Question about Gold Dollar SRs

[Rusty Blade]

I have it in my mind to buy a couple of Gold Dollar SRs and have some fun modifying them. What I know is they are dirt cheap...and their quality varies.

I see in different threads there are different varieties of GD razors? Some GDs better than others? Can someone sort this out?

 

[jlindy]

The model 66 is generally accepted as the easiest to mod... =)

 

[Seraphim]

Get some 66s, they have the most meat, and thus are the best to mod.


Get some eye/face/groin protection as well if you're going to be grinding.

 

[Legion]

As said above, the 66 will give you the most material to grind away on. If you just want to do minimal work to get it shaving, the 208 is a bit better quality and a thinner grind.

 

[Slash McCoy]

I pretty much stick to 66's. They have a lot of steel to work with, and they are the cheapest, too. You can always take some steel off, but you can't put some on. And I suggest getting a dozen or so. You will destroy at least two of them. Maybe more. You will want to PIF a couple, keep a few, maybe even sell one or two. And it is easier to do a batch of them than just one. You grind one a few seconds, grind the next one, then the next, etc and when you get back to the first one it has cooled enough to hit it again, so you keep the process going without having to be always dunking razors in ice water. It is much more efficient.

You will want a Black & Decker "Dragster" type belt sander, and a variable speed Dremel or Harbor Freight knockoff. You will mostly use the sanding drums, cloth wheels, and felt wheels on the dremel, and you might want to get a few split mandrels for flap sanding. You can get nice little flap wheels for the dremel but they are expensive. You don't need any grinder bits or anything like that. The steel is so hard they don't do much for you except skitter all over the blade and mark it all up. You will want lots of sandpaper, from 60 grit to 2k grit. If you want a mirror finish, then also diamond paste 1u, .5u, .25u, and .1u. The belt sander is great for removing a lot of steel in a hurry. Get 60 grit, 120 grit, and 400 grit belts. A dial caliper is nice for measuring spine thickness and hypotenuse, so you can grind the spine down precisely and get the desired bevel angle. When these things are slimmed down, they are on a completely different level from stock! I suggest doing the first batch at varying bevel angles so you find your favorite sweet spot. For sure, it won't be the stock 19+ degree angle! Those who say they like it just fine have not tried a GD tuned up to under 17 degrees and taken to the finest possible edge.

Modding GDs is a lot of fun. Making a $4 razor look and shave like a $400 razor is very satisfying. They won't all come out perfect. If you get one perfect one out of a batch, that is actually pretty good. But most all of them will shave and hone better than stock. Hopefully we will see you in the annual modding competition next year.

 

[Guitar10]

I have 5 Gold Dollar Straights, The 66, 777 Monkey, The 300, The 208 and The 209. To my opinion they are good Straights, i bought them from The Stalion(Anthony Esposito) and he also modified them so as The honing.
They are good for budget wise wet shaver, my GD 300 and 777 Monkey are more then a year old and They didnt see The hone yet.

 

[dmatcuk]

Awesome! I was planning on figuring out a general blade modification starter kit this weekend by reading a bunch of posts. Thanks Slash McCoy for posting that info. I will remember to get some safety gear too Seraphim.