Thread: Gold Dollar Review

I am completely new to using straight razors, and I am sure that the brief input on this straight razor will clearly illustrate my newb status. That being said, this is a razor clearly geared to beginners on a budget, so I should be able to speak to things from the perspective of the intended user.

Overview of Ratings:
- Knowing that I lack the requisite knowledge and basis of comparison from which to rate this razor's overall, craftsmanship, and balance, I assigned an arbitrary value of 7.5 for each of those areas.
- With regards to collectability and price, I feel I do have some basis for rating these areas.
- Collectability: given that this is a budget straight razor intended for new users, I feel confident assessing the collectability as very low. This is reflected by my collectability rating of 3.5/10.
- Price: after scouring the market both online and at brick and mortar specialty shops, I believe I am qualified to speak to the price of this straight razor. At $45, it is cheaper than anything else you would be willing to put on your face ;-) As such, I gave this straight razor a 9/10 for price.

Review of Seller:
- Kenrup is a seller on SRP that I saw recommended by someone else. He had a sweet priced beginner setup of strop and shave ready razor for $60 shipped in the US.
- I bought from Kenrup and the product arrived 2 days after I purchased it, and was exactly as promised.
- Thanks Kenrup for delivering on what you offered.
- Due to my beginner status I let the razor sit out after using it without drying it off. It develop some small rust spots. I emailed Kenrup to say I felt stupid but that I needed to know what to do. He gave me detailed instructions on how to remove the rust, and how to do general maintenance to prevent it in the future. He even said I can send it to him and he will fix it for free because he has a 3 month hone warranty for razors he sells. This alone makes this razor a great purchase for fellow beginners.

I hope the above was helpful to other beginners looking to give straight razors a shot.

-Kris

i am still wondering how the edge holds up and how well it does its job.

Right. I just had to get myself one of these too. After all, they are cheap, and quite a few people like them. So, I asked a friend and local honemeister (several thousands of razors commercially honed) whether he would be game. And he was. So we went straight to eBay and scored one of the fabled 7/8 ones. Here is the result:

Craftsmanship: I am not sure the picture properly reveals the true beauty of this masterpiece. The scale design might look a tad old fashioned, but is masterfully counterbalanced by the intricate engraving. At least I presume the lettering was engraved. But you never know, maybe the next up and coming super grinder has left his signature there. If so, the world will benefit from his master craftsmanship for many decades to come, as he cannot be much older than 6.

But that was not all. Even more artistic than the scale design was the design of the blade. Apparently, it is the result of an attempt to transfer the highly scientific concept of Intelligent Design to an inanimate object:

• The etching is worth every cent that went into it, ie approx 0.001.
• The blade is warped. Not just a little, but a lot.
• The best part, however, was the edge. I know that quite a few people have claimed that Gold Dollars were sometimes a bit rough around the edges, and I tend to agree with that. However, only on the condition that you measure the roughness not in micron but kilometres. The picture below was neither photoshopped, nor does it true justice to the design of the edge. I have never seen anything like it on a production razor.

I do not think this picture needs much elaboration. But for the beginners looking into buying one of these: Please take a close look at the edge. See the beautiful shape that looks like the Great Wall photographed from above? That is the part of the razor with which you will never shave, because no-one in their right mind will ever even attempt to put an edge on it. Mind you, because of the dysfunctional edge (and uneven grind, and the usual issues with the stabilisers), no-one would spend even more than five minutes with this alleged razor for simple economic reasons.

Balance: The scales, apart from looking and feeling like the proverbial brown stuff, are light as a feather. And I mean a humminbird's feather. Which makes for a very interesting Zen experience when trying to hold the razor steady. A bit like Ying and Yang on crack. What is great, though, is that you get a free workout with every attempt at opening them. Bit like siege breaking, only without the fun.

Collectability: There is one born every minute, and I am sure there is not only a buyers but also a collectors market, probably among members with a compulsive hoarding disorder.

Price: Even if you paid me, I would not want one of these. Apparently, they have now entered the market with custom scales and other bells and whistles. Well, I think that is great, as it will leave more quality razors in the market for those who refuse to skimp on something that will outlive them, anyhow.

Overall: I am sure someone with a commercial interest in these razors will chime in and tell me that this is just a horrible mistake, one-in-a-million chance of this happening, and Gold Dollars are in fact superb razors. Let me tell you, if there ever is a honemeister accreditation programme, this razor will be the challenge. Frown, smile, warp, and imminent need of replacement scales. A complete, and utter waste of money. Mind you, even if the edge were alright, this razor would require a scale replacement, and a thorough honing job. Estimated price including razor and various shipping charges: USD 60, or thereabout. Funnily enough, you can get a new Dovo "Best Quality" for the same money, only it will work out of the box, has a track record of reliably delivering value for money, and has a warranty.

In short: If the answer is, 'Gold Dollar', you have been asking the wrong question. Case closed. A resounding zero points overall, because this is not a razor.

Hello, I have several razors. Some are wonderful and others are horrors.

Gold Dollar razor is not a marvel, but it does the job well.

It has the most important element of a razor, the sharpness. This razor is sharp, sharp as you can sharpen it.

Although the finish is average, the blade does not shine, the handle is too thin and often the blade exceeds from the handle.

But

It is sharp because it is made with good steel.

And this is the most important.

These are fun to mess with because they are almost free. They are crappy, but they won't explode or anything. I have three. My opinions on anything generally change over time, but I would say one of mine shaves above average and the other two are below average. (I have about 20 other nice new and vintage razors.) I bought the three GD's from China for about $14 each including shipping. There are some folks that buy these bulk wholesale and screen and prep them. That would be a better bet for a beginner who doesn't want to mess with honing or with buying several in hopes of getting one good one.

Hello everyone,

I have been meaning to write a review of this razor for some time. Much has been said about these razors, so I thought I'd share my experience with this Gold Dollar 208. Please note that this is an eBay GD sold as new from China.

First impression: This razor is very cheaply made.

The pins look to be stamped from brass rivets. One side comes rounded, and the other is retained with a washer. The washer side pins are uneven, and even have sharp, flat edges.

The scales are plastic with a screen printed (or similar) graphic painted on the outside. The paint/graphic is uneven, and even orange-peels in some places. One very big problem with the scales is that the blade is exposed through the bottom when fully closed.

The blade is poorly ground. The grind is uneven, and there is a noticeable deviation in the blade from toe to tang. It looks like when the factory put the initial "bevel" on the razor that they were heavier on one side than the other. While the bevel looks even at the toe, there is a massive difference on the back side heel. The "bevel" grows from microscopic at the heel, to almost 1/8th inch thick at the shoulder area. One more problem with this blade was that there was a ding in the round point, requiring me to file it down to prevent the burr from ruining my strop. You can see this in the photo.

Final appearance notes include other finish flaws. The gold dollar graphic looks like it was painted on with puffy paint, and there is a noticeable residue or clear background to the logo... kind of like the clear parts of one of those fake tattoos a kid would put on with water and peel off the backing. Also, the tang stamp is very light... not very impressive fit or finish on this one. I see virtually no collector value here.

Once honed up (I am not interested in doing the amount of work that would be required to correct the spine or bevel problems), this razor did take a shaving edge. I like the size, it balances to the tang, and it does the job

While this razor does shave at a low price, I couldn't give this to someone without a rescale to fix the blade exposure problem. As is now, it could be dangerous in unsuspecting hands. The price is low, but considering that you can also find vintage razors at a slightly higher price, I am not incredibly impressed at the price point.

I am going to give ratings that reflect what my standards for a razor are. I am comparing this razor to the Bokers, Dovos, assorted W&B's and swedish razors. This may be an unfair comparison, but I believe that since these known brands can be found reasonably priced, a high standard should be maintained.

*these are my honest opinions, I don't mean to slight anyone or give unwarranted criticism. I'd be glad to discuss my take on this razor with anyone*.

here is a pic of the exposed heel area of the blade when the scales are fully closed. To give you better perspective, a total of just over 1/4 of an inch is exposed... well enough to get a nasty cut.

Also, I have tried to capture the most obvious flaws, including the Logo film, the poor grinding, the ding in the point, the pinning, the uneven blade, and other examples of poor finish/grinding.

Anyone thinking of trying a Gold Dollar should buy it only from someone who culls them before selling, such as mysteryrazor.com or ruprazor.com. I have been well satisfied with the razors I purchased from these two sources. I would never recommend buying a Gold Dollar from eBay unless you were just wanting a razor to work on, perhaps to practice rescaling, polishing, grinding, blade straightening, etc.

Today I got my Gold Dollar 66. I ordered it simply out of curiosity and to give my honing skills a bit of practice.

When I first joined SRP I wanted to get a Gold Dollar but with some kind detonators around I was quickly shaving with top of the line products produced in solingen.

However I couldn't resist to test this razor myself since there is so much controversy surrounding it.

It arrived in a rather nice box and was carefully protected by a plastic sleeve. After unboxing the edge wasn't terrible but I wasn't gonna shave with it either. First I gave it a couple of laps on a a BBW / Coticule than on a green pasted leather strop followed by linen and clean leather. All in all the touch up took about 20 minutes.

To my surprise it was a very nice shaver. I had managed (as a novice) to put an edge on it as good as my more expensive razors and the weight and shape of the razor make it a pleasant shaver (it's about 7/8 so maybe not ideal for beginners due to its seize). Very surprising i must say, especially since this razor cost about $12 including shipping.

There are some minor disadvantages of this cheap shaver. For example the pins aren't the nicest around and the tail of the blade aswell as the spine aren't finished to perfection. However, this will not interfere with the quality of the shave.

All in all I am pleasantly surprised and consider gold dollar a nice beginners razor for those who are willing to either have it honed by a pro or take the time and materials to do it them selfs.

Considering quality for the price the overall rating for this razor would be about and 8 to 8,5.

NICE!

Hello Everyone,

I too am new to straight shaving. In fact, I read this review before buying my first razor: a Gold Dollar 208. As far as I can tell, it will be doing a good job for a while. It strops well, and has pretty good steel (I am new to these razors, not blades). This is the point where I too have to thank Kenrup for my GD208. As I have seen, Gold Dollar is a mixed bag, but when buying from a reputable dealer like Ken, you can be fairly confident that you won't be getting garbage. These guys take pride in workmanship. For instance, Ken refinishes the pins, and hones the blade before he ships his GDs (which is done in a timely manner).
Now to explain my ratings (which should be taken with a grain of salt, purely based on my lack of experience).

Price: you just aren't going to find a cheaper razor that you want on your face. I paid just over $40 for mine, and that included all that Kenrup does. Vintage razors can be cheaper, but those are variables that just aren't easy to add into a review.

Collectabillity: This is a starting point, not a family heirloom. I can see the blade being functional for years, but there is some pitting across the spine of mine (factory included), and the emblem just doesn't look precise. There is a clear film across it, and the inking (as I see it to be) looks pudgy and somewhat smudged. In addition, you would be crazy not to have the scales replaced (unless you're a broke college student).

Balance: The razor as a whole balances across the jipping in a nice way. It also doesn't twist during stropping or shaving (thank goodness). Lighter scales (if possible) would make it tip heavy. Nothing spectacular, but it's also not terrible.

Craftsmanship: This is where I give props to Ken again. A stock GD would not earn an 8. Mine however, does. Outside of that, the steel is the main plus in this area, though from the pitting, I can't say it is fantastic. It's China. The edge will hold though, and that's what matters to me.

Overall: In comparison to Dovos and the like, this razor would be a little embarrassed. That being said, I am not disappointed with it as my first straight razor. I still have a head on my shoulders and a face on that. So overall, It is slightly above the median, but keep in mind that ebay and amazon razors don't have the same benefits as one that has been quality controlled like Ken's.

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