So I got my second Gold Dollar today a P80, which seems like a decent razor overall. The edge didn't seem horrible but there were some nicks in it and it certainly wasn't shave-ready by a longshot, but I didn't need to modify the stabilizer and the blade geometry seems to be in good shape. I think I have it up to shave-ready, although not light saber, quality. I'll try shaving a bit with it and see how it goes.
Second Gold Dollar Honing Practice
- Thread starter dabrock
- Start date
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Those vertical marks above the bevel at the heel in the first photo mean that you’re using way too much pressure and the hone is scratching the blade above the bevel. If it didn’t come that way, lol.
Lighten up.
Lighten up.
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- #3
Thanks, I appreciate the tips! Actually, it did come like that lol. I was actually using one hand a lot of the time to avoid pressure, but I'll make sure that I keep to blade weight only.
I find honing and stropping with the oversized scales a bit awkward on the P80. Shaving less so, but those scales are ridiculous.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Hand holding a hone will solve most pressure problems.
- Thread starter
- #6
They are also a little loose when the blade is in the scales, I'm not sure if that's normal. They seem tighter when the blade is in shaving position at least.
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- #7
Ok, I'll try that next time, I was hand holding my final stone, the Impiria since it's smaller and I was using it while running water on it. I'll try that with my Shapton's next time I hone.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I had one of those in the new fancy scales. But the scales are just sawn and not smoothed, the edges were scary sharp - for scales. The blade was typical Gold Dollar, not so sharp. So my first thought was to hold the blade and shave with the scales.
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- #9
My scales were smooth, but I almost wonder if your scales came sharper than the blade.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Master Shifu! Sharpen blades not scales!
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- #11
I wonder how long the edge on this lasts compared to my Dovos and TI. Does anyone know the steel used? I couldn't find the steel used for the GD but I did find another cheap Chinese SR on Aliexpress that stated it was using C45 steel, which has a Rockwell hardness of about half of what Dovos and TIs have. I've heard that GD edges don't last a long time so I imagine the steel used would be similar.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
No telling, I would suspect the stated specs are not real.
The usual rule with these is buy many, use not so many.
The usual rule with these is buy many, use not so many.
- Thread starter
- #13
Good advice! The P80 at least looks like I can shave with it and not have to worry too much, but I did notice that factory grinds on both this, and my previous W90 had a few small nicks when they came. Someone mentioned that they use a belt sander to set the initial bevel so I imagine that it has some rough areas that are leaving nicks.
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- #14
Did my first shave on this today, and it was a decent, but not stellar shave. The blade was smooth enough and decently sharp, but not as sharp as I wanted it to be. Overall, I would rate this as a success since I'm still very early in my learning curve and I'll tune the blade a bit more today and see if I can get the edge to where I want it.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I have never seen a P80. Do you mean the P81? That's not a bad trainer razor, IYAM. I have honed a lot of them, with a very high success rate and very little "extra" work to get them shave ready. The two dimensional acrylic cutout scales are hard to love, but easily replaced, and much lighter than the metal lined or overly thick wood scales of many other cheap razors.
That razor can be honed to a very high level of cutting ability. Try again. Look at your bevel under a very bright light, with a good loupe like the popular 10x Belomo Triplet. You may want to go a few dozen light laps on your 1k, then run your progression again. Look for treetopping at 1/4" high and if you don't get it, try again. When you do get it, set up a balsa progression as per The Method and you will most definitely be pleased with how it shaves.
That razor can be honed to a very high level of cutting ability. Try again. Look at your bevel under a very bright light, with a good loupe like the popular 10x Belomo Triplet. You may want to go a few dozen light laps on your 1k, then run your progression again. Look for treetopping at 1/4" high and if you don't get it, try again. When you do get it, set up a balsa progression as per The Method and you will most definitely be pleased with how it shaves.
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- #16
It's a P80 according to Fendrihan Gold Dollar P80 Round Point Straight Razor 6/8 - https://www.fendrihan.ca/collections/traditional-straight-razors/products/gold-dollar-p80-round-point-straight-razor-6-8-ebony-wood-handle
Thanks again for your advice! I have a 30x loupe right now and I'm starting to learn what to look for.
The only problem I'm having is that the spine is nearly 6mm, and the width is 18mm so I'm getting a bevel of approximately 19 degrees. I was able to feel a good edge on it and was able to slice into paper and tomato skins with ease, but it had a lot of problems cutting hair, so I wondered if the angle was beyond that 18 degrees we see as the upper end of a good shaving angle, and that's what seems to be the issue. I've ground it down to 5mm, which should give me a 16-degree bevel angle.
I'm going to even the spine out tomorrow and then try resetting the bevel. Then I'll see if this was the issue. It's definitely a good practice razor.
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- #17
So after considerable work grinding down the thick spine, I finally have what I think is a shave-ready blade. I'll give it a try tomorrow and see how well it works.
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- #18
So finally after hours of grinding, sharpening, and honing I finally got this razor to yield a shave-ready edge. The test shave actually surprised me at how well it did because I had almost given up hope on this razor. I'll try it tomorrow on a full shave and see how it goes.
Yeah, the first time that I thinned a spine it was a real eye opener as to how much bevel angle effects the character of the shave. I like em' in the 15º-16º range and this is how I build my razors.
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- #20
It certainly helped to get the razor shave-ready. It also helped to balance the razor a bit since the spine was so heavy, but it's still not a well-balanced razor since the scales are also too heavy. I'm not really interested in using this as a shaver, and that's a good thing, but it has been a great learning experience to learn about bevel angles and how to adjust the geometry.
