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Master Shifu Must Have a Sense of Humor

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
So I ordered a few W59 from China. Pulled out the first one to hone it. Hmmmm... kinda sharp already. So I went straight to the .5u diamond balsa. Getting nowhere. Sharpie test... ink is completely intact at the edge. Treetops a little, but no hone contact at the apex! Master Shifu must have put about three layers of tape on the razor and then very carefully honed a very obtuse bevel on it. What a waste of his time! My wet/dry is all out in the shop and I am 800 laps in on my 1k Naniwa and still don't have the bevel set. Horses for courses, but what a letdown. It felt almost shave ready out of the box. I thought at first it only needed a good finish. Master Shifu is definitely not in the "National Treasure" category as a honemeister.

Plus I suddenly remember that I do not like honing smileys. Well, at least it is not a wedge. They should have ground this straight.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Master Shifu must have known it was going to you so he did a special job, just to confuse you.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
I got one of the Amazon 1996 razors, $10 after the coupon. Master Shifu must have fell asleep while grinding the toe, it looks like a barber has been using it for a few years. It’s knife sharp, not razor sharp, but the unsmoothed scale corners seem sharper. My first inclination was to hold it by the blade and shave with the scales....

FF554C47-CF31-4B59-AF00-4C9A553A9A56.jpeg
 
These razors are finished on a paper wheel like knives imo. I did a factory gd66 last year just to see and the edge ended up short just like these razors. Now a paper wheel can deliver a very keen edge. But when you put that on a stone your coming up short.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
As soon as I finish my bloody mary I am going back at it. I have a bunch of razors to set the bevel on, and the W59s are first in line.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
GoldDollar.SR.9-10-18.New.480.JPG


This one was sharp as sin, but the bevel was all wrong. Too obtuse. Also in two planes. It required a huge amount of work to fix. Why hone it wrong like that?

Not worth it to me...looking back I mean. But, maybe it was, for the learning experience.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
View attachment 1051111

This one was sharp as sin, but the bevel was all wrong. Too obtuse. Also in two planes. It required a huge amount of work to fix. Why hone it wrong like that?

Not worth it to me...looking back I mean. But, maybe it was, for the learning experience.

Happy shaves,

Jim
For the $8 or so they sell for they are certainly worth it imo. Where else can you find a 13/16 heavy beefy razor for stone testing or edge exchange. Maybe give away to a newb? A fast correction on a 600 grit stone will get that all fixed up licketty split.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
For the $8 or so they sell for they are certainly worth it imo. Where else can you find a 13/16 heavy beefy razor for stone testing or edge exchange. Maybe give away to a newb? A fast correction on a 600 grit stone will get that all fixed up licketty split.

Totally agree. But some of these bevels are almost breadknifing! I would rather the factory slugs just leave them alone and let me do my own. Putting a 35 degree bevel on a razor is doing nobody any favors. But yeah, the new models are definitely a good buy, and a good option for a noob. I remember when there was a guy here on the forum who used to hone up those 66's and sell them to the new guys cheap. I may have to pick up the hammer and do a bunch of them... the new models, not the old line Gold Dollars.
 
I agree! No factory edge whatsoever would be better. But they have to make it look like something or they wouldn't sell is my guess.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Absolutely Bill, test razors are where they shine unless you mod them. I always have a fistful of Dollars around. And Jim, yours looks much better than mine, so I may have to try another. They’re like snowflakes, no two are the same, lol.
 
Just honed this on on a convex shapton, followed by a convex coticule. Had to hone the bevel in a bit harder than usual to get it going but came up fine. Produced a nice shave.

IMG_20200109_2205291~2.jpg


I have been using GDs to experiment with convex stones. It's a bit of fun and I don't mind making a mess of the honing.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Master shifu? Is this some gold dollar vendor?

LOL Inside joke. There was a GD listing on fleabay that claimed to have an old artisanal honemeister named Master Shifu honing miraculous, flawless edges on the razors. It was probably some 13 year old peasant girl chained to her workbench and forced to work double shifts.
 
LOL Inside joke. There was a GD listing on fleabay that claimed to have an old artisanal honemeister named Master Shifu honing miraculous, flawless edges on the razors. It was probably some 13 year old peasant girl chained to her workbench and forced to work double shifts.
Shifu (师傅) literally translates as "master," so the joke on credulous buyers is already in play when they are composing these listings. Master Master honed this for you? Must be good good!
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I have now seen recent samples now from three different sellers and they are all the same. So they are butchering these at the factory. Stay away from the W59 unless you want to do a lot of rock rubbing. Meanwhile the latest batch of 66's are in and I dehorned half of them and set the bevel, then just set the bevel with no modding on the rest. Even the stock razors only took on average about 5 minutes to set a good bevel. They were almost there right out of the box. The belly is nice and thin, and there is not a thick area right next to the stabilizer, which is BTW much less pronounced than in earlier shipments. The 66 is actually improving a lot. Going to measure a couple tomorrow... the bevel angle appears to be below 18 degrees but my eye might be fooling me. I just ordered another 20 from my contact for $74-something. chourenling1990 is his fleabay tag. This is probably my 4th order from him and it won't be the last.
 
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