Quote Originally Posted by STF View Post
I have a Gold Dollar that I got to practice honing and scaling etc.

The problem is that like most new razors they aren't shave ready and will need honing. That's not actually the problem now i think about it.

The real problem may be finding someone that is willing to hone them.

I was really surprised how sharp mine was after i honed it for practice, actually it's in my rotation until it needs honing again but the initial honing may have been more luck than judgement.

It is still worth getting a vintage razor from here, they are not expensive for something suitable to start with, it will come shave ready and it will be easy to find someone to hone it again when it needs it, bear in mind that the more cheap vintage razors you get yourself the less often that they need honing. I have 14 so I use each one twice a month, that's only 24 times in a year!

There are guys here that have hundreds!

The last thought, if you don't make sure you have a truly shave ready razor you won't be able to tell if your razors are sharp or need refreshing.
Quote Originally Posted by rolodave View Post
as STF and others said, A benchmark pro honing job is about mandatory in this hobby
I plan on having someone hone the Bismarck and using that for my benchmark and shaving and using the cheapo GDs to learn on.