Thread: Modified Gold Dollar

Wow! Very artistic!

Haven't heard much bad about the Gold Dollar razors so I did some ebay surfing and found one for 4 bucks. I blow that much on coffee and donuts so I figured I would give it a go. Waiting for arrival. Will post how it goes.

Most of what I've seen on them seems to say decent steel with quite a bit of work to get them to shave ready.

First lets get done with the disclaimer. This site does NOT endorse Gold Dollars. And this post is MY experience.

With the GD threads closed I had to open a new one. (Apollogies to the moderators)

Ok now on to the thread.

Just got a GD I ebayed a month ago. Why? 4.00 and curiousity.

My impression.

Out of the er bag(?) That was the first thing that struck me. These razors do not come in a box. Despite this it survived the mail intact and unbent.


I opened the blade checked it for straightness (good) Checked the scales. They are a little warped but no worse than some of my second hand finds. A post was inserted between the scales. I suppose to keep the blade from folding though them.

Next the edge. Ha!!!! there is none. These even come with a "factory edge". Ran the blade over my arm and it didn't cut a hair. (But hey what do you want for 4 bucks.) But some time with 800/1000 grit knife hone progressing to as 12k niniwa put an edge that holds its own



MY overall impression on THIS razor (experiences vary or so I am told):

Gold Dollars are bare bones and yes you get what you pay for. The lack of a box would seem to subject the tang to bending/abuse in shipping but if it surives the trip its a fair razor.

The edge (?) It takes a LOT of work to make these shave ready. I am not talking about touching up a factory edge like a DOVO. These blades don't even come with that. If you don't want to take the time or pay the money to hone these you are wasting your time ( and money). Stick with a DOVO or a second hand razor. Something you CAN just touchup on a hone and a strop. But if you are willing to put in the effort.They hold the edge.

The Scales: Not the best, but I have seen worse.

Impression?

I still like my DOVO and secondhand steel MUCH better. But having seen the worst of blades in G.B. Buckingham so in comparison, this is an order of magnitude better and a suprisingly good shaver for an South East Asian blade.

Well thats my two cents anyway.

I think the threads are closed because the topic of whether they are any good and what someone's total opinion of them has been beat to death. Yours is probably a good one. I've rescaled two, honed three (after some grinding), and thrown out four. If you know how to do significant work on a razor, it might work out. I like the two decent ones that I fixed up.

Also, the cardinal sin thing is a bit overplayed. Mentioning these will not get you banned. Saying unrepentently that they are the best thing since sliced bread might. In my opinion, overplaying the mod response to these is disrespectful to the mods and site.

Hahahaha!


First thought in my head when I read the title was this!

Wow I think DFriedl put it as well as it can be put...

ie: your experience is nothing new or exciting,

The experience of a GD is based entirely on the luck of the draw, which is why these types of threads, draw people from both sides of the street some screaming "Great" and some screaming "Sucks" it is the screaming we don't want to hear...

When you mix that in with several people that have special agendas you get the fight,, therfore this like the other 1000 "experiences of "My First GD" will go right into the huge GD thread...

BTW people don't get banned because of the GD thread they get banned for fighting with other members and then the staff over a $2 razor

I remember when guys were buying these by the dozen hoping to get 3 or 4 to work. I have seen too many of these and do not care to see any more.

Hello I'm Greg from Toronto Canada. I've been wanting to get into straight razor shaving for a long time now. I did some reviewing on YouTube and decided to buy a cheap Gold Dollar razor to see if this type of shaving was for me, plus I thought it would be a good razor to learn honing on. I also bought a 4k/8k norten water stone and flattening stone and nagura stone. I watched many videos on honing and tried for hours and hours but can't get it shave ready. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks Greg

Gold Dollars generally come needing more than just honing. A lot of them need the shoulder to be removed or some steel to be removed from the heel before they can be honed properly.