Thread: Sharpening

Hi,

Don't know much about safety razors, can you get a safety razor where you sharpen your own blades? like a straight.

Thanks,
Nathaniel.

You could look into a rolls razor. It attaches to a handle and is used like a safety razor.
The blade is like a section taken from a hollow ground straight. The case contains a hone and a strop, and a mechanism that automatically flips the razor and moves it over the hone/strop.

It's tough to explain in words... Look up Rolls Razor - it is a safety razor that will last a lifetime without ever needing to buy anything else for it.

I've seen a few hones and other sharpening devices for safety razor blades on eBay but I personally have no info as to how or if they work. As a general rule the folks selling them have no idea how they work either. That's something you may have to Goggle to get any 'how to use' instruction or info.

Hope this helps.

I use a straight all the time and have my own hones. I was trying to get some friends to try it but they wont touch something that looks like a "knife". And a safety razor that would last and sharpen similar to a straight would be just the thing i'd like to try out. The flipping mechanism sounds interesting.

Originally Posted by 111Nathaniel

Hi,

Don't know much about safety razors, can you get a safety razor where you sharpen your own blades? like a straight.

Thanks,
Nathaniel.

Not that I know....
Safety razor blades are thin and floppy making them difficult
to hone and strop.

They also shave as well as they do because of very thin
layers of exotics. These exotics will vanish as soon as
you hone it once. There was a time when they were
simply steel and a largish market of hones and stuff did
surface. But none of the modern blades fall into this class (IMO).

I do read of folk that remove the blade and strop it lightly
on their arm or something. Depending on the grit of your arm
and the nature of your whiskers it could work for you.

Just keep in mind the rolls hasn't been made in a very long time. It's vintage stuff and finding one with the complete kit in good working order requires some effort.

My friend has a rolls razor and says they are great to use, I honed one up for him and they're pretty easy to hone as well - circles is all you have to do, and is the easiest way given the shape of the blade. The strop and hone mechanism works quite well, but I was told you never use neatsfoot oil on a rolls strop, I don't know why :|

Ebay should have some rolls razors floating around. about a year ago now, I managed to find one for £15 with everything intact, in a stall in Glasgow but didn't fancy it, I like the str8 razor too much

I just googled it, you won't have to look far to find them on the bay some in quite good nick as well

Too bad new self sharpen ones aren't made anymore. Anyone experiment with making their own blades for these that they then can sharpen yourself? I thought of a few ways to do it, probably not worth it but i like honing my own razor.

I dont know anything about honing safety razors. I do know there are hones designed for them. There's an antique store close to me that has display cases full of the Goodrich hone for safety blades. There are a couple on the 'bay that are similar design, but overpriced IMO.

some pics of a goodrich hone here:
Vintage Goodrich Razor Hone by TinyVictories on Etsy

Ebay Find - Safety Razor Hone

Looks like this nifty little contraption should work, too. Although, on newer blades, I can't imagine it would do much, considering how thin they are.