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Back to shaving with a razor again.

New to the forum, just wanted to pop by and say hi and introduce myself.

I'm currently based in Malta having recently moved here from South Africa.

I have a DE razor and quite happy with it, but also have been recently using an electric to keep my beard just past stubble length, it helps with the summer heat.

I've been working to get a Gold Dollar shave ready for quite a while (possible effort in insanity, I know.)
I finally got it honed up using whetstones (finishing with a 3000 and 8000) and stropped, the blade was shaving arm hair like no one's business so I thought it was ready to go.
So while I could absolutely shave with it, it was nowhere near hair popping sharp.
The shave was manageable but not something I want to repeat daily or ever again, A shavette would just be simpler at this point, but I'm stubborn)

The only thing I can think of is that there as been to much wear on the spine and the blade angle is now to narrow, or maybe it was not as honed as I had thought. Or maybe I should just toss it at this point (carefully) and get another one to experiment on.

I also suspect I need a better lapping stone as I suspect the one I am currently using is not completely flat, but I'm probably going to try my aluminium plate with sandpaper again as well.

Hope I can learn enough to finally get the razor ready for that mythical smooth shave.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
@CommanderBigMac121, welcome to B&B.

Shaving off an 8k (I assume synthetic) whetstone would only give a very mediocre shaving experience. This would be particularly so for someone who has little experience in honing a straight razor (SR).

There is nothing wrong with a Gold Dollar SR. Some are easier to hone than other but they all can be honed to give a close comfortable shave. What is the model of your Gold Dollar SR? A picture would help.

Most here, myself included, would strongly recommend that you do not try and learn to SR shave and SR hone at the same time. If you can, send your SR out to be honed by someone who shaves daily with his own SR, not some knife sharpener. Honing a SR to shave-ready is almost nothing like honing a knife.

There are situations where you cannot get a shave-ready SR to learn on and just have to learn how to hone your own. I was one of those when I took up the gentlemanly art of SR shaving when in the Philippines. It is not easy, takes a considerable amount of time but a great learning experience.

Here are some basic instructions for SR shaving.

 
@CommanderBigMac121, welcome to B&B.

Shaving off an 8k (I assume synthetic) whetstone would only give a very mediocre shaving experience. This would be particularly so for someone who has little experience in honing a straight razor (SR).

There is nothing wrong with a Gold Dollar SR. Some are easier to hone than other but they all can be honed to give a close comfortable shave. What is the model of your Gold Dollar SR? A picture would help.

Most here, myself included, would strongly recommend that you do not try and learn to SR shave and SR hone at the same time. If you can, send your SR out to be honed by someone who shaves daily with his own SR, not some knife sharpener. Honing a SR to shave-ready is almost nothing like honing a knife.

There are situations where you cannot get a shave-ready SR to learn on and just have to learn how to hone your own. I was one of those when I took up the gentlemanly art of SR shaving when in the Philippines. It is not easy, takes a considerable amount of time but a great learning experience.

Here are some basic instructions for SR shaving.

Thanks, I'll work through the document. Looks

I've shaved with a shavette for quite a while, but can also appreciate that the 2 won't be quite the same.

The whetstone is synthetic, yes. Though I'm not convinced that the flattening stone I use is as falt as it should be.

I also feel that I need to make sure the angle on the edge is still fine, I feel that the spine might have worn down quite a bit with my attempts to get the blade sharp as I never taped it, but I guess that will be part of the learning curve.
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
Welcome to B&B. When you get a chance head over to the Hall of Fame and tell us a little more about yourself.

 
Rbscebu is correct in what he says. I will just add that when i was learning to hone i shaved with every edge. It helped me to understand honing even more. Yes, even a 1k bevel set shave. And i found that 8k was a minimum grit i could be happy shaving with as a complete 8k edge is just smooth enough to enjoy.

As far as too small of an angle with a gold dollar razor, I think your off by a lot. It would need a whole bunch of wear. Like if the spine was worn flat as much as a 1/4" on both sides before it would be at a "correct" angle IMO. Learn to measure it. Info is in the web. I prefer 17.5 degrees.

Get the equipment to make sure your stones are flat. Learning to do a proper bevel set can take a long time to learn ithout help and it's the first step.

So learn to shave and strop first. Have two vintage razors properly honed to learn with. Shave with one until it needs touched up. Then send it out and start using the next razor.

Welcome to the group. Learning the hone and shave can be done but its not recommended as you will be trying to shave with an edge that is not ready. And thats no fun even if your a seasoned SR shaver.
 
As @HazMat Shaver shaver said, gold dollars have a wide margin of error when it comes to spine wear. I took to one of mine with a diamond file to thin it down.

An 8k finisher is adequate in my opinion, but as @rbscebu stated, it gives a mediocre shave. I personally prefer a finer stone/film and preferably the diamond balsa finish.

Good luck. If you have a read through the attachment RBSCebu supplied you'll find a lot of useful tips and information.

I must get back to Malta, it must be three or four years since I was last there.
 
Welcome to B&B.

Seconding (or thirding) what others have said. If you don't want to splash out on a +10k stone, lapping films can do the trick at a fraction of the price.

There are significant differences between a shavette and a solid blade, but they're good for comparison and a fresh blade (particularly AC or 65mm) will give a good reference for how a sharp blade should feel.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes.
 
Post photos of the razor, for better advise.

Which brand of stones are you using?

What is your stropping experience and which strops do you have?

Learning to hone on a Gold Dollar is at best challenging, quality stone are a must, they do not need to be expensive just from a quality maker.

Not all 8k stone are alike or capable of producing a shaving edge. A good 8k, and a chrome oxide strop can provide a good shave in capable hands.
 
Rbscebu is correct in what he says. I will just add that when i was learning to hone i shaved with every edge. It helped me to understand honing even more. Yes, even a 1k bevel set shave. And i found that 8k was a minimum grit i could be happy shaving with as a complete 8k edge is just smooth enough to enjoy.

As far as too small of an angle with a gold dollar razor, I think your off by a lot. It would need a whole bunch of wear. Like if the spine was worn flat as much as a 1/4" on both sides before it would be at a "correct" angle IMO. Learn to measure it. Info is in the web. I prefer 17.5 degrees.

Get the equipment to make sure your stones are flat. Learning to do a proper bevel set can take a long time to learn ithout help and it's the first step.

So learn to shave and strop first. Have two vintage razors properly honed to learn with. Shave with one until it needs touched up. Then send it out and start using the next razor.

Welcome to the group. Learning the hone and shave can be done but its not recommended as you will be trying to shave with an edge that is not ready. And thats no fun even if your a seasoned SR shaver.
You weren't joking about the spine. I did a measurement, the edge is somewhere around 19-20 degrees looks like, so some work needed on that spine.

I've decided to just use the shavette until I can get my honing equipment and SR sorted, will cause much less worries in the long run I think.
 
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