Thread: Modified Gold Dollar

Originally Posted by Steve56

I also avoid modern Dovos. Their quality has apparently improved since the buyout, but I have not tried or honed one.

I bought my Dovos not long ago, more or less a year I would say. I'm not sure when was the buyout you were referring to, but if that was over a year ago, the quality is still terrible. 1 in 3 is a way too high defect rate.

Regarding Chinese razors, I guess I'm done with them at least for now. I was just curious on how good/bad those dirt cheap razors can be and I've just tried it myself. To me, all but the Kure Nai worth what I paid for, the Kure Nai although I managed to get it shave ready, but if the ground was just a little bit more off, I couldn't have made it. But even if they worth the prices, it still does not make sense for me to do it as it's way too much effort required.

Originally Posted by Steve56

I also avoid modern Dovos. Their quality has apparently improved since the buyout, but I have not tried or honed one.

As far as the Chinese razors go, stick with the Gold Dollars/Gold Monkeys. Any ‘ZY’ type blade or razor with wooden scales have mostly been a disappointment to me.

Buying Gold Dollars/Gold Monkeys is a numbers game. Recently I bought 12 of them for $4.41 each, delivered. The experience was ‘normal’ for these razors. Two honed right up, two are going to be more trouble than they’re worth, one I have not honed yet, and seven honed up with some degree of corrective honing and will be fine going forward. These numbers are consistent with my previous experience. Don’t expect every one to hone straightforwardly and expect a 20% failure rate. By ‘failure’ I mean that you can’t reasonable\y invest the time and expensive hone wear to get a sub-$5 razor with significant defects in shaving shape vs better examples of the same razor.

If you understand this and are OK with it, they can be fun to hone and to give as gifts. The good ones go to your friends and the bad ones to your enemies, yuk, yuk.

My mid range Dovos have all been good, not a lemon in the bunch. It is their entry level tier that sucks and requires extra work to make shave ready. I love me some Bismarcks and Palisanders and Carres and Bergischer Lowes. But yeah, every accomplished straight shaver ought to have a handful of GD66 or P-81 or 208's to play around with. Or not, as preferred.

Originally Posted by mrjin

Spine is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off, serious ground issue but managed to correct eventually. Blade not centered correctly.]

A lot of your pics look like the spine is warped. If so, the edge is warped & that's from the heat treatment, rarely from the grinding process..
All the metal you remove just gives you ugly bevels & a razor that remains warped.
I get that you're learning & practicing but the underlying problem remains on that type of razor.
Just saying, if you're learning razors why start with the hard basket.

You are always so kind, Oz!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

You are always so kind, Oz!

Mate, to quote Neil Miller... "RUBBISH !"

Originally Posted by onimaru55

A lot of your pics look like the spine is warped. If so, the edge is warped & that's from the heat treatment, rarely from the grinding process..
All the metal you remove just gives you ugly bevels & a razor that remains warped.
I get that you're learning & practicing but the underlying problem remains on that type of razor.
Just saying, if you're learning razors why start with the hard basket.

I double checked, the edge of those 4 were straight actually. But I think you were right about two of them being warped. I guess it might be because the edge were thick enough and the warps weren't that bad. If the edges were removed by 5mm, then those edges would become warped for sure.

Btw, I started hell mode with my Dovo Astrale, and those were actually slightly better ground than it. Never mind, it's just some silly magic idea.

My first razor was a Dovo Astrale, I still use it,its great.

Originally Posted by STF

My first razor was a Dovo Astrale, I still use it,its great.

I have good modern ones too, and enjoy them. The bad thing about the modern Dovo razors is that if you get a dud you’re out a lot of money if you’ve touched it to the stones and aren’t a Dovo-certified honer. You won’t know how bad it is until you see how the stones hit the bevel, at which point your warranty is void. The dud rate and warranty restrictions are enough for many to avoid them. My Gold Dollar duds cost me $4.61 each.

Originally Posted by STF

My first razor was a Dovo Astrale, I still use it,its great.

Assume you got it decades ago? Or I was just unlucky.

Originally Posted by mrjin

I double checked, the edge of those 4 were straight actually. But I think you were right about two of them being warped. I guess it might be because the edge were thick enough and the warps weren't that bad. If the edges were removed by 5mm, then those edges would become warped for sure.

The spine dictates the edge bevels. If the edge is straight then the spine is straight. You can't have one without the other.