Gold Dollar bevel setting...

I have a Gold Dollar #66. I don't know what to call the edge but it isn't shave ready. It's sharp. It cuts paper quite well :)

The edge isn't damaged as it's new. I have a hard Arkansas stone but no matter what I do I can't seem to set the bevel if that is taken to mean that I can easily shave leg hair afterwards and before moving on in the honing process.

I know many experienced honers on here also must have had some experience with Gold Dollar straight razors at some point.

What is the most common issue/difficulty in trying to set the bevel?

I also have wet/dry sandpaper up through 2000 grit and an assortment pack of micro lapping film 30 micron-1 micron.

All I seem to be doing with it however is just polishing a semi-dull blade.

So, the issue seems to be setting the bevel. I've read most of the articles and viewed most of the videos.

Even though I'll get better razors and probably more stones in the future. I'd really like to figure this Gold Dollar out just for the learning experience and with the minimal gear that I currently have.

I also have a shave ready razor ordered from Whippeddog but it may be awhile before that arrives. At least that will give me a reference point for what a shave ready razor should be like.

How hard can it be to set a bevel? I don't mind spending more time than necessary (and I've already done that in fact).

Any tips?

You want to start setting bevel at minimum 1000 grit, don't know much about Arkansas stone, but may be too fine to set bevel, also, GD razors are not the best to learn on from my own experience, you are better off getting a tidy vintage razor with little or no hone wear.

The biggest issue with GD's are the Initial geometry on about 70% of them, those issues have to be solved first then they hone just like every other razor..

There is a huge thread about GD razors, in there is all the huge arguements that basically boil down to, some are good, some are not and as a newb you have no idea of which is which...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ld-dollar.html

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Originally Posted by Grazor

You want to start setting bevel at minimum 1000 grit, don't know much about Arkansas stone, but may be too fine to set bevel, also, GD razors are not the best to learn on from my own experience, you are better off getting a tidy vintage razor with little or no hone wear.

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Thanks. I was using the Arkansas hard stone but I decided to go down to the Arkansas soft after reading your post and I was able to get the blade so that it would cut leg hair at least.

Next I progressed to Arkansas hard and then the micro films that I have.

It's not as sharp as I would like but I was able to actually shave with it! All I wanted was to see some progress after all the attempted honing!

Most of the GD's that I have honed have had to have the stabilisers ground down so it will sit flat on the hone. The stabilisers stick out too far. A Dremel with a stone grinding wheel is a quick way of sorting them out. They actually take a half decent edge if you can get passed the pretty crapping grinding issues with them.

I first started learning how to hone with GD, it was really a hard time for me,
I think if you buy 10 GD, 3 of them will not be hard to set a bevel.

like it's been said before I think you should begin with 1K, if you have a slurry stone it will help you faster to set the bevel.
using a tape on GD I think its abit faster too

btw, learning about honing with a proper razor is much easier, imo

I too attempted to learn how to hone with a few cheapo GD's, one of which I was actually able to get quite sharp. The other one I gave up on (could not get the bevel set), so I guess it really depends on whether you have a "good" one or not...