Thread: Iwasaki - breadknifing - Jim Rion - translation correction

Ok, I have just re-read the Iwasaki document.

Jim Rions correction to his interpretation/translation makes it clear that Iwasaki was not speaking of jointing/breadknifing. Here is the best version posted on his blog
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Honing Razors and Nihonkamisori: Updated.
Posted by Jim Rion in Fundamentals, Honing, Iwasaki, Kamisori, Straight Razors, Toishi
I made a translation error, of course.

On my recent visit to Iwasaki-san, I asked him about the particularly confusing section, 3.5 Edge Finishing.

What I translated as "standing" should have been translated as "lengthwise."

Instead of honing the razor standing, you hone it flat but pull it parallel to the edge...meaning, not forward or backward, but sideways, 1mm or 2mm.
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This makes it abundantly clear. the razor is laid flat on the stone just as we do with normal edge leading honing. The direction is different. Instead of edge leading ( left to right, east/west) it is
now north/south .

A video/graphic would be best. Can anyone find a video on YouTube that shows this? Send/post a link please.
Thanks


To me the issue of Iwasaki suggesting jointing is now completely discredited. It is also against what a lot of us have learned from experience/observation.


Regarding Iwasaki's suggestion for honing time .....

I found it interesting that he started with the assumption that the work was being done on a previously honed razor that was no longer giving a very good shave. It was not an antique store find that needed major work nor was it in need of any chip/nick removal. This made it unnecessary to recreate a bevel from scratch. He only needed to "refresh" the bevel and thus the short amount of time
spent on the coarser stones, none of which cut very fast . Lets remember he is not using manmade artificial stones that cut much faster. so that accounts for the length of time which would be much shorter if he used the artificial stones.

RE the 10-15 minutes final step

That really made me raise my eyebrows in surprise. I did not remember seeing that when I read this document when it first came out. But, there it is. So why that long of a time?
I think it is explained by several things

1. He is using a hard, fine Japanese natural stone without any slurry. These cut so very slowly and he is making such short strokes with very light pressure ( almost none, weight of razor only) that remove very little steel .

2. He may be honing a razor that has been heat treated properly and thus demands more time.

3. I suspect that his previous steps did not refine the edge sufficiently and thereby required more time on the last finishing . This is what I think is most likely and I think he does this deliberately. It gives him more control over the end result.

4. And as Onimaru55 has correctly pointed out Iwasaki had to remove the slight rounding created by the chrome oxide removing the false edge.