Couldn't find that W60, but finally got another one from that series of Gold Dollar, the w59 via Aliexpress, oh so cheap. Though I don't particularly like this shape to shave with, I do appreciate the looks and I see how you can like it better than the 1996. The scales might be a little bit flimsy perhaps, but as long as they don't break I don't care. It is a much thinner blade and the grind is of a higher standard. Still, mine took a lot of bevel work, but came out very sharp, capable of an impressive first pass in the end. I wonder if the Fendrihan ones are of a higher standard than the dirt cheap ones on Aliexpress?
What's Wrong with Gold Dollar?
- Thread starter Raissermesser
- Start date
Gold Dollar 66 razors are fantastic for the price and they have very good steel these are gold dollars 66
the picture below is how they started out in life that was untill i got a hold of them and knowing nothing
the picture below is how they started out in life that was untill i got a hold of them and knowing nothing
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I suspect that the Fendrihan ones may be honed in-house, because the edge when I got it was if I recall correctly, sharp enough for a shave if you are not too picky. The spine is way thinner, almost too thin, and some care should be taken in honing to a finish. Pressure is the enemy. One could not be faulted with using tape on this razor, for a few years, to normalize the bevel angle, but I found it to work okay for me. Also, Fendrihan probably weeds out the obvious lemons. You are more likely to get a bad one from Ali than Fendrihan, I am thinking, and the AliExpress razor probably was not honed at all, or poorly done by a $2/day worker without a clue. You might contact Fendrihan to see if they actually commissioned a private run with higher quality control, or not.
IMHO as received from Fendrihan, my W60 was the absolute pinnacle of quality among all my Gold Dollars, as received and before modification or honing. And the cost was no barrier. I have no problem whatsoever recommending it as a noob's first razor, or an addition to a budget minded shaver's rotation. Mr. Deep Pockets, with a bunch of TI or restored W&B or $300+ production razors or $1k+ customs, might go "meh" but it is a ready to go razor with a lot of potential, for chimp change. Just beware of the very acute bevel angle... that edge will be very flexible and fragile.
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Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
You have been busy, Ian. Some pretty 66's there.
Thank you Slash the first 3 was 2017 novice class gold dollar mods and the 2 after was 2018 unlimited class its funny I still use them even though I have some high end razors
The GD mods are very nice but after you spend that amount of effort and money to get them there you could just have bought a fancy vintage upfront. Unless of course you enjoy modifying and restoring which some love while creating classy shavers. Honing was already discussed so in general GD’s IMO are fantastic trainers that can be great shavers with plenty TLC.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
And why not prefer them? Pride of workmanship along with pride of ownership, and a very good shaver as well? I prefer my own mods over my runnerup choice, my vintage Bismarcks and the new kid on the block Dovo Bismarcks. A good modded 66 with plenty of thought into the redesign, optimized for the shaver, is a mighty hard razor to beat. I could say an impossible razor to beat and not be exaggerating much if at all.
Nope thats right on the button, these sure do shave nice i got them to 16.3- 16.8 and that seems to be my sweet spot.
But they are great training wheels to learn to hone on, as you told me when I first started the modding even with cheap king wet stones. A lot of info was gained from them days... Now days I seem to restore more vintage razor, to give them the looks back to how they was, And a new lease of life that I enjoy doing But I still grab a Gold Dollar to mod and give to friends to learn to shave with, that's why I could never part with those above getting old I know hahaha...
Plus they give a fantastic shave.....
Never liked GDs, have had a good number of them, and I still have a few, maybe 4-5. Even after working on one for way longer than it's worth, they still don't measure up for me. The steel is cheap and inconsistent, the HT&T is all over the place from one to another, and sometimes even along the length of a single blade. Edge retention is pitiful once I grind the spine to a bevel angle that doesn't make me cringe, the geometry is freaking laughable, and needing to cut a bunch of steel off the blade before even starting to work on it is just stupid. The scales and pins are a joke. And - after I'm done spending hours upon hours to overcome the non-existent workmanship - it's still just a $5 letter opener. I hate the blade profile once the stabilizer is cut out, it looks awkward and unbalanced to me. Not sorry to say I do not like GDs at all, not for any reason. The best I can say about any GD I've had is that 2-3 have been tolerable for testing stones; edge retention is poor so it's a short lived success on the best days. As I wear them out or they tick me off I toss them. And when they're gone they're gone because there is zero point in buying more of them. I know people might consider crowing about what I wrote but this is my opinion and it is every bit as valid as anyone else's. Please note that I am not arguing with anyone about their opinions, so if someone feels a need to argue with me about mine they'll be be met with the same silence. It's a razor, and this is just shaving, not everyone likes what everyone else likes. YMMV, and all of that...
Thanks for posting your experience. I find your points about HT and edge retention interesting. How do you determine the HT is different along length of blade? Wear/scratch pattern when honing??
I bought a GD 208. My most comfortable shave yet. But I can also get a closer shave with my electric trimmer. Or maybe even with a comb and some scissors. I measured the bevel angle. Nearly 21 degrees. I will get around to modifying it eventually. Probably on the belt sander. I won't be buying another GD any time soon. I'm enjoying learning to hone and vintage razors are so cheap to practice on without having to use power tools.
Amen.
The only razors I’ve actually tossed out in the trash were some early GDs, and one poor Genco I dropped onto a DMT and cracked in half. If I had to go back and try again I’d choose to try my hand at welding the Genco back together before trying those same GDs.
My grievances were terrible warped geometry, fat bevel angle, and somehow not holding an edge in spite of fat bevel angle. For comparison my very first blade is a restored Thomas Turner that actually has a wider bevel angle than some GDs because of the restoration, and that one shaves just fine and held its edge well enough to suffer through a shave for 300+ days with just linen and leather.
These were early GDs so maybe they’ve improved recently, but for the prices I pay for QUALITY American vintages with consistent grinds I can’t be bothered to waste my time on another test.
I commented earlier. I shall emphasize that only 1 out of 3 of my GDs were ok out of the box. 2 have bad scales, and need repair.
The one GD that I am using is smoother on my face than my vintage razors. I do not know why. Maybe it is the thicker spine. Maybe it is because the blade is wider than all of my vintage blades. Maybe I did a better job honing it. Maybe my perception is biased because the blade is heavier than my vintage blades.
As I gain straight razor experience, perhaps I will have a change of mind on this. Jody.
The one GD that I am using is smoother on my face than my vintage razors. I do not know why. Maybe it is the thicker spine. Maybe it is because the blade is wider than all of my vintage blades. Maybe I did a better job honing it. Maybe my perception is biased because the blade is heavier than my vintage blades.
As I gain straight razor experience, perhaps I will have a change of mind on this. Jody.
Wow! some insanely impressive mods here.
Ill post my custom scales for zy430. I will for sure earn the jumbo prize, but it was fun making them. The original scales was way too light for the heavy blade.
Regarding steel, I feel my zy430 have crap edge retention compared to my giesen and forsthoff SR.
Ill post my custom scales for zy430. I will for sure earn the jumbo prize, but it was fun making them. The original scales was way too light for the heavy blade.
Regarding steel, I feel my zy430 have crap edge retention compared to my giesen and forsthoff SR.
