Gold Dollar #6 in ebony

"That's beautiful!" said the girlfriend, 'nuff said. Number 6 of my Gold Dollar modifications and I'm really happy with the result. I took one of Buddel's razors as an example. My new second-hand belt sander works like a dream, my new greaseless compounds - which took me months to find - work quite well and require some more practise.

Scales are ebony, wedge is birch (I have bone, but it's so smelly), tiny Spanish point, NiAg pins and SS washers. Brass washers on the inside. This one opens and closes very smoothly, with which I had some problems in previous razors. I buffed the scales to shiny.

Honed on Shapton 1K, 4/8K pyramid, 16K, but not quite there. I need more honing practise. Everytime I hone, I set my standards higher.

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Thanks for watching!

Beautiful workmanship, Laurens! :tu:

Good job, Laurens!

Stop making me like gold dollars!! ;)

Great job again Lauren's...like your style...practice, practice, practice on the inexpensive razors...if I ever get into doing restoration, I will follow your example.

How do they shave?

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Originally Posted by Phrank

Great job again Lauren's...like your style...practice, practice, practice on the inexpensive razors...if I ever get into doing restoration, I will follow your example.

How do they shave?

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Practice indeed, I busted a blade working on this one, glad they are so cheap! They shave like any other blade I have, though they are not always as easy to hone. I have not yet had a warped blade, but thick heels and smiling edges aplenty.

Next up, I might make a matching brush and razor :D

Im starting to wonder what steel they make these things out of.

if their hard to hone, but take an edge. im betting something like a cr14-15mov.

not a terrible steel in my experience with knifes, cheap but damn is it stain resistant.

I meant the geometry makes it hard to hone, the smile and thick heel require some extra attention. The steel feels like normal carbon steel to me.

You are getting good aren't you. I like the scale shape. I finally succumbed and spent the $5 for my very own gold dollar, I want to practice pin tightening and such so I figured it'd be the go, I doubt it will end up looking all nice like your ones though.
So you have a proper sander now? Not the suicide wheel thingo you started with?

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Originally Posted by edhewitt

You are getting good aren't you. I like the scale shape. I finally succumbed and spent the $5 for my very own gold dollar, I want to practice pin tightening and such so I figured it'd be the go, I doubt it will end up looking all nice like your ones though.
So you have a proper sander now? Not the suicide wheel thingo you started with?

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Thanks, Ed! Good luck on the GD :) You'll probably have to grind down the stabilisers a bit. Put it to a hone when you receive it to see what it needs.

Aye, a proper sander for me! And who knows I'll have a drill press by the end of this week. That leaves me with just a band saw to desire, and more razors, obviously. Just bought two for a steal.

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Originally Posted by Laurens

Thanks, Ed! Good luck on the GD :) You'll probably have to grind down the stabilisers a bit. Put it to a hone when you receive it to see what it needs.

Aye, a proper sander for me! And who knows I'll have a drill press by the end of this week. That leaves me with just a band saw to desire, and more razors, obviously. Just bought two for a steal.

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My drill press is just a cheap adaptor thingy that you clamp a normal drill into, but it works pretty well. I used it to make a cribbage board which required me to drill 370 holes that were all vertical and of the same depth. I also used it to drill the pin making holes in my "anvil".
You will just have to persevere with the suicide saw until you find a bandsaw.

That is just gorgeous, Laurens

Reading this type of posts steered my curiosity. I burned $11 for a GD 66. I took the razor to the grinder and eliminated the stabilizer. I even added a nice barber's notch. I made a pair of really nice micarta scales for it. Not until then I took the razor to the stones. Spent about 4 hours at the 10 k trying to set a bevel. No tape, one layer of tape, 2 layers of tape, 3 layers of tape. Nothing. I gave up. I am now left with a nice looking paper cutter. I really wanted to like the Gold Dollars but I can see why they create such controversy in this and other forums.

Is that a misprint?. Did you mean 1k for bevel set?

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Originally Posted by Razorthin

Reading this type of posts steered my curiosity. I burned $11 for a GD 66. I took the razor to the grinder and eliminated the stabilizer. I even added a nice barber's notch. I made a pair of really nice micarta scales for it. Not until then I took the razor to the stones. Spent about 4 hours at the 10 k trying to set a bevel. No tape, one layer of tape, 2 layers of tape, 3 layers of tape. Nothing. I gave up. I am now left with a nice looking paper cutter. I really wanted to like the Gold Dollars but I can see why they create such controversy in this and other forums.

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Do you mean at the 1K? I take GDs to the DMT 325 and still need to spend ample time to get the edge into shape. It really takes an effort to set a bevel, but once done, they hone up okay.
I'm with you on the controversy, but I think they are excellent customisation material. Cheap, you can buy as many as you want because they are still in production and they can be made to shave well. Until such time as I can forge my own blades, the GDs are my blanks :)

Yes, I meant a Naniwa 1000. In desperation I also tried the back of a Naniwa lapping stone but no luck.

When I'm straightening the edge and setting a bevel, it takes me around half an hour on the DMT8C. I haven't tried on my Shapton 1K, because I know the DMT already takes some time. I think 4 hours is way too much and I can see why that takes the fun out of it.

Heel leading half strokes sideways will get you a set bevel in 2 minutes on a chosera 600 out of the box. Watch the heel hook so eliminate or shorten the cutting edge by 1/16 at the heel.The lettering side is almost always short at the toe. If you rock it you will get it all.

Laurens, That is a well thought out and nicely achieved razor.
~Richard

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Originally Posted by bill3152

Heel leading half strokes sideways will get you a set bevel in 2 minutes on a chosera 600 out of the box. Watch the heel hook so eliminate or shorten the cutting edge by 1/16 at the heel.The lettering side is almost always short at the toe. If you rock it you will get it all.

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I forgot to say that setting a bevel on an unmodified GD takes much less time, like Bill said. The half hour work is really the result of reshaping the blade.

Nice design sense on the scales. Good contrast to the traditional look of the blade.

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Originally Posted by edhewitt

You are getting good aren't you. I like the scale shape. I finally succumbed and spent the $5 for my very own gold dollar, I want to practice pin tightening and such so I figured it'd be the go, I doubt it will end up looking all nice like your ones though.
So you have a proper sander now? Not the suicide wheel thingo you started with?

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Where did you find a Gold Dollar for 5 dollar? The cheapest I can find is about 12 for a 66.

BTW Laurens, Very nice job on the blade and scales. It's elegant.

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Originally Posted by JaberCrow

Where did you find a Gold Dollar for 5 dollar? The cheapest I can find is about 12 for a 66.

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I did a search for straight or cut throat razor, can't remember which, filtered for lowest price first. Don't put gold dollar in to your search. They are about £3.50 or so delivered.

Ok the description of my gold dollar is:
Salon barber straight edge cut throat shaving razor shave tool.
Good luck, I can't post a link to it because I am rubbish at stuff like that, and I do all this on my phone to compound the issue.

I got mine from aliexpress.com, directly from Chinese vendors. Shipping takes some time, but everything there is so darn cheap! I bought 200 Dorco DE blades for my girlfriend for €12,20 shipped, and I got my silvertip badger knot there as well.

Really like the shape, can't wait to see what you would put on a vintage blade
Because the scales so far look well worth it
Job well done

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Originally Posted by Substance

Really like the shape, can't wait to see what you would put on a vintage blade
Because the scales so far look well worth it
Job well done

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Thanks, and with some luck, I should receive a wonderful vintage in the mail today, otherwise tomorrow. Can't say when I'll get to work on it, but keep an eye out in the custom made forum :)

Nice! Having the top tip of the scales meet the razor is a nice touch.

Very nice work. I love the scale design.

Being a bit of an elitist I shun GDs…. but that's in a manner that's similar to my eating habits. Around my wife and kids I eat only pure organic non-GMO etc. As soon as I'm away from home and get hungry I'll head to McDonalds or some other place that offers ungodly unhealthy tripe - and love it! What I'm trying to say is that I have a few GDs for experimentation and am looking to pick up a few more. Laurens I absolutely support your use of GDs to learn and experiment - and if you can get a good shave with them then what's the problem?

This thread got my curiosity going and I found this listing from the site provided above.

EDIT- Use Caution! I went in and tried to order a lot of 10 GDs from these guys (aliexpress) but at checkout after entering my number they state they can't take credit cards. No idea if it's a scam but I'd avoid them for now. If you've had better luck let us know. In the meantime there's always Star Shaving. Looks like they charge a buck or two more but they take PayPal and CCs.


Laurens, what model GD do you normally go with? I assume they offer different models? I think I may pick up a pile for trying out some dangerous ideas I have for both blades and scales without wasting a ton of money on Sheffields or Soligens.

Those are the ones, Air! I don't know much about GD, other than that they do have a stainless steel blade (number 800, I think) that I believe sells for at least $15 each, if you can find them. The 66 is the cheapest they have, but definitely not stainless. I was thinking about buying the lot of 10 myself, as I now have only one left! But to justify that, I would have to sell off a few of my projects first.

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Originally Posted by Laurens

Those are the ones, Air! I don't know much about GD, other than that they do have a stainless steel blade (number 800, I think) that I believe sells for at least $15 each, if you can find them. The 66 is the cheapest they have, but definitely not stainless. I was thinking about buying the lot of 10 myself, as I now have only one left! But to justify that, I would have to sell off a few of my projects first.

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Well it's nearly Christmas, you could get them and make some custom razors for family and friends. Relatively cheap for you, and they get something nice and made with love. Well that's how you could justify it anyway.

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Originally Posted by edhewitt

Well it's nearly Christmas, you could get them and make some custom razors for family and friends. Relatively cheap for you, and they get something nice and made with love. Well that's how you could justify it anyway.

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And include a hassle-free return policy? ;)

I deliberately made a stand for 12 razors a while back, to remind myself that it's about favourite and special razors rather than plenty. I failed, of course, and some are lying behind it, a few others are in the basement, but those are mostly junk razors.

That is just beautiful, and very professional looking. You do some darn fine work.

Thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work!

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Originally Posted by Laurens

And include a hassle-free return policy? ;)

I deliberately made a stand for 12 razors a while back, to remind myself that it's about favourite and special razors rather than plenty. I failed, of course, and some are lying behind it, a few others are in the basement, but those are mostly junk razors.

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I made a case to hold 3 razors, it is at capacity, but I am thinking I have 1 too many. I only have 3 because I originally purchased 2 starter razors, and then bought a frameback from Carl. One of the starters will get rehomed soon.

Whew! I tried to buy 10 from the link above but after I provided my credit card a message popped up that said they can't take credit cards. Might be a new policy? In any case it freaked me out a little so I edited my post above. Wound up using Star but paid $36.80 including shipping for 5 GDs - still not bad for 5 blades that I can essentially destroy if my experiments go bad. Sorry for any confusion guys.

Ouch! I did read some tiny message about Visa cards temporarily not being accepted, could that be it? I pay with Master Card and never had a problem.

Anyway, good luck on the GDs and I look forward to seeing your results!

Looks great, nice shape of the scales.