Wilkinson Sword Roller Shaver

[pjgh]

The Wilkinson Sword Roller Shaver is an early model, earlier than the Empire and earlier than the Pall Mall. 1904, of thereabouts.

Upon arrival, I checked out what blades will work. I already have a couple of blades for a later Pall Mall, but they're a different shape and won't actually fit. What does fit by happy coincidence, and fits exactly, it a GEM ...

You can see from the last three how the comb can be popped out. It is held in with a sprung clip, which after 110 years still works. Furthermore, the blade retainer still works and further still, the blade adjustment screw still turn!

The rest of the kit is not so good. The blades may come back with some work, the box is kippered and the stropped is broken, end not present. It's the razor I'm interested in, though.

Let's take a spin around ...

... and given a good clean-up:

Not quite good as new, but pretty damn good for over 100 years old!

But, how does it shave?

Oh! Very nice!

This is everything I thought it would be. So much more nimble than the Empire razors, less fiddly than the Pall Mall, longer, more comfortable handle and despite the last of adjustment, a very well pitched shave; nearer too aggressive nor too mild, smack bang in the middle and a perfect compromise of efficiency and comfort.

The blade did not move around much at all despite not being screwed in place. I tried it angled by sitting on the base plate and pushed up against the blade stops, but in use the angle is determined by the handle. I might well fashion a little wedge to sit in behind GEM blades which, for me are just fine.

 

[majortom]

Nice interesting find Paul. Love these old unusual razors.

 

[pjgh]

Cheers, mate. I'm very happy with it, especially so that it accommodates the GEMs so well. It made a really great shave. Wilko's roller bar is a great innovation.

 

[eillio]

That is a superb job you did there Paul, congratulations!

 

[pjgh]

Cheers! Between a toothbrush, cotton buds, cocktail stick, Peek Polish and Fairy Liquid, most razors come up well. It's that buffing and re-buffing with gradually softer cloths that brings up the gloss. Getting into the nooks and crannies is the fun part, but thoroughly engrossing ...

Welcome aboard, BTW!

 

[UKRob]

Great restore and pictures Paul. Is that a hone guide that's pictured in the box? Can't help thinking that the hollow ground blades would give just a slight difference in angle right at the roller bar - and of course would look much better in SOTD pictures.

 

[pjgh]

It should be Rob, but the actual blade holder is snapped off ... so, I have a stub ... and another blade holder which I think will fit just right as part of a lather catcher set which I'm not allowed to play with until the cats give it to me for my birthday

I'm going to have my pal (the 'Whetter') give those blades a tidy up and see if we can get an edge on them. The case is very tatty, but I think once cleaned with a gentle damp brush and strapped back together with some neatly applied fabric tape it'll look quite presentable.

The razor itself still needs a little work, but a second polishing session will sort it out. It's the handle, mainly, but there are a few areas that could do with a little more attention to get it up to a really excellent standard.

I do agree about the angle - the GEM can sit on the baseplate to present one angle or slacken the stop screws to sit up. When I shaved with it, I'd not stopped down the screws so the blade had about 3mm of actual movement and presented a couple of different angles. In practice, the effect was negligible with the GEM.

My pal sorted out the smaller blade which you can see in the first few pictures - they were just like the tatty blades that came with this razor. Those blades sadly don't fit this one, having come from a Pall Mall set.