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My first Gold Dollar 66 honing - critic please !

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Wow. And this was sculpted with?
It's another Gold Dollar, a W59. That is how they are received from the manufacturer.

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The W59 is my most favoured SR. As well as taking an excellent edge and shaving very well, it's great for shaving inside of nostrils and ear canals. Not recommended for beginners. Must be only used with parental supervision if the user is under 45 years old.
 
It's another Gold Dollar, a W59. That is how they are received from the manufacturer.


The W59 is my most favoured SR. As well as taking an excellent edge and shaving very well, it's great for shaving inside of nostrils and ear canals. Not recommended for beginners. Must be only used with parental supervision if the user is under 45 years old.
Lol, so the age barrier won't affect me in that case. I've searched high and low on aliexpress for this razor, found many other brands but never a GDW95.

Their Alibaba factory store sells them in lots of 100 !
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
The sellers do not always use the model number so you have to exhaustively investigate every listing that MIGHT be what you are looking for. You just gotta kiss a lot of frogs before you find the princess. The factory's AliBaba page has a very disorganized menu but you can find pics of everything there. Even their own AliBaba page doesn't always show the model number or the correct model number, but if you look at every item in every menu and sub menu you will find pics of everything that they make and some things that they don't, i.e. custom orders that the deal didn't go through on or were returned or whatever.

One way to get a razor that none of the resellers are selling, is to buy 100 GD66, and ask CiCi for a sample of this or that razor. They usually will give you one or two freebies if you ask, cause they figure you will probably order a case of the sampled razor after seeing it. Then you are stuck with 100 GD66 but at around $3.25 each including shipping, there is plenty of room for markup, and you can resell on fleabay and get rid of them pretty quick. Meanwhile, the razor or razors that you can't even find a retailer for at any price, are yours for free. That's how I scored a free GD900 when NOBODY had them yet. (actually didn't like it, the 800 is way better and cheaper.)
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Lol, so the age barrier won't affect me in that case. I've searched high and low on aliexpress for this razor, found many other brands but never a GDW95.

Their Alibaba factory store sells them in lots of 100 !
If I can find you one on eBay, I will PIF it to you. They are only about ₹1600 including shipping to me.

Here is a link to a seller on Alibaba that supplies single W59 SRs.

 
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rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Here is a link to a GD W59 with free shipping from Aliexpress. Nice looking scales, not sure if it is plastic or wood, but it doesn't really matter.


Just ordered one :c9:
Good luck. It's a GD knockoff or one that didn't pass the Gold Dollar thorough and extensive quality control. You can tell by the profile shape.

Not saying that it is a bad SR, just not the same exceptionally high quality that Gold Dollar's are renowned for.

FYI, the scales are plastic.
 
Good luck. It's a GD knockoff or one that didn't pass the Gold Dollar thorough and extensive quality control. You can tell by the profile shape.

Not saying that it is a bad SR, just not the same exceptionally high quality that Gold Dollar's are renowned for.

FYI, the scales are plastic.
As long as it is the same steel, it will be fine. If it doesn't say GD on the tang, it may very well be a GD. I will be gutted if I spent $8 on a RSO. :c9:
 
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Well, the razor arrived from China in little more than two weeks and that's really good.

We were away at the time, but when I came back I was eager to have a look.

First impressions were good, I like the plastic scales, the blade had no stabilisers, so it should be easy to hone.

First sign of trouble was that it had a bevel and it was fairly sharp, about the same a my pocket knife, but no sign of wear on the spine. Two possibilities - someone went to the trouble of honing it with tape on the spine, unlikely for a cheap razor, or some wise guy decided to sharpen it like a knife with a secondary bevel angle that has no relation to the spine.

Sharpie test confirmed my worst suspicion, this razor was sharpened free-hand, probably on a belt grinder.

I spent about two hours honing attempting to set a bevel and just about destroyed the razor getting the front part there. The heel stubbornly refused and I gave up.

Can I get it to shave? Maybe the steel seems to be hard enough.

Do I want to make the effort? No, it's not worth it and there is not much left of the spine.

So in short - It's rubbish don't buy it. After buying 50+ razors from questionable sites, it's my first real RSO.

All is not lost, I like the scales and will probably fit them to a real GD66.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
View attachment 1491039

Well, the razor arrived from China in little more than two weeks and that's really good.

We were away at the time, but when I came back I was eager to have a look.

First impressions were good, I like the plastic scales, the blade had no stabilisers, so it should be easy to hone.

First sign of trouble was that it had a bevel and it was fairly sharp, about the same a my pocket knife, but no sign of wear on the spine. Two possibilities - someone went to the trouble of honing it with tape on the spine, unlikely for a cheap razor, or some wise guy decided to sharpen it like a knife with a secondary bevel angle that has no relation to the spine.

Sharpie test confirmed my worst suspicion, this razor was sharpened free-hand, probably on a belt grinder.

I spent about two hours honing attempting to set a bevel and just about destroyed the razor getting the front part there. The heel stubbornly refused and I gave up.

Can I get it to shave? Maybe the steel seems to be hard enough.

Do I want to make the effort? No, it's not worth it and there is not much left of the spine.

So in short - It's rubbish don't buy it. After buying 50+ razors from questionable sites, it's my first real RSO.

All is not lost, I like the scales and will probably fit them to a real GD66.
Looks like you purchased an imitation W59. There are plenty of fake ones offered for sale on AliExpress. I only buy mine directly from Gold Dollar or a vendor I know I can trust. Unfortunately, my trusted vendor (in Australia) is currently out of stock.

The genuine W59 is marked on the face with "GOLD DOLLAR OF CLASSIC QUALITY". Not a guarantee that it is genuine but certainly narrows the risk down.

I have never had a problem with any of the 12 genuine GD W59 SRs that I have purchased, except for my first. I cracked the blade on my first while stropping. I don't blame the blade, I blame the stropper.

It is getting very difficult to find new genuine GD W59 SRs available for sale at a reasonable price. About the only vendor selling now is Ningbo Gold Dollar Razor & Scissors Manufacturing Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.
 
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