Double Arrow/Gold Dollar Straights

Vic Flange

Vic Flange

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237
I'm thinking of dipping my toe into the water here so to speak and wondered whether people have tried these razors and what their opinions are?

I've seen a fantastic deal for a shave ready one and might give it a try but am interested in folks opinions.
 
Vic Flange said:
I'm thinking of dipping my toe into the water here so to speak and wondered whether people have tried these razors and what their opinions are?

I've seen a fantastic deal for a shave ready one and might give it a try but am interested in folks opinions.
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Quality control is a bit hit and miss so you often get wonky scales or misaligned pins.

The blades are wide - like 7/8 to 8/8 wide which might not be ideal for a beginner.

But, they are very cheap and apparently easy to hone (as long as the heel . . . or is it the toe (?) has been ground a bit).
 
I agree with what Joe says.

There are lots of people who reckon they are the greatest thing since sliced bread for the money, and some that say they are just junk. Whatever, they are a cheap starter razor and if you are lucky you might get a good one!

Interestingly, there are DAs and then there are DAs - who'd have thought that someone would make a conterfeit of something so cheap? The good ones appear to be the ones in white scales. What deepens the plot is that the some people say that the black handled one is the real DA - and they are junk - in effect, the fake is better than the original! Who knows. All of them seem to have cr@p scales though. The Double Arrow/Gold dollar confusion seems to stem from the name being mistranslated as "double arrow" - according to one guy on SRP it should be "gold coin" - then "gold dollar" isn't a million miles away.

Because the finishing is not good they have sharp areas on the spine that make a mess of your strop, and you have to hone at an angle to stop the spine/tang junction interfering, but they are said to take a great edge.

Let us know how you get on and perhaps we can add some fuel to the fire...

Regards,
Neil
 
Vic Flange said:
I'm thinking of dipping my toe into the water here so to speak and wondered whether people have tried these razors and what their opinions are?

I've seen a fantastic deal for a shave ready one and might give it a try but am interested in folks opinions.
Click to expand...

I've honed a couple of "Gold Dollars" for some customers for the first time last week.
Here are my impressions.

- The pivot pin is too loose;
- The gap between the toe of the blade and the wedge in the scales is too wide. The size of the scales are slightly bigger than it should;
- Grinding was fairly achieved;
- The final polishing was poor. Scratches are visible along the blade, specially in the shank and the finish is not mirror;
- The etching on the blade is poorly made. You can run your thumb across the etching and feel it has a rough substance on top of the blade. After the shave, by cleaning the blade, the etching began to dilute.
- The shave itself. The steel is fairly decent and can provide a shave from beginning to end, but I don't know for how many shaves the edge will remain sharp.

Conclusion: Cheap? Yes, but you get what you pay for.
 
You can put an incredibly sharp edge on these razors nearly as good as the top dogs but quality is very hit and miss, scales are cheap and flexy and as said the pivot pin is loose im lucky in that the only issue with mine is the heel is a bit too big on one side so makes honing a bit awkward, perfectly achievable though and as for that heel a dremel will soon sort that out.

Personally id go for a wapienica, better quality with no major issues, however gd's can hold a good edge, i have one here waiting for one of neils strops to arrive and after a good going over on the chinese 12k it is very sharp.

As for shave ready gd's only the ones from ruprazor tend to be shave ready, mystery razor sets a bevel and calls it shave ready and it's anything but.
 
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these people are quite well regarded on SRP for honing and making sure they are usable. They used to do a good deal on filly strops and the gold dollar razor.
 
Well, the seller is not passing them as a double arrow. It only indicates that they are from China and are manufactured with High Quality Steel. Would you say they are double arrows.
 
My first straight was a Cyril Salter and it was pants, my second was a wapienica.
I paid £35 for it from invisible edge between 2-3 years ago, I learnt how to hone on it and how to strop and shave. I still use it and love it but good luck finding one nowadays as I would love to buy a second NOS one with the stainless scales.

If you can find one you should get it.

You can find plenty of shave ready ones from vendors here, Neil Miller has recently started selling vintage razors at bargain prices that are really good value. Personally I wouldn't touch the ones you mentioned (gold dollar etc)
Whisp
:D
 
This guy swears by em!...
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Vic Flange said:
I'm thinking of dipping my toe into the water here so to speak and wondered whether people have tried these razors and what their opinions are?

I've seen a fantastic deal for a shave ready one and might give it a try but am interested in folks opinions.
Click to expand...

You CAN send your Golden Dollar/Arrow to RupRazor.com..Ken is his first name..the man sells alot of his own razors and actually modifies them to be 100% shave ready and improves on their "quality flaws" coming directly from Chinese manufacturers..the razors are NOT modified in anyway until you modify them yourself when they leave to be shipped in boxes around the world..Thought you might wanna know!

Blades
 
I was given a Gold Dollar to try out by a Chinese friend. Hmm.. Well it honed up A1 and the edge was damnably sharp, but I found it didn't keep it as long as most. Reminded me of the Wapis I used to have - superb edge but a bit high-maintenance. If you keep on top of the Wapis I doubt you'll get a better edge anywhere (though they can be a bit scratchy if you know what I mean) and I think the Gold Dollar is the same. I take it on hols with me as if it gets lost it is no great disaster but at home I've 'reverted' to my TI's and vintage stuff. Maybe that says something?
 
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