You know you have it bad when you buy a Gold Dollar just to test your honing skills!

[kungfudarren]

After 3 months of at least an hour each night practicing my sharpening technique/skills I have taken the step to see how far I've come. So last night I ordered a Gold Dollar razor with free P&P for £6. I have spent a lot of time in the forums over these past months and also watching videos on youtube to keep me on the right track. I think that aside from striving to get the perfect shave, the culture and community on these forums is what makes shaving no longer a chore but a great hobby. After trying various stones and techniques I found I have the most success with lapping film on a marble tile (thanks for videos Slash McCoy).

Thanks for reading

 

[martym]

Not even an IV antibiotic will cure the infection/disease you have contracted.
The only way for you to survive is to make your home environment sterile.
You may send me all of your shaving gear (I will pick up the shipping cost.) so that you may recover.
No need to thank me.

 

[Oscroft]

So last night I ordered a Gold Dollar razor with free P&P for £6...

That's about the first thing I did when I just started learning - I've set it aside for when I feel confident, while I work on cheap eBay purchases

 

[kungfudarren]

Not even an IV antibiotic will cure the infection/disease you have contracted.
The only way for you to survive is to make your home environment sterile.
You may send me all of your shaving gear (I will pick up the shipping cost.) so that you may recover.
No need to thank me.

Thanks for the kind offer although I fear that if I were to take this route I may drive myself mad by trying to sharpen a teaspoon on my concrete path! Oh yes, infected indeed

 

[kungfudarren]

That's about the first thing I did when I just started learning - I've set it aside for when I feel confident, while I work on cheap eBay purchases

Yeah I kind of did things a bit arse first. It all started when I purchased a shavette a few months back. I hadnt taken a razor to my face for over a decade as my skin is so sensitive. After that first shave I was hooked. The wife bought me a 5/8 muhle carbon steel (which I now have two of) and I started to work on that with a DT 10k stone. Didnt get too far so a few stones later I bought lapping film. It was like finding a lifeboat on the Titanic! I now have 2 (actually) shave ready straights and the satisfaction from getting here without sending them away to be honed is an amazing feeling

 

[Slash McCoy]

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/267937-My-quot-Gold-Slash-quot-7-day-set
My technique has been refined since that thread was started but it gives you an idea of what ought to be done with a GD66 before trying to hone it.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/357229-5000-Post-Pif!-A-Genuine-Slash-McCoy-Straight! for pics of a few recent ones.

A GD66 can be made into a pretty awesome shaver, and it doesn't have to look like a piece of cheap crap, either. Search for some of Mycarver's work. Or Seraphim's. Or any of several other guys who have made stunning razors out of these cheap razor shaped objects.

The last ones I ordered I think were $3.51 each, including shipping. I just think it is really cool to be able to shave for a lifetime with a great looking and great shaving razor that cost less than four bucks. There are websites where we are severely hated and feared for doing this while they are trying to sell brand new Dovos LOL! Enjoy modding and honing your Gold Dollar. Next time, buy a dozen at once. It is more efficient. You can only grind for a few seconds before overheating the blade, so it makes more sense to hit one, put it down, hit the next one, then the next one, etc and when you get back to the first one, it is cooled down and you can hit that one again. No wasted time. Also if you break one, no big deal. And you probably will break one. Or more. But that just adds to the fun. As long as you have more than one!

 

[kungfudarren]

Agreed! 2nd order placed and now I have 10 more on the way. This place is gonna look like the skip out the back of the GD factory in a few weeks time LOL! To think one of the reasons I gave my wife for all this effort was to save money, so far its cost me 5 stones, 14 razors, a pack of polishing film (a late night mistake), lapping film, strops and numerous creams etc. I hope I never get the perfect edge/shave, having far too much fun chasing it!

 

[AndroiDad75]

Hey Slash. I noticed you said in the first topic you posted that the barbers notch cracked the blade. Have you been able to consistently put one on, now that you are more experienced with them, or have you given up on that venture?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Hey Slash. I noticed you said in the first topic you posted that the barbers notch cracked the blade. Have you been able to consistently put one on, now that you are more experienced with them, or have you given up on that venture?

Sure. I have done quite a few of them. I don't do them any more. Lately I prefer a more Spartan design. The notch doesn't really do much for me. I don't do thumb notches or jimps or anything like that. I thin the spine so the bevel angle will be in my preferred range, I thin the shank so that it is not thicker than the spine, and cannot intrude into the honing plane at all. I fair the spine into the shank. I round the spine and push the hollow grind up tighter into the spine. I thin the blade in general and remove the factory grind marks. Of course I remove the shoulder. That is the most important part. In the process the GD stamp usually goes away totally or partially. I make it go completely cause it isn't a Gold Dollar any more, when I am done with it. I usually do not reuse the old scales but sometimes I will. I sand up to 2k, and then polish with a progression of diamond pastes to .1u. Just a simple, flowing, polished shaving instrument. Nothing fancy. Simple and straightforward. That is my new style.

If you want to do barber notches, then do barber notches. Watch the heat. If the steel turns colors you toasted the temper and made a dandy letter opener but not a razor.

 

[Chaloney]

Slash, when thinning the spine, how do you ensure equal (or st least close to equal) thickness on each side of the blade? I would think this would make some difference in the bevel, or is eyeballing it good enough?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Slash, when thinning the spine, how do you ensure equal (or st least close to equal) thickness on each side of the blade? I would think this would make some difference in the bevel, or is eyeballing it good enough?

Simple. Half laps on 60 grit with lots of pressure directly on the spine. Count the laps. Do sets of 100. Measure the spine frequently. It breaks up the monotony. Usually around 5.2mm or .203" will have you at 16-1/4 to 16-1/2 degrees and the original thickness is around 6.1mm or .238" so you are removing a little over 1/32" from the spine thickness. I have been experimenting with folding a piece of sheet metal into an edge protector. Sort of like taping the spine, but protecting the edge from wear instead. This way I can use the edge as a bevel guide to hone down the spine. YMMV.

 

[Chaloney]

Simple. Half laps on 60 grit with lots of pressure directly on the spine. Count the laps. Do sets of 100. Measure the spine frequently. It breaks up the monotony. Usually around 5.2mm or .203" will have you at 16-1/4 to 16-1/2 degrees and the original thickness is around 6.1mm or .238" so you are removing a little over 1/32" from the spine thickness. I have been experimenting with folding a piece of sheet metal into an edge protector. Sort of like taping the spine, but protecting the edge from wear instead. This way I can use the edge as a bevel guide to hone down the spine. YMMV.

Thanks. That makes sense if you are starting out even. The reason I asked is that the gold dollar I have has a drastically different looking bevel on each side of the blade. On one side it is very narrow, barely enough to see with the naked eye at arms length. The other side is at least twice as wide. My assumption (possibly false) is that the grind of the razor was uneven, leaving more spine thickness on one side so the bevel plane hits the edge at a steeper angle. Is there a way to check for this? I guess this also assumes that the blade was honed evenly on each side, which obviously may not have been the case. Whoever dragged on a coarse surface over there clearly did an incomplete job as it won't cut a single arm hair, so I'm thinking ill finish grinding off the heel then thin the spine a bit, then get a bevel set that will cut arm hairs before I try "evening out" anything. Thanks again for the help

 

[Slash McCoy]

Thanks. That makes sense if you are starting out even. The reason I asked is that the gold dollar I have has a drastically different looking bevel on each side of the blade. On one side it is very narrow, barely enough to see with the naked eye at arms length. The other side is at least twice as wide. My assumption (possibly false) is that the grind of the razor was uneven, leaving more spine thickness on one side so the bevel plane hits the edge at a steeper angle. Is there a way to check for this? I guess this also assumes that the blade was honed evenly on each side, which obviously may not have been the case. Whoever dragged on a coarse surface over there clearly did an incomplete job as it won't cut a single arm hair, so I'm thinking ill finish grinding off the heel then thin the spine a bit, then get a bevel set that will cut arm hairs before I try "evening out" anything. Thanks again for the help

The "factory bevel" I think is set in about 45 seconds. The spine and blade can be in reasonable alignment and still have an edge bevel wider on one side than the other from removing more steel on one side. Not important. Simply hone it back into balance when you finish modding and sanding and polishing and are ready to set the bevel.

Sometimes the hollowgrind is deeper on one side than the other. Again, not really an issue. You can still make it shave super sweet.

"The gold dollar that I have" LOL! You mean singular, not multi-plural, as in just one and only one? Now that's just wrong. Look how cheap they are! Get them by the dozen. Then first of all, you may feel free to discard the ones that are really whack. Cousin Cletus at his flea market table can probably sell the loser blades for $30 each and split it with you if you just can't stand to toss them. Second, you can feel free to be a little more daring and reckless at removing steel. Third, when you mess up, you still got a bunch more, so no sadness and remorse involved, unless you already put 20 hours into the stupid thing when you wreck it. Fourth, you can grind on a bunch of them at once, a few seconds at a time in rotation so you don't overheat, but don't waste time waiting for your work to cool. Fifth, you can end up with 4 or 5 good ones at the end, keep the 2 or 3 best, and PIF or sell the remainders. Sixth, you get more practice. Buying GDs in bulk, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Your plan will work. You don't have to even the bevel on both sides to make it shave. As long as you do have a good bevel on both sides, the bevel flat can be wider or narrower and still hone up just fine. But if you want to even it up, you can. Just do a couple hundred half laps on the skinny side. If you like, apply tape to that side of the spine for part of those laps, so you wear the spine evenly. Again, this is not really important for making it shave. After all, look at the kamisori style of blade. As far from symmetrical as you can get. Nearly full wedge on one side, full hollow on the other. Still shaves, no matter which side you put to the face. So if you want elegance, beauty, and perfection, then correct all the defects. If you just want a cheap razor that shaves like a $150 razor, then the list of things that need corrected is much, much shorter.

 

[blackhhawk]

Where are these sold on ebay for that cheap? Couldn't find them for less than 10

 

[Oscroft]

The reason I asked is that the gold dollar I have has a drastically different looking bevel on each side of the blade. On one side it is very narrow, barely enough to see with the naked eye at arms length. The other side is at least twice as wide.

Mine has a fairly wide bevel on one side, and no bevel whatsoever on the other.

The "factory bevel" I think is set in about 45 seconds..

And that's the good ones!

 

[Slash McCoy]

$10 for a GD66 is robbery. For a vendor in the U.S. that's not bad, though, especially if you don't want to wait 2 weeks, or be concerned with Customs.

Use the ebay advanced search.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/ebayadvsearch/?rt=nc
Sometimes prices are up. Sometimes down. Sometimes favorite vendors are out of stock. I suggest saving good vendors to your favorite vendor list, and checking their store occasionally.

You want the following options:
"straight razor" exact words exact order
excluded words: wheel scooter phone bookmarked disposable strop sayuri changeable shaper
format: Buy It Now
in order of Lowest price first, including shipping
Range $3 to $5
200 listings per page
save search

Wade through all the garbage and you will get to Gold Dollar #66's at around the $3.50 mark or a little before, with free shipping. If not enough hits then skip the excluded words.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Barber-Cut-Throat-Steel-Blade-Straight-Edge-Shaving-Razor-Shave/400521710243?_trksid=p2045573.m2102&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D298%26meid%3D845342561042491957%26pid%3D100034%26prg%3D1079%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D271249323500%26
That's definitely a #66

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Handl...891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item2a2f120a63
Good ol BuyInCoins is a pretty good vendor and consistently has low prices. Watch for volume discounts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-S...200?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec3fa6378
Not sure what this is. The pic is of the back side rather than the show side. The razor has a double stabilizer and the #66 does not. At that price it is worth getting a couple just to see how they hone up.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Straigh...356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3383277d3c
Not a Gold Dollar but interesting. 440C near wedge with wood scales. ten bucks with free shipping. I might get me one and see if it is any good.

Be sure to check the vendors ebay stores and their own online stores as well. For instance, here is the cheapest price I could find on GD66 including free shipping.
http://www.buyincoins.com/item/7076.html Buy 10 or more for $3.43 each. Not bad, eh? I just grabbed another 20.

You just got to look, and keep looking. Things change. Right now the Yuan is at an all time high against the dollar. When it goes back down, $ prices should drop a little. $3 GD, anyone? Sweet!

 

[Chaloney]

Yes, only one so far, but I have the buy in coins site bookmarked for when I get that one started, which will be after I do some restoration of a 7/8 wm. Hargreaves wedge I got recently (want to try restoration and want to try shaving with a big wedge--2 birds...). Before that I have to finish rescaling my shavette (almost done, and Maas worked great on the ca finish). My next gd order will be for 5-10, depending on how much other stuff I have ordered or planned for ordering at that time--a trickle doesn't get noticed the same as a flood.