Thread: Ruined my straight razor in Vancouver

so, first thing, the gold dollar razors generally can be made to shave.
second, put away those first three hones and only use the 1000 and 6000 grit only.
now that's a bit simpler and the questions you will be facing is when to switch to the 6000 grit hone and when to move to the strop.
read on the thumbnail test, that will tell you when you've honed the microchips out of the blade. after that point you still hone on the 1000 grit hone with very light touch until your razor can easily shave armhair at skin or just above skin level. at this point if you test it with your thumbpad it will fell sharper than any knife you've honed.
then it's time to move to the 6000 grit hone an you should keep testing the edge with your thumbpad and may be check how it cuts armhair above skin level. You can stop when it's dramatically better than off the 1000 hone, and you feel you are not making any progresss. Then you strop on chromium oxide, linen, leather and try shaving.

you need to use very light strokes and nor raise burr on the edge.

or you can send the razor out to somebody who is good at honing and just shave with it when it comes back.

Originally Posted by chattersking

How do I search for folks in my area? A very kind member has stepped up and offered to hone my blade, and I would have to ship it out to him, however if I could get this done locally that would be terrific.

At the top right corner of the Member's Services page there is a search box. Type a location in there to see if you have someone nearby.

Well, don't feel bad, you're not alone.

I too have a gold dollar, one i purchased to practice honing strokes (just the muscle memort techniques). I've found it's great for this purpose, as well as learning to strop (with the edge dull).
Many people have stated that the gold dollar is made with decent steel and can be a good shaver with lots of work. I frankly haven't attempted honing mine, and if yours is anything like mine, it's too much work for a beginner.


Personally i suggest you should purchase a "shave-ready" vintage razor, since you've got so much tied up in hones, it'd be the cheapest way to get a high-quality razor with a good edge. Places like Whippeddog.com or theinvisibleedge.co.uk sell (partially) restored razors from $25-45.

Or buy yourself a dovo shavette with some blades, and buy a vintage on ebay to play with($10-15). that way you've got something sharp to shave with (that will always be sharp), and a quality blade to learn honing on. That's probably not the easiest rout, but it's probably the cheapest.

either way, good luck!

Update:
So its official that my straight razor is actually made of TUNGSTEN CARBIDE.
No joke I spent another 3 hours trying to hone this thing, and it has yet to get even a small edge or 1 scratch. It doesnt matter what you do with this thing I aint kidding that it just does not shape an edge.
The only thing remaining that I havent tried sharpening this onto is a concrete block like murray carter lol.

Yay!!!

Are you talking about the gold dollar?

You might have to pretty coarse to even out the edge. Try doing that with a layer of electrical tape on the spine, and on a coarse stone. once the edge is nice and even, then you take the tape off, and set the bevel and work your way up to your 6k stone. then from there you can move to pasted strops if you don't have a higher hone.

That's what i would do, but i'm no expert.

watch the spine, you'll loose more metal than you think.

Originally Posted by chattersking

Update:
. . . So its official that my straight razor is actually made of TUNGSTEN CARBIDE.
. . .

You're joking, right?

I just sent you a personal message with my e-mail address -- I'm in Richmond, and might be able to help.

Charles

So after 3 hours there are no scratches on the spine or edge ?

I hate to say this but...........If you look on the WIKI here which every newbie should before all else,you will find a list of razors that are considered beware blades.Gold dollar is one of them.Also Stay away from E-bay.So many new guys that come here right off the bat buy off of E-bay trying to save a buck.The whole reason the WIKI is here is to educate.The whole reason this site is here is to supply an outlet of trusted vendors who can sell you good equipment along with giving you knowledge to use the equipment.One of the best vendors here for blade/Sharpening/questions/soaps and anything else you can think of is our very own founder Lynn Abrams.He and Don are owners of Straight Razor Designs which flashes up frequently her on the pop up banners.Their is also a classified section where you have at your disposal a multitude of Members/Vendors who sell hones,blades,soaps,sharpening and restoration services etc. Stay away from E-bay guys....WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU.

Oh yea and any other blade other than Carbon steel or stainless steel,I would give a wide berth to.That sounds like you got scammed unfortunately .

I'll trade you a shave ready razor for your Gold Dollar. I'll even cover shipping.
PM Sent.