What's new

May be "over" the GD obsession

never really measured any of mine.

quick fun.

TI came in at 18.34

C-Mon in at 16.64

oddly enough i love both of these razors.

camo
 
I would ventur to guess my vintage may be 4/8. It is very small. Never measured. I look forward to getting a larger vintage.

Does uaing 1/8's when the fraction can be reduced bug anyone else? Or is it just me?

to be honest, if someone said the razor was 1/2, I’d think they mean grind not size.

i’ve seen 3/4s once in a while, but usually i like to see 3/8, 4/8, 5/8, 11/16, 6/8, 13/16, 7/8, 15/16, 8/8, 9/8, 10/8s. Anything else and i need to think more than i enjoy ☺️ . 18, 20, or 24mm makes me need to do the conversion. :(
 
I was wondering if camoloc measurements were mm or degrees but had not got the nerve to look foolish
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Better is better and it is hard not to notice when comparing.

They are priced about right. Wish there were more inexpensive but maybe better quality razors out there.
There are. Have you considered Titan SR's, particularly their ACRM-2 steel blades? Their steel is Japanese made and heat treated. Finishing is done in Taiwan. Marketed from Hong Kong.

The prices for Titan SR's on AliExpress are higher than GD's but the quality and finish is better. The same Titan SR's can be purchased from other vendors but at a (sometimes much) higher price.
 
yep degrees......

all going by Slash chart so I tried not to over think it.

either way measuring or not..... I love both razors!!!!

camo

used digital calipers set to mm to get measurements. ballpark proximity.....not letting anything touch edges.

camo
 
There are. Have you considered Titan SR's, particularly their ACRM-2 steel blades? Their steel is Japanese made and heat treated. Finishing is done in Taiwan. Marketed from Hong Kong.

I have and I know you are a proponent, so I mean no insult when I say they do not impress me at all. This is purely my opinion. I guess my biggest issues were what I felt were manufacturing quality (fit and finish) and the design with what felt like a knife maker would produce instead of a razor maker. The “scales” on one were like a 1980’s buck pocket knife to me. The steel - meh but no gross complaints. Didn’t remind me of any of my Japanese steels or Swedish steels but harder than early 1800’s Sheffield yes. But really hardness is not a huge thing to me and have no problems and enjoy many many softer steel razors for sure.

To be 100% transparent I have a sampling pool of two of those. One marked and one that was branded differently but had to have come from the same factory.

What I wish existed was some thing more like inexpensive Gencos and Hardware store razors from decades past. They made some very well-built razors once upon a time and for a good price. To date I don’t think there are any quality new razors for less than $100. Just my opinion and what suits my preferences. But I will admit I have and have-had a lot of razors. Too many because I like to hone mostly. And I have bought my fair share of bulk gold dollars mostly because I was seeking uniformity in testing comparisons. I see others try and do the same thing - - it is kind of interesting that most give up on that and the GDs don’t deliver the desired intent.

Not GD bashing or Titan or any other. But I am still on the hunt for decent and inexpensive modern razor.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
BRING BACK THE UNION SPIKE!!! Seriously, one of the mass produced razors of the 20's could probably be mass produced for around $40 with American labor. $45 for using honest union workers. Support organized labor! Collective bargaining and representation ensures fair treatment of workers and brings the middle class life back within reach of the common man.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
I think most are happy with them. Comparing to DE experimenting, the cheap GD is a safer bet than alot of the cheap DE. Let us know what ya think. I doubt you will be disappointed. Save maybe the quality of the scales :)
It just came in.Upon first inspection the scales are quite robust, certainly more substantial than what I’ve gotten used too. Not overly so, quite comfortable, heavier, shaving will be the real test. Dull as hell, that was not a surprise. Very generic looking, no markings to speak of which was part of the appeal. Overall things seem to be in order, looking forward to the next step.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I have and I know you are a proponent, so I mean no insult when I say they do not impress me at all. This is purely my opinion. I guess my biggest issues were what I felt were manufacturing quality (fit and finish) and the design with what felt like a knife maker would produce instead of a razor maker. The “scales” on one were like a 1980’s buck pocket knife to me. The steel - meh but no gross complaints. Didn’t remind me of any of my Japanese steels or Swedish steels but harder than early 1800’s Sheffield yes. But really hardness is not a huge thing to me and have no problems and enjoy many many softer steel razors for sure.

To be 100% transparent I have a sampling pool of two of those. One marked and one that was branded differently but had to have come from the same factory.

What I wish existed was some thing more like inexpensive Gencos and Hardware store razors from decades past. They made some very well-built razors once upon a time and for a good price. To date I don’t think there are any quality new razors for less than $100. Just my opinion and what suits my preferences. But I will admit I have and have-had a lot of razors. Too many because I like to hone mostly. And I have bought my fair share of bulk gold dollars mostly because I was seeking uniformity in testing comparisons. I see others try and do the same thing - - it is kind of interesting that most give up on that and the GDs don’t deliver the desired intent.

Not GD bashing or Titan or any other. But I am still on the hunt for decent and inexpensive modern razor.
No insult taken and thank you for your honest and considered comments.
 
BRING BACK THE UNION SPIKE!!! Seriously, one of the mass produced razors of the 20's could probably be mass produced for around $40 with American labor. $45 for using honest union workers. Support organized labor! Collective bargaining and representation ensures fair treatment of workers and brings the middle class life back within reach of the common man.

^^^^
id buy one of these!!!!

camo
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
I doubt that the middle class can be boosted by manufacturing straight razors, but it’s a nice thought.

Also, these razors like Genco, Spike, etc were really not that cheap when they were made/sold, they were cheaper compared to imported English razors because they were not as well finished/scaled, and they tended to be smaller. But that $1, $2, $3 we see stamped on some of rhe old coffins represented about 1 day of wages for most people in the early 20th century. The average daily wage is currently around $25/hour, so a day’s wage is about $200. Huh, about what many new average-quality straight razors go for today. Given markups, it will cost about half that, or $100 to make one. You could make them more cheaply, but then you’re competing directly with Gold Dollar. There’s no way around the cost of labor except to use cheap labor, which is what China does with most manufacturing.

To make a razor selling for $45, you’d have to be able to make it for say $25. Neglecting the cost of the steel, that’s stamping, grinding, finishing, scaling, assembly, boxing, and transport for the cost of 1 hour of labor. Not going to happen today. Maybe @bluesman 7 could give us an idea of just how many hours of labor what it would cost to make the cheapest razor that he could possibly make would be. It will take the same labor for anyone because SR are still pretty much hand made beyond the blank.

The Gold Dollar mod threads also give us a clue - how many of those modded GDs were done in an hour and they all already start with a finished, cheap razor.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
@Steve56 you are partly right but labour in China is not as cheap as you may think. A skilled tradesman gets paid about USD 7 to 10 per hour plus he has free to heavily subsidised accommodation and free medical. May other countries have cheaper skilled labour. It is not so much the dollar cost per hour but rather what they can produce per dollar salary. That is where China and some other countries win.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I doubt that the middle class can be boosted by manufacturing straight razors, but it’s a nice thought.

Also, these razors like Genco, Spike, etc were really not that cheap when they were made/sold, they were cheaper compared to imported English razors because they were not as well finished/scaled, and they tended to be smaller. But that $1, $2, $3 we see stamped on some of rhe old coffins represented about 1 day of wages for most people in the early 20th century. The average daily wage is currently around $25/hour, so a day’s wage is about $200. Huh, about what many new average-quality straight razors go for today. Given markups, it will cost about half that, or $100 to make one. You could make them more cheaply, but then you’re competing directly with Gold Dollar. There’s no way around the cost of labor except to use cheap labor, which is what China does with most manufacturing.

To make a razor selling for $45, you’d have to be able to make it for say $25. Neglecting the cost of the steel, that’s stamping, grinding, finishing, scaling, assembly, boxing, and transport for the cost of 1 hour of labor. Not going to happen today. Maybe @bluesman 7 could give us an idea of just how many hours of labor what it would cost to make the cheapest razor that he could possibly make would be. It will take the same labor for anyone because SR are still pretty much hand made beyond the blank.

The Gold Dollar mod threads also give us a clue - how many of those modded GDs were done in an hour and they all already start with a finished, cheap razor.
High resolution CNC grinding and polishing would eliminate much of that. It would cost a lot of money to set up, but then it would largely be a matter of fine tuning the code. Pinning could certainly be mechanized. Even the forging process could be optimized, I think. It's all about scale. It is the difference between production and mass production. It's not about competing with Gold Dollar. It's not about competing with Dovo. It's about volume and optimization and streamlining of process.

The GD mods are not really relevant to this. Yes, there is a lot of work... most of the full-on no effort spared mods that I did, required over 100 hours of work. But you can't compare Dremel, sandpaper and garden hose, and eyeball, to CNC. And that level of finish would not be expected in a budget razor.
 
But you can't compare Dremel, sandpaper and garden hose, and eyeball, to CNC. And that level of finish would not be expected in a budget razor.

i was wondering if someone with 2x72 could easily address the 66 grind issues and make these “better.” Not unlike the livi regrinds.
 
Top Bottom