Thread: Ruined my straight razor in Vancouver

That is a great offer
Not only will you have a known good razor, you can get an informed opinion on the one you been struggeling with aswell

Originally Posted by HNSB

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

Thanks PM replied.

Originally Posted by dnullify

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 onimaru55

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

Originally Posted by Nightblade

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.

Originally Posted by Nightblade

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 know I screwed up and I admit that, I should not have bought this however I did checked the list of razors to avoid and it didnt mention anything about Gold dollar, and when I searched for reviews there were some decent reviews and people swore by it, that and considering the fact that this was my first razor and I didnt wanted to spend too much into it, I thought this should be an ideal startup. Boy was I wrong! I dont know what kind of steel is it, except it says China 66 on one side and Gold dollar on the other side. Upon revisiting my ebay listing I did notice now that the seller mentioned that "the razor needs Honing and Stroping required before use".

As I have said earlier I do have a little bit of experience with kitchen knife and I can make them shaving sharp, both 15 and 30 degree angles. This particular steel of the razor does feel different than any other steel I have ever sharpened and literally nothing happens after spending hours.

The edge looks thin and sharp however it does not shave anything and even trying arm hair shave test only pulls dry skin without cutting any hairs.

I myself am using a $13 GD off the bay. I haven't had a problem with it. It did not arrive anywhere near shave ready. But after some good honing and stropping it shaves pretty well. Now keep in mind I bought an Otto Hans off the bay to restore and before the start of the resto I was so impatient I cleaned up the blade and I spent maybe a quarter of the time honing it and it shaves 10 times smoother than the GD. I'm in the middle of making new scales for the otto so I'm still using the GD and other than being not as smooth it shaves pretty good for cheap metal and plastic. I guess I just got lucky. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Str8Edge

I myself am using a $13 GD off the bay. I haven't had a problem with it. It did not arrive anywhere near shave ready. But after some good honing and stropping it shaves pretty well. Now keep in mind I bought an Otto Hans off the bay to restore and before the start of the resto I was so impatient I cleaned up the blade and I spent maybe a quarter of the time honing it and it shaves 10 times smoother than the GD. I'm in the middle of making new scales for the otto so I'm still using the GD and other than being not as smooth it shaves pretty good for cheap metal and plastic. I guess I just got lucky. Good luck!

Wow I guess you really got lucky there, I guess they melted all those tungsten carbide mining teeths to create my straight razor in China lol.

I followed so many tutorials from Lynn and other members of SRP that have posted on Youtube. Even tried stroping on the 0.5 micron abrasive sheet pasted to a glass. The edge looks sharp, doesnt look like a wire or burr under naked eye, and I dont see any nicks under light so I dont know why its still not sharp. I wasted so many slurry by using nagura stones to flatten all my stones and start over again but it made no difference.

By the way since you guys have been so much helpful I thought to share this with you. Here in downtown vancouver we have a store called Tinland in Chinatown. They have a huge variety of sharpening stones, and one particular stone that came to my attention is a huge stone, above 5 inch thick by 4 inch wide and about 12 inches long. The stone stays white when its dry, but when you use it then becomes black. The asian guy who owns the store said that this is a very rare stone from mines in Japan and its hard to determine the grit since its one solid stone but he estimates it to be around or above 20000 grit. The stone does feel very fine and produces some decent slurry when wet. He is selling it for $19 and comes in a wrapped plastic, no fancy labels or packaging. I asked him what type of stone it is and he said its mainly used for Samurai swords and one stone can last 5 generations :O

Didnt bought it but thought to share it with you guys just in case anyone is interested.

Originally Posted by Nightblade

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.

I agree that people who are new to straight razor shaving should stay away from eBay. People can try to sell things that are junk. When I first started out, I bought a Krieger on eBay, yeah I know it wasn't a good choice. On the other hand, people who are well educated in the wide world of straight razors can find great razors on eBay. Now, I buy vintage razors on eBay that are great quality. You just have to know your stuff.

Originally Posted by chattersking

By the way since you guys have been so much helpful I thought to share this with you. Here in downtown vancouver we have a store called Tinland in Chinatown. They have a huge variety of sharpening stones, and one particular stone that came to my attention is a huge stone, above 5 inch thick by 4 inch wide and about 12 inches long. The stone stays white when its dry, but when you use it then becomes black. The asian guy who owns the store said that this is a very rare stone from mines in Japan and its hard to determine the grit since its one solid stone but he estimates it to be around or above 20000 grit. The stone does feel very fine and produces some decent slurry when wet. He is selling it for $19 and comes in a wrapped plastic, no fancy labels or packaging. I asked him what type of stone it is and he said its mainly used for Samurai swords and one stone can last 5 generations :O

Didnt bought it but thought to share it with you guys just in case anyone is interested.

I've never heard of that stone before, especially one that's so big. If that stone really is 20,000 grit, it should cost a whole lot more than $19! A 16,000 grit Shapton stone cost $110, and a 30,000 grit Shapton costs $310. However if the stone is only $19, I'm sure someone will give it a try. Maybe there's a long-lost Samurai out there that's looking for a sharpening stone.

Originally Posted by chattersking

As I have said earlier I do have a little bit of experience with kitchen knife and I can make them shaving sharp, both 15 and 30 degree angles. This particular steel of the razor does feel different than any other steel I have ever sharpened and literally nothing happens after spending hours.

Possible it missed the tempering stage & was sold fully hardened but in that case the edge would likely chip. You might need magnification to see it tho.

I just think that you are expecting too much right now from that GD.

They do take much more work to hone than most razors out there, for sure. View them more as un-finished razors, rather than factory edge razors. often grinds are uneven, the edge itself is uneve, or grinds don't extend all the way to the heel. if that's the case bevel setting takes forever, especially if you do not have diamond hones (i do).

Most of the reviews on them are by people who have bought finished razors, or people who have honing experience. The verdict i believe is that they are razors with good potential, cheap and readily available. not necessarily something a beginner is looking for, but it is something that needs to be learned by experience.

If you don't end up with a honed vintage, or hang on to the GD anyway, i suggest you focus on bevel setting.
You seem to be skipping ahead to much too fine much too soon. .5 micron sheets won't do squat if the bevels don't meet to a fine edge. once you've got a good bevel, where the bevels meet to a fine, if jagged edge -- then you can progress to finer stones which will refine the edge until it is straight and smooth as glass.

Until that happens, you are simply polishing a dull edge. unless you persist for the next 5 years you aren't going to get anywhere.
So i suggest you go back and take things one step at a time. start with your 320, and with moderate pressure (you don't want a deep scratch pattern, just even removal), and do sets of equal laps, or circles so that you get even set bevels. then as soon as you're cutting some arm-hairs off the 320 (i can cut some hairs off my DMT C), then move up to your 600. it shouldn't take long to be able to shave more hairs in a single pass, perhaps 45-50%. then move up to your 1000, where you ought to be able to clear hair away. When you're done with your 6k, take a few edge trailing laps with zero pressure, and then move to pastes/film. then strop 60 canvas 60 leather and you should be done.

IN your position, that's what i would do. Honemeisters, do correct me if i'm wrong.