Gold Dollar Straight for a newbie

[tomtom42]

As a new owner of a 66, cannot argue with any of the above.... especially the part about experimenting!
For me, there is a strange pride in it - I regard it as a house that is in sore need of work to get it up and running....

The pride comes from having something that many may disregard, turning it into something that is both practical and visually pleasing... I have noticed that the GDs find a niche as "mod fodder" for those who want to try different scales and/or blade shapes (many fines examples are to be found on B&B straight razor forums).

+1 on that!

I managed to break the scales on my first GD trying to get it to shave - so I have a candidate for a first rescaling project
Finally managed to get another one shave-ready, but it took several attempts including some *coarse* stones...

I'm convinced the amount of stuff I learned about honing while fighting this ~5$ blade is - *priceless*

br,
ToM

 

[SciTX]

well my two GD's from Frank Misa arrived today and I will put one of them through the paces tomorrow...they look real nice to me, have a nice heft to them and I am proud to have them in my very limited stable....I am now the proud owner of 4 straights...Frank was really nice to deal with, great communication and great customer service...sorry about the poor cell phone pics and bad lighting in my bathroom.

This one had a Gold Dollar stamp, I liked the checkered scales



This one was stamped Gold Monkey (I don't know the difference between the two or if there is one) and I liked the faux wood ... this is one that I'll shave with tomorrow morning

 

[ThomTT]

SciTX, those look good and thanks for the info. Well it looks like I will be contacting Mr. Misa and checking the b/s/t section to start down the path of straight razors. I am mostly drawn to using a straight razor because of the idea of tinkering and making something better. With these inexpensive razors it should free up some money for buying the associated gear to keep them tuned. I will also go online and buy one or two cheap ones to practice on.

 

[Seraphim]

Wow, he doesn't mess around!

Looks like he removed ALOT of material to get that to a straight edge.

Enjoy!

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

+1!!, honing is not that hard, lapping film is cheap and easy to use if you don't want to get into stones and there is MASSES of honing advise on this site.
Not casting aspersions on Honemiesters, i'm sure they all do a great job but how do you think they learned? Have a go!

Thanks for the +1
It is true, honing isn't that hard... Like other aspects of shaving, getting well prepared and being prepared to put the time in are key.
We know 60 there and back slides across some balsa, suede or cloth smeared with CrO2 is going to take time... but if you get a clean, comfortable shave that helps you take the day in our stride...
It's worth that time investment.

 

[SciTX]

shaved with one of my new Gold Dollars today....the one with the faux wood handle...I liked the way it handled...and to me it's interesting how each different razor I've used needs slightly different approaches..just like DE's...got a nice shave and I'm really enjoying this straight shaving! Frank was great to deal with.

next step...learning how to hone on my own!

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

Wow, he doesn't mess around!

Looks like he removed ALOT of material to get that to a straight edge.

Enjoy!

The straight I am fighting to straighten out feels like I need to loose almost half the steel just to get it actually straight...

 

[Seraphim]

Many people actually enjoy a "smiling" curved edge over a dead flat straight for shaving comfort.

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

Many people actually enjoy a "smiling" curved edge over a dead flat straight for shaving comfort.

Yeah, but before I can define any form of curve... it's better to begin with a good reference point.
most likely, the toe & heel will have a bit of a Mona Lisa smile to them...

 

[bluesman 7]

Many people actually enjoy a "smiling" curved edge over a dead flat straight for shaving comfort.

Not only that, but a smile makes a lot of minor geometry issues moot.

 

[Seraphim]

I prefer my razors to have more of a Cheshire Cat grin myself...

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

I prefer my razors to have more of a Cheshire Cat grin myself...

Maybe on he next one I rework/assemble

The idea of a series of Alice in Wonderland inspired blades is most interesting....

 

[buca3152]

Im sure Seraphim will have a cats meow gd creation in no time! Of that Im certain!

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

Not only that, but a smile makes a lot of minor geometry issues moot.

Also, I suspect (and please, please correct me if I'm wrong) it's better for the blade edge to fade out into a curve to help prevent the "pointy" issue on blade corners that people experience when using shavettes (which IMHE are the least forgiving of shaving methods I've used to date - cartridge, shavette & straight).

 

[Seraphim]

ANY blade shape can be either pointy or muted. I depends on how it's honed.

A roundpoint can develop a nasty little corner if honed without proper care as easily as a squarepoint. See attachment for illustration.


Conversely, I had a nice smiling blade that treated me horribly, as I honed it all the way up to the curved tip and around the curved end. Since the sharp edge followed all the way around the corner, the very tip, instead of nipping as in the case of a spike tip, instead simply surgically sliced me up with each stroke near the tip.

I had to dial that bad boy down a few notches!

 

[Seraphim]

It's simple: no matter the end geometry (square, round, Spanish, extreme) simply drag the tip of the razor across te hone a few times to knock off the dangerous courner.

DE blades all have the ends beveled off like this as well.

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

It's simple: no matter the end geometry (square, round, Spanish, extreme) simply drag the tip of the razor across te hone a few times to knock off the dangerous courner.

DE blades all have the ends beveled off like this as well.

Yeah, noticed the taper on DE blades, but some seem to less abrupt than others... Oh an thanks for the tip (or removal of it ).

 

[RayC1993]

Well this post has taken off.... lol

 

[mtnredhed]

For what it's worth, I've been through 3 GD's (2x208 and 1 66). Getting the bevel sorted (which in theory you shouldn't have to do again) is the main piece of work. My initial mistake was playing nice with them. Don't be afraid to knock some metal off on the way to a good bevel. Once I got past that, then I learned not to go past 4k unless it was really mowing the hair down.

I wouldn't call myself a honemeister but I'm pretty satisfied with my results.

Waiting on a new blade from Portland Razor.

 

[gvw755]

For what it's worth, I've been through 3 GD's (2x208 and 1 66). Getting the bevel sorted (which in theory you shouldn't have to do again) is the main piece of work. My initial mistake was playing nice with them. Don't be afraid to knock some metal off on the way to a good bevel. Once I got past that, then I learned not to go past 4k unless it was really mowing the hair down.

Amen to that! Seraphim just advised me on honing a GD wanna be. I had previously spent two afternoons using 1K/6K hone with light strokes and medium strokes and X pattern and all the stuff they tell you to do. Seraphim said get out the 600 and go heavy strokes, don't count strokes, and be brutal. In one hour I got the bevel set and then I could move on to the 1K/6K stuff. Bevel setting is so important and once done properly, a GD will stand up to any other razor.