I posted a razor on the Gold Dollar competition thread and I thought that I would post what I learned over here in a separate post.
This razor has taught me a lot.
1) There is a lot of metal in a GD66 and a lot of it will hinder the function, at least the
honing of a well designed razor. It is common knowledge that the stabilizers at the heel
should be removed, while looking at those, I was also impressed with the amount of steel
in the tang. I have a cast iron skillet with less metal in the handle than a stock GD66 has
in the tang. I decided that I would thin it down to a thumb notch while I turned it into a
shoulder less design.
It is strange how I wanted a round point razor for a long time, but as soon as I started this
endeavor, I knew that I wanted at least a square point if not something more aggressive.
I kind of took it to an extreme, kind of matching the curve of the heal. I hope the
shortened spine will not cause me any problems with long term hone ware.
Even after all that metal dust, the flat of the spine (the part where it rides on the hone)
continued well up the tang. I can only think that this will cause long term honing issues
as that area would become ramped with ware. I thinned the tang near the spine on a
bench grinder and this was not even enough. I had to do quite a bit of blending of the
tang shoulder transition with a dremel.
2) It takes a lot of sending to remove the results of a short period of inattention with
dremel.
2a) Dont be afraid of 180 grit (or even courser sand paper)
2b) Patience will be rewarded. I should have (and may still) spent more time sanding to
get a better finish, but it was my first GD project and my first non vintage and I was in a
hurry to get it into my stable.
3) Mothers mag wheel polish is magic.
4) Micara is cool. I used polyester resin sold as fiberglass and boat resin. It is much
cheaper than epoxy. It has a very forgiving mix ratio and a reasonably longwork
life. It does not cure to a shiny finish, but mothers polish brought out a shine very
quickly. After I shaped and sanded the scales, I found it easiest to set the scales
on a stand to elevate them off of the work surface and put a very heavy coating of
the same polyester resin on the outside of the scales. I laid it on to the point that
it was almost dripping off of the scales. This way the resin would self level and
leave a smooth and slightly convex surface. I did have to sand the drips from the
back side and sand the edges, but the faces only required polishing.
5) 0.130 inch is too thick for scales (at least in micarta and to my taste. I plan on
putting new micarta scales on it made from a shirt that my daughter hates and
made me promise not to wear anymore.
6) Pinning is not as scary as it seemed. I was worried that the back side of the pin
would mushroom as I was peening the top side and the washer would not be in
the right place etc. It did not happen that way. The top side was the only one that
mushroomed. I also used a pencil length section of ¼ in diameter steel rod as my
peening tool. I ground a slight dome on the the ends of the rod and used it to tap
on the pins until they were set. Looking back, I should have just used the back
side of a pin punch or nail set .
7) Wedges take a lot of fitting. I got frustrated with my first attempt and decided to
mask the inside of the scales with masking tape, fit a spacer the thickness that I
wanted the wedge to be just next to where the spacer would go and another spacer
the thickness of the tang at the other end. I then mixed a bit of bondo applied a
bit to the wedge area then put the two scales together with the spacers and the
pins (one pin through the bondo). Then I cleaned up the bondo that squeezed out
and left it to harden. I did this after the scales where shaped but before they were
topcoated. After the bondo hardened, I pulled the scales apart, the bondo did not
stick to the masking tape and cured into the shape and size of the wedge I needed.
8) I now know what it means when someone says hone it like a Gold Dollar.
This is a corollary to #1. After thinking that I had the bevel set and getting
disappointing results at the final honing, I took Slash McCoys advice and honed
it on one side until I could feel a burr on the entire edge. Flipped it over and did
the same thing. Then I went through the normal progression (including the bevel
setting stone) with full laps.
9) Spike points are scary, even though it is muted, I was very cautious diring the first
couple of shaves with it.
10) Dont forget to soften the end of the spine. I radically changed the toe end of the
spine. Shortened it on a bench grinder. I sanded the grind marks, but did not
soften (slightly round) the ground down end of the spine. When I stropped it for
the first time, I saw scratches appear on my strop. Thinking that it must be from
the spike point I focused on keeping the spine in better contact with the strop and
was rewarded with more scratches. I stopped and analyzed what was happening
and found strop dust on the hollow of the blade closer to the spine. When I wiped
it off I noticed that those edges were pretty harsh. A little sanding on those edges
and no more scratches on my strop.
11) Harsh / square edges are good in some areas. I ground a thumb notch into this
razor, partially to help remove the shoulder and I think it looks good. When
handling the razor while sanding, I noticed the harsh edges of the thumb notch.
I rounded them a bit with sand paper so it would have a smoother feel. In use, I
sometimes wish that I had a bit more grip in the areas that I rounded. I suppose I
could add jimps also.
12) I really like the shoulder less design. I dont have to worry about riding up on a
shoulder while honing or even stropping. I believe that it will prevent irritation
while honing in the future as there is a defined end to where the spine where ends
at the tang end.
13) You can turn a GD 66 into a fine shaving razor. Mine works very well. I can
see a huge disappointment if you were expecting it to shave out of the box, but if
you think of it as a razor blank, or kit, and put the required work into it they can
be very good.
14) GDs can be addicting. I have already started on the next one. I feel much more
free to experiment on them. I do not feel like I am destroying a piece of history,
or have a huge fear of wrecking a $300 razor by sloppy honing etc. How many
people would take a new Brian Brown, or even a new Ralf Aust and grind a
different tip into it??? With a GD, the cost quickly becomes a matter of the time
you put into it. If you are at my stage, even a total wreck will probably be worth
the education.
This razor has taught me a lot.
1) There is a lot of metal in a GD66 and a lot of it will hinder the function, at least the
honing of a well designed razor. It is common knowledge that the stabilizers at the heel
should be removed, while looking at those, I was also impressed with the amount of steel
in the tang. I have a cast iron skillet with less metal in the handle than a stock GD66 has
in the tang. I decided that I would thin it down to a thumb notch while I turned it into a
shoulder less design.
It is strange how I wanted a round point razor for a long time, but as soon as I started this
endeavor, I knew that I wanted at least a square point if not something more aggressive.
I kind of took it to an extreme, kind of matching the curve of the heal. I hope the
shortened spine will not cause me any problems with long term hone ware.
Even after all that metal dust, the flat of the spine (the part where it rides on the hone)
continued well up the tang. I can only think that this will cause long term honing issues
as that area would become ramped with ware. I thinned the tang near the spine on a
bench grinder and this was not even enough. I had to do quite a bit of blending of the
tang shoulder transition with a dremel.
2) It takes a lot of sending to remove the results of a short period of inattention with
dremel.
2a) Dont be afraid of 180 grit (or even courser sand paper)
2b) Patience will be rewarded. I should have (and may still) spent more time sanding to
get a better finish, but it was my first GD project and my first non vintage and I was in a
hurry to get it into my stable.
3) Mothers mag wheel polish is magic.
4) Micara is cool. I used polyester resin sold as fiberglass and boat resin. It is much
cheaper than epoxy. It has a very forgiving mix ratio and a reasonably longwork
life. It does not cure to a shiny finish, but mothers polish brought out a shine very
quickly. After I shaped and sanded the scales, I found it easiest to set the scales
on a stand to elevate them off of the work surface and put a very heavy coating of
the same polyester resin on the outside of the scales. I laid it on to the point that
it was almost dripping off of the scales. This way the resin would self level and
leave a smooth and slightly convex surface. I did have to sand the drips from the
back side and sand the edges, but the faces only required polishing.
5) 0.130 inch is too thick for scales (at least in micarta and to my taste. I plan on
putting new micarta scales on it made from a shirt that my daughter hates and
made me promise not to wear anymore.
6) Pinning is not as scary as it seemed. I was worried that the back side of the pin
would mushroom as I was peening the top side and the washer would not be in
the right place etc. It did not happen that way. The top side was the only one that
mushroomed. I also used a pencil length section of ¼ in diameter steel rod as my
peening tool. I ground a slight dome on the the ends of the rod and used it to tap
on the pins until they were set. Looking back, I should have just used the back
side of a pin punch or nail set .
7) Wedges take a lot of fitting. I got frustrated with my first attempt and decided to
mask the inside of the scales with masking tape, fit a spacer the thickness that I
wanted the wedge to be just next to where the spacer would go and another spacer
the thickness of the tang at the other end. I then mixed a bit of bondo applied a
bit to the wedge area then put the two scales together with the spacers and the
pins (one pin through the bondo). Then I cleaned up the bondo that squeezed out
and left it to harden. I did this after the scales where shaped but before they were
topcoated. After the bondo hardened, I pulled the scales apart, the bondo did not
stick to the masking tape and cured into the shape and size of the wedge I needed.
8) I now know what it means when someone says hone it like a Gold Dollar.
This is a corollary to #1. After thinking that I had the bevel set and getting
disappointing results at the final honing, I took Slash McCoys advice and honed
it on one side until I could feel a burr on the entire edge. Flipped it over and did
the same thing. Then I went through the normal progression (including the bevel
setting stone) with full laps.
9) Spike points are scary, even though it is muted, I was very cautious diring the first
couple of shaves with it.
10) Dont forget to soften the end of the spine. I radically changed the toe end of the
spine. Shortened it on a bench grinder. I sanded the grind marks, but did not
soften (slightly round) the ground down end of the spine. When I stropped it for
the first time, I saw scratches appear on my strop. Thinking that it must be from
the spike point I focused on keeping the spine in better contact with the strop and
was rewarded with more scratches. I stopped and analyzed what was happening
and found strop dust on the hollow of the blade closer to the spine. When I wiped
it off I noticed that those edges were pretty harsh. A little sanding on those edges
and no more scratches on my strop.
11) Harsh / square edges are good in some areas. I ground a thumb notch into this
razor, partially to help remove the shoulder and I think it looks good. When
handling the razor while sanding, I noticed the harsh edges of the thumb notch.
I rounded them a bit with sand paper so it would have a smoother feel. In use, I
sometimes wish that I had a bit more grip in the areas that I rounded. I suppose I
could add jimps also.
12) I really like the shoulder less design. I dont have to worry about riding up on a
shoulder while honing or even stropping. I believe that it will prevent irritation
while honing in the future as there is a defined end to where the spine where ends
at the tang end.
13) You can turn a GD 66 into a fine shaving razor. Mine works very well. I can
see a huge disappointment if you were expecting it to shave out of the box, but if
you think of it as a razor blank, or kit, and put the required work into it they can
be very good.
14) GDs can be addicting. I have already started on the next one. I feel much more
free to experiment on them. I do not feel like I am destroying a piece of history,
or have a huge fear of wrecking a $300 razor by sloppy honing etc. How many
people would take a new Brian Brown, or even a new Ralf Aust and grind a
different tip into it??? With a GD, the cost quickly becomes a matter of the time
you put into it. If you are at my stage, even a total wreck will probably be worth
the education.