Made my day... now I've got coffee everywhere!Quote:
Originally Posted by razorguy
Printable View
Made my day... now I've got coffee everywhere!Quote:
Originally Posted by razorguy
Great! Enjoy your coffee. I hope it is from a good cru! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemur
All the best Razorguy, will be very keen to see some pics once you've finished. I think the secret to 'honing' a factory Gold Dollar is that it isn't so much a hone as a complete regrind of the bevel. So much so that bread-knifing the blade is a good option so at least you remove the patented GD wavy shaving edge. Also don't be shy as there's usually lots of material to remove - 3 layers or electrical tape on the spine and a 1000 grit waterstone at least (I usually go straight to a Norton 220 just to save time). But in the end I think you'll have a blade that will give surprisingly good shaves, which is the whole point after all.
Good luck and enjoy!
My Gold Dollar 66 is one of my best shavers. And there is no better option to learn how to hone from the ground up. For the money these cannot be beat.Quote:
Originally Posted by sharptonn
OH! If you like a Gold dollar, that's great! :tu I did recommend to get a Gold dollar instead of a Titan! Besides, a Titan costs money. A Gold Dollar, notsomuch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider
Really? Maybe you could lay them side by side and report. It could be interesting to some. I see you are fairly new here and wonder if you have read this sticky atop this subforum: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ar-razors.html ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider
IMO, Titans are purely Gold Dollars and should be included there as should several "new" razor shaped objects now being introduced. Gold dollars have a bad rap, justifiably so. Naturally, they are now being "blinged" in order to sell and appeal to newer shavers and are still the same razor, whatever the name given them.
I have held both in-hand and have more than enough info for my "FYI". (which is more than I need, personally!) Good Luck!
I've learned quite allot about GD's there are other razor forums that don't shun them like they are here. I can turn one into a great shaving razor that will keep an edge in about 45 min. The fact is they are a not a Dovo, Boker, TI or such. But they are made of good steel and much can be learned from them. And at sub $4 each in bulk a great buy.Quote:
Originally Posted by sharptonn
Oh Yes, lots say they learn from the Gold Dollars. I suppose it is subjective, but I might be so bold as to say a hardware store variety of a German razor made 80 years ago will not have a possibility of a wonky spine and other issues (which will impede those trying to learn by a great margin) and can be had for half or less than the Titans are going for and twice what a gold dollar goes for. I am not being a Gold-dollar disser, really, just stating facts which are proven and well-known. Keep in mind that those who love the things do indeed have a home (as you stated) where I suppose they are held in high esteem. There are also forums for Ford Pintos and AMC Gremlins, not to mention Trabants! My statement is that they have been proven to be bad razors HERE (at SRP) and it always irks me for someone to come to their defence. You can make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but it shall always be a sow's ear silk purse. I do know what it is like to root for the underdog, try to prove them wrong. It just is fruitless to me to go at it here. We have lost lots of great prospective members here going at the GD's and insisting on a razor club for them, etc and so forth.
If you have preservered to shave with one, you are indeed a member we need.
I did not mean to press insult, just wondered why you would buy another one, even in the guise of a Titan?
Learning to hone on a razor with geometry problem is probably not the best advice. it is wonderful that you like your GD and can enjoy the shave, that said you can put ivory scales, work the spine, goldleaf it, and in the end its still a GD. I dont see anybody given up their Friodor orQuote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider
Doble Temple to get a GD. Besides GD have no soul........
:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
Lonerider, I hope you don't misinterpet my intentions. I thank you for your candor and efforts! :bowQuote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
I leave and unsubscribe with this.
A Gold Dollar 66:
Attachment 148027
And, the ever-omni-present Henckels 66:Attachment 148029
66 is, as 66 does! :D
Thanks Glen, I agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
It seems that whether a Titan or a Gold Dollar we are talking about inconsistent cheap razors.
If you want to experiment with a cheap razor try a GD.
For the cost of a Titan, I would rather pick a vintage razor of known quality.
Just my $0.02
Sorry to hear that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider
Thank you for making my day!Quote:
Originally Posted by kwlfca
Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Why doesn't the GD cause this kind on insanity on other forums? It's like bring up religion or politics here.
Who knows and at this point who cares. They are not everyone's favourite flavour is all. That is normal in most things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider
Bob
My answer would be that it is because SRP values expertise over soapboxes for everyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider
But I'm sure that you will find alternative answers, especially on other forums.
Attachment 232481Attachment 232482
Yeah! So, I'm pretty excited today, I just got my first straight razor in the mail from China after a month+ wait. Bought it off eBay and paid $31.99 with free shipping. It came shave ready sharpened and with some work done to smooth out the heel, apparently done by a "master". And it came with a free little leather sheath to store it. Scales are cheap plastic, and I'll probably replace them with wood someday.
Here's the link the the eBay auction: Vintage Straight Razor Handmade Cut Throat Gold Dollar 800 Shave Ready vs Dovo | eBay
Do you think I got a reasonable deal, or should I have bought something else? I heard Gold Dollar is a decent starter blade, and the 800 is one of the best models they make. I'm pretty impressed, the blade almost rings when I touch it. Its carbon steel from what I understand, so I'll have to take good care to oil it.
I haven't bought any other supplies yet, no strop, oils, creams, soaps, whetstone or anything. Any suggestions on what to buy?
Is it possible to try it out tomorrow just using regular shave gel? Or should I wait until I have the whole kit to give it a go?
Thanks.
Well, put it this way...
Master Shifu, who supposedly honed your razor, is a character in the Disney movie, Kung Fu Panda.
Attachment 232484
So, do you trust that he did the best possible job? The fifth photo in the ebay listing shows that the "Master" honed on the stabilizer. Oops.
Oh, well, you bought it and now we'll help you learn how to use it.
You absolutely need a strop. Get that ASAP as you need to strop before every shave. Yes, you CAN use regular shave gel but I guarantee that a brush, mug, and shaving soap will give you MUCH better lather. Figure out the shave before bothering with buying any hones.
I say jump right on that baby,,,,, if I had a GD 800, I'd be in the shave den right now. :beer2:
I'm practicing, if you have nothing nice to say, then, as Master Shifu says, S T F U......:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
The Classifieds were crying out with shave ready, great vintage blades...just waitin' for a shave den to jump into......
:gaah: :gl:
Bob
For a newbie.... I'd go with the classifieds.
You know you'd get a quality razor. And if any problems arose (which I doubt)....You will be able to connect the seller via here.
Grumpycat, I'm not at all a fan of Chinese razors, but this is what you have so, for now, this is what you will learn with. Some of us are a little too vigorous in our dislike of Chinese razors, but please do not take it personally. We are a trifle too fanatical here.
Learn how to use your razor and feel free to seek all possible help here. We happen to be a bit fanatical about helping here too.
Yes, and just a little kiddding around as well! I have a GD that I practiced honing on for awhile, and it shaves perfectly fine.....:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
The Gold Dollar razor, are not a recommended razor and fraught with issues for new shavers. There are many posts on these razors regarding these issues.
The honed Gold Dollar/Chinese razors are a new venture and have mixed reviews. Some can be made to shave, depending on the razor and the abilities of the honer.
Do read the recommended threads, secure a decent strop, watch some stropping videos and let’s see how well-honed your razor is, once you receive it. Do not strop it before your first shave to test the Shave Ready edge.
There have been recent threads on these “New” Gold Dollar venture, but honestly I have not followed any of them.
Best of luck, ask all the questions you like, maybe you will get a good one. Welcome to the forum.
Shave ready as a ZEEpk ! Just don't be surprised when you get a real razor that you had better options, I don't know where you heard they were a good razor, but try something really shave ready some day so you can really enjoy your shaves
tc
I really dislike defending Gold Dollars, but they are not as bad as the Zeepk razors that cannot hold an edge through a single shave.
Well the steel used in making those razors is OK but the problem is the grinding on gold dollars in general. Inconsistent and generally inaccurate. As you see someone spent some time trying to grind and correct high spots and other problems with that razor so that it may hone up true at least you hope. This is why you paid nearly 40 bucks for a 10 dollar razor. You certainly could of bought a decent vintage razor of known quality for about that price point on our classifieds but you would have to be patient. Of course the deal is done and its silly of me to say that, but if that is your budget I suggest doing that from now on.
Starting off straight razor shaving is not without its challenges, many folks find difficulty in the very beginning even with perfectly good equipment. The key is to understand whether its your technique or your equipment. And that's where we decided along time ago that those razors were just not a good choice for a beginner. It just complicates the learning process. But lets hope the razor is fine and you don't post the usual stuff we hear like its tugging, why is may face on fire, this hurts, the hairs not coming off etc. But we are here to help. :angel:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrumpyCat
"If happiness is in your destiny, you need not be in a hurry."
When you first joined this forum you were thinking of a Dovo. What made you decide on a GD?
I love that they call him Master Shifu. What a nice touch to the history! :D
There's only one manly way to settle this and that is a honing show down.
In the corner to my left, from China, is 67 year old Master Shifu and in the corner to my right, from the U.S.A., is Lynn Abrams of SRD.
I'll test shave Lynn's razor...........someone else can test shave Master Shifu's.:)
I have a Gold Dollar I purchased from Straight Razors dot com. I should have found this forum first, however I did not. I bought a "kit" with a brush, strop, preshave oil, aftershave and soap as well as the razor for 69 bucks. The first thing i would do is have it honed by one of the masters on this forum. It will be the best $ you can spend. Cudarunner is who does mine, look him up on here on the forum. He took my shave ready GD and made it a decent daily shaver. I'm happy with it... I have also purchased a couple of vintage razors, (like I should have done in the first place), to move away from the GD. However I'm happy with it after Roy worked it over. Like the others have said, get you a strop, soap and a brush... ya need all the tools for the job, can't overhaul an engine with duct tape and a screwdriver... well, my dad could but that is another story.
I also bought a custom strop and gave my synthetic to my son.
Enjoy. There is a wealth of info on the forum, reach out the guys are nice and will help you out anyway they can...
Keep us all up to date..
Mike
Did you get a reasonable deal?? IMO, you paid about $28.99 too much...
The blade rings when you touch it?? Probably because it's made from old recycled Toyota horns...
Just kidding, well not really... But I have heard that the GD's actually do shave ... after a bit of work.
Thanks for your responses guys. I did expect a bit of snobbery and negativity about the Chinese made razor, its no big deal. No offence taken!
I should point out the Gold Dollar I bought (800) is not the cheap $8 model (66, 200, 208). Its the better quality model that rivals the starter Dovo in terms of blade metal quality. I read several reviews that said is stands up just as well as a Dovo for a beginner razor. For the price I paid, plus the fact it had free shipping to Canada, and it came honed and shave ready, I think it was a decent deal overall. A Dovo would have cost me easily 4 or 5 times as much!
I decided to try this on out first instead of getting a Dovo, or a vintage blade because I was not (and am not) totally sure straight razor shaving is something I'll really get into and do on a regular basis.
Please understand the hype of Master Shifu.
The Gold Dollars sell well because they are cheap. So do/did the Zeepks, and the Masters, and the Venus razors. They all chose a price point that was to maximize their profit. Sometimes they lowballed and sometimes they charged over $50 but there was no particular correlation with "value" or quality.
We had a "Master" here. He joined and laid low for a while. He never participated in honing discussions at first but he did spend a lot of time PMing me and a few other people in order to discretely learn how to hone. After a while he did join in discussions about honing, and he demonstrated an excellent skill in the art of cutting and pasting the advice he had gained from us. Shortly after, he declared himself to be a honemeister (a word I detest since it was conferred upon one person by one person) named Master Diao, that he had over 10 years of honing experience under his belt (personally I prefer to hone on a table or in my hand), had honed thousands of razors, and honed better than anyone else to the extent that he patented the name (mind you, just the name) of his honing process.
Do you really believe that some old "master" has taken on the job of honing all of the ebay Gold dollars? There is not much of a difference between the Gold Dollar 66 and the 800. Two of the ebay photos show that not all of the "master's" work succeeded in correcting the stabilizer and a master should have known better than to hone onto the stabilizer.
Master Diao and Shifu are just hype. I think it is quite likely that your razor will shave better after someone competent hones it.
I would love to get one of Shifu's razors under my microscope. I would happily post a video of a full scan of the entire length of both bevels, regardless of what it reveals.
Well, I'll send you mine, still unused and exacty as it came in the mail. You can video and photograph it all you like, post the results here, on the condition you hone it for free if it proves to be lacking? Deal? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
I don't know if it is snobbery so much as negativity about Chinese razors. There are quite a few posts on here where beginners have asked why they could not get a shave out of a Chinese razor they had bought as a first razor. Personally I do not generally associate the cost of an item directly to it's quality. I hope you get a decent shave from it.Quote:
Originally Posted by GrumpyCat
Having never shaved with a straight razor before you really do not know what shave ready feels like in use so you have nothing to judge it against. It would take an experienced straight razor user's word that it is shave ready out of the box but I can't recall any posting on here that the Chinese razor they had was shave ready out of the box. There have been a few posts saying that they had to heavily re work the blade in order to get it shave ready and some that said once shave ready it did not hold an edge long.
So yes, there is quite a bit of negativity surrounding Chinese razors here and for good reason. Hopefully you razor will be an exception to the past experiences posted on here.
Bob
After reading all your posts on SRP (7) since last year, its clear your only concern was cost. In your last post here, your still not sure if straight razor shaving is for you. It's taken a year for you to come back with a Gold Dollar,,,,,:shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by GrumpyCat
I do hope you find the path to this wonderful journey, as it makes shaving a pleasure.
