 GMT -6
I have a 39, 46 and F5 blade. These "transition razors", the Rolls and the DD give such amazing shaves when the blades are up to speed - and I really like the fact that in the 21st century we can get them performing better than ever!
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norfolkdick
Master Shaver
Captain of the Razor Blades
Posts: 1,601
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Post by norfolkdick on Apr 25, 2014 2:19:56 GMT -6
Greetings
That's excellent, a great idea. I have three Rolls sets that were given to me by my daughters partner as he knew I was 'into razors', all three have broken hones and all three have gouges in the strops, two out of the three blades have chips. How could I tell him they were useless? I saw one at a car boot sale last week but again the honing stone was cracked, I suspect these old sets only have to be dropped once and that's the end of the hone.
Perhaps I should seek out a good set, there are plenty about, you have whetted my appetite!
Regards Dick.
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Post by mjclark on Apr 25, 2014 14:56:52 GMT -6
And here's an alternative prototype - still 1u lapping film overlaid on the hone, but now chromium oxide acrylic on the strop. Not sure whether ferric oxide or chromium oxide is going to work better on the strop. There's only one way to find out...
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Post by drumzalot on Apr 26, 2014 18:51:46 GMT -6
Good post MJ. I literally archive any info on Rolls razors. I'm thinking of getting one in the future they don't seem to go for a lot which is better for me.
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Post by mjclark on May 2, 2014 15:21:36 GMT -6
And in the latest news... ...I shaved tonight with a Rolls Imperial finished in the case on 1u lapping film then chromium oxide. Finishing on ferric oxide gives a much smoother result, but it was still a great shave
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Post by PJGH on May 5, 2014 10:01:01 GMT -6
You just need one of these now, pal ... He! He! Still sealed soap included! I wonder if it'll be any good.
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Post by mjclark on May 5, 2014 13:40:12 GMT -6
Oh my days Paul! I want one of those so bad.... you've got to try it ...and the results are in - I tried the same blade with 1u film and ferric oxide in the case (instead of crox) and the result was a superb and very comfortableDFS/BBS. So here's my recipe for the 21st century Rolls: 1) Hone the blade outside the case through a full progression, starting by fully resetting the bevel and ending with a nice finisher. 2) Overlay the case hone with 1u lapping film, sealing it onto the hone with petroleum jelly. 3) Paste the case strop with ferric oxide, using baby oil as a medium. 4) Hone and strop the blade in the case as suggested by the original Rolls Razor instructions. 5) Enjoy incredible 21st century Rolls shaves!
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on May 5, 2014 16:27:49 GMT -6
You just need one of these now, pal ... He! He! Still sealed soap included! I wonder if it'll be any good. Wow! Very, very nice!! That is a pretty unusual item to have complete. Nice.
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on May 5, 2014 16:33:50 GMT -6
Oh my days Paul! I want one of those so bad.... you've got to try it ...and the results are in - I tried the same blade with 1u film and ferric oxide in the case (instead of crox) and the result was a superb and very comfortableDFS/BBS. So here's my recipe for the 21st century Rolls: 1) Hone the blade outside the case through a full progression, starting by fully resetting the bevel and ending with a nice finisher. 2) Overlay the case hone with 1u lapping film, sealing it onto the hone with petroleum jelly. 3) Paste the case strop with ferric oxide, using baby oil as a medium. 4) Hone and strop the blade in the case as suggested by the original Rolls Razor instructions. 5) Enjoy incredible 21st century Rolls shaves! This seems like a likely recipe for success. I would think the original Rolls paste was ferric oxide based as well because of the color. It is interesting that you found the smoother shave on the ferric oxide rather than the crox. It seems with Str8s that the crox is often the better choice. Your 1u hone and the pasted strop will have pretty much the same 1 micron particle distriubtion. Why do you think the 1u lap film is required rather than simply use the crox strop?
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Post by mjclark on May 5, 2014 23:05:54 GMT -6
As I understand it, the ferric oxide is 0.2-0.3u so finer than the film on the hone (and finer than chromium oxide). It gives a sharper edge than the crox. With my straights, the ferric oxide gives an intensely sharp edge but it is not as smooth as the crox. With the Rolls however, it is the ferric oxide which gives the smoothest shave. This may be due to the type of steel in the blade, or the mechanised stropping mechanism which places almost no pressure on the strop.
Also the blade comes quite harsh straight off the 1u film, and the stropping smoothes it nicely to produce a great result.
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exapno
Shave Master
Posts: 108
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Post by exapno on Jun 1, 2014 14:51:26 GMT -6
After much deliberation and almost bidding... I finally won a Viscount model Rolls on the 'bay. The hone is cracked (this wasn't shown in the pictures nor mentioned in the description) and the strop is beyond saving. I've only had the briefest of looks at it since it arrived but it's not in very good condition. The blade and handle look ok (also, I was gifted a handle FOC from a TSR member so I have a spare) but I'd have to take a really good look at the blade to be sure. The case/mechanism looks like it should clean up ok and be perfectly serviceable. The only fly in the ointment is that the hone cover/lid doesn't lock in (the strop one does though). The locking mechanism looks simple enough so it may be fixable but who knows. I'm not disappointed though as I bought this as something of an experiment. Robin's home made foam and balsa strop as well as Marcus's tinkerings got me thinking that I could replace the hone and strop. I could even have multiple strops made, say balsa or foam with some sort of paste applied and maybe a linen strop too. As such, if this Rolls ends up as spares I won't be that bothered. I'm not a straight user so a lot of this talk is alien to me. I'll be re-reading the posts and doing some more research as time allows. I'll have to start by cleaning the damn thing when time allows... which will probably mean a PM to Paul
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Post by PJGH on Jun 1, 2014 15:38:24 GMT -6
Out in the open, fella ...
You need:
Toothbrush Fairy Liquid Peek Polish
... all mine come up with that lot.
What a pisser around the quality of the maintenance parts.
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exapno
Shave Master
Posts: 108
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Post by exapno on Jun 1, 2014 16:32:16 GMT -6
Yeah, not a great score by any means but for 99p I'm not complaining too loudly. I have all of the above so I'll get cleaning when I get a moment. If I can get the hone lid to close I'd be happier but it's not vital...
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