Ok, so i have been following this other discussion about using a Gold Dollar as an inexpensive way to learn honing skills.
After my last trip in China, I purchased a couple of different GD, one #200, one #208 and one #300.
I started to sand down the stabilizers of the #208 a couple of weeks ago, but hand sanding that much metal is slow and I have not had enough time to get it smooth enough to start making scales (and I just order material for peening).
Taking a closer look today at #300 I noticed that the heel/stabilizers were quite different, on this model they do actually not interfere with honing, so I decided to make my first attempt on honing today. DMT EF, 100 laps on each side, coticule 100 laps slurry, 100 laps water followed by 100 laps on each side of a balsa strop, Chromeoxide and ironoxide and finished off on the leather strop.
The result? A great shave! Not as smooth as the Swedish trio I got from Honed byt definitely just as sharpe - and with very little effort! Now the feeling of the scales is not very nice - I sort of expect them to flex in my hand while shaving, so a rescale is definitely needed. I am looking forward to see how the 200 and 208 performs and well, maybe, just maybe I should get a Norton 4000/8000 and see if I can get a bit smoother shave. I really am not confident enough on the couticle yet - part of the reason being that it is so small that holding the blade flat can be a challenge...
After my last trip in China, I purchased a couple of different GD, one #200, one #208 and one #300.
I started to sand down the stabilizers of the #208 a couple of weeks ago, but hand sanding that much metal is slow and I have not had enough time to get it smooth enough to start making scales (and I just order material for peening).
Taking a closer look today at #300 I noticed that the heel/stabilizers were quite different, on this model they do actually not interfere with honing, so I decided to make my first attempt on honing today. DMT EF, 100 laps on each side, coticule 100 laps slurry, 100 laps water followed by 100 laps on each side of a balsa strop, Chromeoxide and ironoxide and finished off on the leather strop.
The result? A great shave! Not as smooth as the Swedish trio I got from Honed byt definitely just as sharpe - and with very little effort! Now the feeling of the scales is not very nice - I sort of expect them to flex in my hand while shaving, so a rescale is definitely needed. I am looking forward to see how the 200 and 208 performs and well, maybe, just maybe I should get a Norton 4000/8000 and see if I can get a bit smoother shave. I really am not confident enough on the couticle yet - part of the reason being that it is so small that holding the blade flat can be a challenge...