Thread: Gold Dollar Review

Originally Posted by Alighieri

In light of a new development, I'd like to revamp my previous review (since I can't seem to find out how to edit it). One may notice the craftsmanship an overall categories have decreased. I'll explain.

Craftsmanship: I stand by my statements of Ken's work. He's great. The steel however, has changed my mind. In one day of not oiling it (though still drying it off), i have noticeable and stubborn rust stains. The best I can figure is that some residual moisture in the scales caused it. However, I do feel that stainless steel should be a little closer to it's name, especially in light of cheap knives I have that don't rust. The edge is still fairly maintainable, but I am disappointed and feel I should correct any falsities I may have stated

I just saw this, and while I don't have any experience with GD razors, I also am not new to blades.

Since your not new to blades, you should be aware that such a tendency to pit or rust doesn't necessarily make a SS blade bad quality steel. Some do more than others, and some of those are quality steels. As someone with a somewhat corrosive body chemistry, I can attest that it isn't only the lower quality stainless steels that rust or pit.

I can think of one particular higher quality steel that I much prefer, even though it pits faster for me than most others. The ease of sharpening, and edge holding ability make it a worthwhile trade off for me. I just learn to treat my knives more often to stave off the rust.

The gold dollar was my 1st razor. It was honed by Lynn. I have used a few other razors since then. Here are my impressions:

CRAFTSMANSHIP: I don't think the person making this razor gave a hoot. It's an UGLY piece of equipment. There was no pride whatsoever put into this. The edge was straight and the bevel was even though, so that saved the craftsmanship grade from being catastrophic.

BALANCE: The scales are just too light for the size of the blade.

COLLECTABILITY: I'll keep mine because I learned to shave with it, but I won't be looking to buy another. I don't see any attributes that could make this razor worth collecting.

PRICE: The razor might be dirt cheap for a brand new razor, but that's not the only option available. Because of the used razor market, I have to say that you are NOT getting a good deal with the GD. If you do like I did, I bough the 200 model that put me back 18$. Then I sent it out to get honed (25$ including shipping). So that adds up to 43$. For the same price, you can get a no frills, black handle shave-ready vintage razor that will be in a completely different league than the gold dollar in terms of quality. To give you an example, I bought a shave ready geneva cutlery co. razor for 25$ off the classifieds. The scales are nice and tight, the edge holds up MUCH longer than the GD, and the shave is a whole lot smoother.

Bottom line, if I was to start over again, I wouldn't buy a gold dollar.

The dicussion was moved to this thread http://straightrazorplace.com/razors...ld-dollar.html

If you want to write a review please feel free if you want to read discussions please do so in that thread ...