Thread: What hone(s) do I need to sharpen a Gold Dollar?

So with Xmas approaching with promises of monetary gifts from family, I've decided to revisit sharpening, this time with a cheap Gold Dollar off of eBay. I was just wondering if I can get a Gold Dollar to shaving sharp with just a Chinese 12k, or would I need to start at a lower grit?

Originally Posted by Victor

So with Xmas approaching with promises of monetary gifts from family, I've decided to revisit sharpening, this time with a cheap Gold Dollar off of eBay. I was just wondering if I can get a Gold Dollar to shaving sharp with just a Chinese 12k, or would I need to start at a lower grit?

High grit tones are only for polishing the bevel not for sharpening.
If the razor is not sharp you need to start from as low as 1k and go up in a progression of grits.

Originally Posted by mainaman

High grit tones are only for polishing the bevel not for sharpening.
If the razor is not sharp you need to start from as low as 1k and go up in a progression of grits.

Gold Dollars come pretty sharp though, right? I was just wondering where you can start on one of these.

If I was going to go that route, I would have it pro sharpened first.

The couple I've seen were indeed fairly sharp to begin with. If you have a coticule then you'd be set.

If you have Norton's, etc, I'd say you could easily start at the 4k level and go up. This is of course assuming the bevel is good. But again, if you have a coticule, you're set. Hit it with slurry and then go to water once it shaves arm hair all along the blade fairly well, and then if you have other polishing stones, you can go to them as well.

If you dont really know how to hone it may be better to send it out to a pro and have it sharpened.

If its totally dull you'll need a 1k to bevel set, a 4k to sharpen, an 8k to polish and something 10k+ to finish. Then go onto stropping as normal.

Popular set ups include the 220/1000 and 4/8 Norton stones, the 1/5/8/12k Naniwa stones or the 1/4/8/16k Shapton glass stones. All are great and all will get you a good edge.

You could also go for the single stone route, as Avatar1999 suggested, and get a coticule. Bart has some great threads on how to hone from dull to shave ready with just that one stone.

As to what grit level you need to start at, it will depend on the condition of the razor when you get it! If its mostly Ok, then you may just need to start at 8k and then your finisher. If its a butter knife you'll need to drop back down to 1k.

If the seller has honed it for you, it may be totally fine and not require any honing at all.

Sorry I cant be more help than that, but it really is dependant on the condition of the razor when you get it!

Whatever you decide, let us know how you get on! And if you are having problems we're here to help!

Good luck!