The blades are tough to differentiate. I have had some that are great and some that are junk. I recommend going with one of the kits (razor, strop, and sometimes even paste)
Ha ha sorry guys did not make myself clear. I want some cheap razors to practice honing. I already ruined a 60 buck eBay buy..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've got 6-7 decent vintage razors I'd let go pretty cheap.. some honed need touch ups, some bevel is set and some untouched.. shoot me a p.m. if you want. Heck, I'll send you a free gold dollar..
I am ashamed...... will send pics when I get time. I tried bevel setting on a 1k shapton before going to my coticule and now the edge is really screwed up. Uneven width. Smile in the blade. Heel and toe not right.... I used way too much pressure I think and uneven pressure at that. Maybe it is salvageable but not with my current skill level..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have a modified Gold Dollar but I am not sure which one is started life as but it does look and shave great. The GD raz-ors need to have their shoulders and or stablizers modified and sometimes the spine is to thick. Unless your handy go with some cheap vintage razors.
Yep, what he said. But, once you get a Gold Dollar modified to be able to hone it, they are very good razors. Excellent steel. I have and shave with a few I've honed.
The Gold Dollar 208 Seems to Be Well Ground & Better Finished than Most Models at the Moment..They Hone Up Quite Easy..Sometimes & Not Always the Heel Area will Need Grinding with a Dremel to Get it Flat on the Hone.. Billy..
The Last Number of 208s I Honed were Darn Near Bevel Ready from the Factory..They Cost a Few Bucks More is All.. Billy..
I am a fan of learning to hone on good razors with good geometry. I bought two new dovos for the job. Tape is important for the new honer. It will save your razor.
Depends on what you're doing with them. If you're modding them, people like the 66 because it has more 'meat' on it. If you want to practice honing, any will do but see below. If you want to enjoy shaving with one, get something else unless you can re-scale them yourself to your satisfaction. I found the 208 to be a good balance for test razors, used to test stones, techniques, and occasionally for air travel since they're expendable. 20% are ground well and can set the bevel with minimal trouble. 75% have an overground heel, usually worse on the show side (I guess Master Shifu is right handed) - or some other manageable but unpleasant defect like a big smile 5% will be bent, warped and not worth the trouble to hone them. You could get 4 nice ones or all 4 be junk, IOW, YPMV. Greatly. They tend to get thinner and lighter, more like a normal razor, as the numbers get higher. The 800 stainless isn't. The 208 and up are decent 6/8-13/16 blades if you get a reasonably good one, especially if you can put a decent pair of scales on them. All of them need to have the edges smoothed, especially at the toe/nose - the first time that you scratch up your prize strop because they didn't even take the time to smooth the machined edges will ruin your day. If you want to practice honing they're good if you get a good one, but if you get a bent or warped one maybe not so much if you're just starting. You can learn quite a bit honing the bad ones, but you should be able to nail bevel set on a normal razor 100% and be able to observe the removal of the last hone's marks along 100% of the edge before you tackle a wonky Dollar. Cheers, Steve