Thread: Practice makes perfect...

Definitely.

Originally Posted by Steel

Is it possible to get a gold dollar to shave really good? I mean if you sent it out to get honed would you have a good razor? Or would you just have a shiny turd?

Sorry. After posting this I searched the forum and found out this can be a heated topic. forget I asked this one. Lol.

Originally Posted by Steel

Is it possible to get a gold dollar to shave really good? I mean if you sent it out to get honed would you have a good razor? Or would you just have a shiny turd?

You would be supprised on what can be made shave ready with the right person honing. Yes, this could be made shave ready although they are a pain to do so. And the edge won't last.

For testing purposes they are fine, for shave purposes I wouldn't recommend. I use one for stone testing and previously learned to hone on one. Just keep in mind that the spine may not be straight and that can make things hard, you may not know if it's you or the razor causing the honing difficulties

The problem with using cheap razors to practise honing is that quite often the spine is not straight therefore this either needs to be fixed before honing, or a different honing action is needed to overcome the problem. A newcomer will not have the experience for either - they are better off using a blunted but known straight spline/bevel.

Originally Posted by Steel

Is it possible to get a gold dollar to shave really good?

I had one on loan a while back. One of the vendors was hoping to entice me into purchasing one. I was new at the time. He claimed he had it shave ready. Half a pass on one side of my face and I put it down. I know... this doesn't answer your question. There are more than a few people who shave with the GD's regularly so I would think...sure, you can make one shave ready.

Originally Posted by UKRob

The problem with using cheap razors to practise honing is that quite often the spine is not straight therefore this either needs to be fixed before honing, or a different honing action is needed to overcome the problem. A newcomer will not have the experience for either - they are better off using a blunted but known straight spline/bevel.

I agree, and understand... But at $4 each, I can be okay throwing tossing a few of them...

IMO because I just did it.. It is very possible to get a gold dollar shave ready.. Read glens post .. There are many issues with gold dollars .. Bill 3152 just gave me one to practice bevel setting on .. Well I took it a bit further honed it all the way to 12 k and shaved with it .. Was a decent shave.

Thats awesome! I actually ordered one from amazon. It should be here within the week. I have a dremmel and a sander to get it straight and maybe grind down the stabilizer as I understand these can be problematic. I also have some course 250-1000 Arkansas stones to set a bevel with so I can practice that and then I can practice using a 'one stone' method with my Guangxi. If I can't get it then- So what? I have only spent a few bucks and have practiced many things such as pressure and strokes and what not which will help when I go to hone my Dovo. For such a small amount of money I figured I got little to lose and if I can get it to shave ready maybe at some point I will re-scale it like I saw Chevy do in another thread. Really a win-win.

Dulled the gd set bevel again honed up,to 12 k .. Once again good shave.. Now I'm a firm believer a gold dollar is a good razor to beat up while learning honing

Originally Posted by Steel

Is it possible to get a gold dollar to shave really good? I mean if you sent it out to get honed would you have a good razor? Or would you just have a shiny turd?

Absolutely GD's are great shavers just takes a little work to get them there.

Originally Posted by Brighty83

You would be supprised on what can be made shave ready with the right person honing. Yes, this could be made shave ready although they are a pain to do so. And the edge won't last.

For testing purposes they are fine, for shave purposes I wouldn't recommend. I use one for stone testing and previously learned to hone on one. Just keep in mind that the spine may not be straight and that can make things hard, you may not know if it's you or the razor causing the honing difficulties

While I prefer much nicer razors. I learned how to hone using gd's and from my experience they absolutely hold an edge and are great shavers. But I agree some of them have problems and at $4 pop if you get a bad one just toss it if your not up for the challenge.