Thread: Finally honed an edge I could shave with

I didn't want to ruin any of my new razors so I bought one of those Gold Dollar things and after two evenings and shaving over half of my left arm hair checking the edge I actually got a decent shave. I am sure I have a lot to learn but, at least part of the great mystery is now gone.

Excellent! Well done!

Yea, some of those Gold Dollars can produce a fine edge, some… most, not so. You got lucky and got a straight one without major issues.

Post some photos, we may be able to point out some issues that can be corrected and make it into a better shaver.

Check for warp and high heel stabilizers.

Either way you can learn a lot from these razors and most can be made into fine shaver. Stock they are Plain Jane but are a blank canvas for customizing.

A good, smart way to learn to hone, now dull the edge and do it again.

Good work, find a local mentor, for the finer points of honing.

With the cost of a good sound razor being relatively low, I can't imagine why you would roll the dice on one of those. However you did and got it shaving, which needs to be congratulated. The scale of edge quality is a long one, you have made the first milestone. Keep working at it and have a few bench marks around to help you push your abilities.

Also you might check out Lynn's and Glen's (gssixgun) honing videos, you can learn a lot from them. When I first started my edges were like shaving with sandpaper. After checking out their videos and a lot of practice the shaves smoothed out. Just keep on keeping on and it will get better and easier. Good luck....Happy Shaving!

Originally Posted by RezDog

With the cost of a good sound razor being relatively low, I can't imagine why you would roll the dice on one of those. However you did and got it shaving, which needs to be congratulated. The scale of edge quality is a long one, you have made the first milestone. Keep working at it and have a few bench marks around to help you push your abilities.

I am not really going to use it I just bought it as a throw away to practice honing on it will end up in my garage to open boxes with and practice honing it again.

Congrats on the success! I would suggest try shaving with it even if it is a junker and see how much further you can push it. I like to use my GDs as mystery hone guinea pigs; before I try a nicer razor on they mystery hone. It only gets better from here and that first one is hard. The worst is you think you have mastered honing then comes a problem razor that makes you wanna tear out your hair. You have to put down those troublemakers often and for long periods so you don't talk it out on their spines lol.