Custom-scaled Kikuboshi

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10-04-2014, 02:47 AM
sharptonn

8 Attachment(s)

Custom-scaled Kikuboshi

Having enough of everything else, I decided to get a few western-grind Japanese razors. My birthday was last week and on that day the mail brought me a sweet 7/8 plus Kikuboshi with some rather plain black scales as well as a used 'Tokyo' strop formerly used by the same barber, K. Yamamoto. The blade appeared NOS, but in looking at the scales, scratched and obviously used, I started digging. I had bought these scales long ago. Back when you could send a check for an Ebay purchase. Green abalone, rough with all the occlusions and natural. Done well, they had come sloppily pinned to an Imperial 'Eagle etch' blade with a hunky spacer of faux-tortoise celluloid. Nothing seemed to go with them. As fine as they were, nothing.
So now, all of a sudden, they screamed Japanese to me and I went to it. I made a wedge from white PVC and oversized the shell down to the nickel-silver liners with end-mills by hand and sized 4 of Babur's silver-plated collars to just above the shell. I did the RubnBuff on the tang stamps and tail stamp in gold to match the blade etch, CA'd some of the holes and pits in the shell, sanded and polished. Pinned-up, it all seems good to me. The scales are a bit heavy, yet so is the blade. As tightly as I got the pivot, it all seems fine. The strop is an enigma. Well used, yet feels like butter. It could have been made by Kanayama, I suppose. The hardware is same. Anyhoo, after working on it several days, I am now in the Japanese razor fold. Sorry about the picture quality. The shell seems to freak out the camera! :rofl2: Cannot lose THIS! ;) Bad-sharp, I took care to avoid any damage to the edge and am hoping Yamamoto's edge will be just right with some stropping on this strop for a Sunday shave. We shall see!
Thanks for looking! :D

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10-04-2014, 02:52 AM
AntiqueHoosier

LOVE.................Want
10-04-2014, 02:53 AM
Razorfeld

Tom, happy birthday, happy scales, happy razor, nice photos. All glitter and glam. When do you get a gentleman's Kimono?
10-04-2014, 03:51 AM
Geezer

Happy Birthday!幸せな誕生日 Shiawasena tanjōbi

For the razor fixing, Thank you!
かみそり固定していただきありがとうございます..Kami sori kotei shite itadaki arigatōgozaimasu..
Be well my friend!
~Richard
10-04-2014, 07:24 AM
Substance

Happy birthday Tom
Very nice looking str8
I do love the abalone
Job wel down
10-04-2014, 12:35 PM
nicknbleeding

Happy Birthday Tom. That is one hell of a present. I love it.
10-04-2014, 12:51 PM
WW243

In general, I like the cheesy scales that come on Japanese Westerns....but, you kind of present an awesome alternative. And late Happy Birthday!
As an aside, I also like the occasional Engrish as on the reverse side of my K-3 Fon Golden Star shank which reads:
MADE BY AMOST SK-
ILLFUL TECHANIQUE
Just like that, 2 lines.
10-04-2014, 01:02 PM
mainaman

Very cool, both razor and scales.
I am big sucker for Japanese razors, just some of the best out there.
10-04-2014, 02:18 PM
RoyalCake

That's one nice looking razor - let us know how she shaves!
Great job.
10-04-2014, 06:21 PM
sharptonn

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntiqueHoosier

LOVE.................Want

:D Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Tom, happy birthday, happy scales, happy razor, nice photos. All glitter and glam. When do you get a gentleman's Kimono?

Well, I got a new bathrobe and some socks! Does that count? :rofl2: Thanks, Richard!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geezer

Happy Birthday!幸せな誕生日 Shiawasena tanjōbi

For the razor fixing, Thank you!
かみそり固定していただきありがとうございます..Kami sori kotei shite itadaki arigatōgozaimasu..
Be well my friend!
~Richard

Most impressive, Richard! Thanks! You are now SRP's official Japanese interpreter! ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Substance

Happy birthday Tom
Very nice looking str8
I do love the abalone
Job wel down

My thanks! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicknbleeding

Happy Birthday Tom. That is one hell of a present. I love it.

I have been a good boy. I think I deserve it! :rolleyes: Thanks!
10-04-2014, 06:24 PM
sharptonn

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by WW243

In general, I like the cheesy scales that come on Japanese Westerns....but, you kind of present an awesome alternative. And late Happy Birthday!
As an aside, I also like the occasional Engrish as on the reverse side of my K-3 Fon Golden Star shank which reads:
MADE BY AMOST SK-
ILLFUL TECHANIQUE
Just like that, 2 lines.

Yeah! I know what you mean! Here is another one! :D
10-04-2014, 06:27 PM
sharptonn

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainaman

Very cool, both razor and scales.
I am big sucker for Japanese razors, just some of the best out there.

Thank you, sir! :D So far, they seem to be excellent to me as well!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyalCake

That's one nice looking razor - let us know how she shaves!
Great job.

My thanks. I figure Sunday's shave will tell the tale! ;)
10-04-2014, 06:52 PM
markbignosekelly

Those scales really make your Kikuboshi stand out! I love Japanese westerns, and must like yours seem to be 7/8s. Would love to get my hands on a vintage Japanese strop. Is it cordovan?
Great catch
10-04-2014, 07:11 PM
Baxxer

I don't know why but to me Japanese razors are the only ones that can pull off those sometimes very flamboyant scales that many of them have. I really like how that blade looks dressed up in its new scales.

As it so happens I just picked up my second Japanese western a few days ago, that I coincidentally also bought as a birthday present for myself, a Nos Hayashi Diamond 888.
It's a very nice blade but I fear that the scales might be in the early stages of cell rot, originating from the wedge, since there were some black spots at the toe-end of the razor. Maybe I'll dress mine up in abalone too if my suspicions are confirmed(I really hope I'm wrong because the current scales are very nice)
10-04-2014, 11:33 PM
onimaru55

Berry Jelly Tom, berry jelly. :)
10-05-2014, 01:32 AM
mglindo

Very nice. Bling bling!

Mike
10-05-2014, 01:55 AM
sharptonn

Quote:

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Those scales really make your Kikuboshi stand out! I love Japanese westerns, and must like yours seem to be 7/8s. Would love to get my hands on a vintage Japanese strop. Is it cordovan?
Great catch

Thanks. The strop was made in 1966 according to the seller. The leather is shell. Exquisite stuff!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baxxer

I don't know why but to me Japanese razors are the only ones that can pull off those sometimes very flamboyant scales that many of them have. I really like how that blade looks dressed up in its new scales.
As it so happens I just picked up my second Japanese western a few days ago, that I coincidentally also bought as a birthday present for myself, a Nos Hayashi Diamond 888.
It's a very nice blade but I fear that the scales might be in the early stages of cell rot, originating from the wedge, since there were some black spots at the toe-end of the razor. Maybe I'll dress mine up in abalone too if my suspicions are confirmed(I really hope I'm wrong because the current scales are very nice)

If it was made in the 60's/70's, I think the plastic was used. Hopefully not rot-prone cell!

Quote:

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Berry Jelly Tom, berry jelly. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mglindo

Very nice. Bling bling!
Mike

I know, guys! I know! :D I just got done stropping it good. Everytime I look at it, I think 'What the?????" :roflmao
10-05-2014, 11:39 AM
Baxxer

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharptonn

If it was made in the 60's/70's, I think the plastic was used. Hopefully not rot-prone cell!

Could it be that they'd use a celluloid wedge on scales that were made from some other plastic? maybe I could try unpinning and keeping the scales and the wedge in separate bags(with sacrificial steel) to see if it's only the wedge and not the scales.

I really don't want to risk damaging the scales in case they're alright so that will have to wait until it starts showing signs of rot again(If it does)

-------------------------------------

A thing that I've been thinking of.
Since it's nitric acid releasing(?) that is cell rot, would it be possible to develop a sort of litmus test to check if the PH of the celluloid is in the same range as previous samples of known to be healthy celluloid?
I'm not a chemist so if someone here is I would be interested to hear how or why not this would work.
10-05-2014, 03:48 PM
sharptonn

Baxxer, I know that was a common occurence back in the older celluloid days. Cell rot has been discussed in depth in many threads here. A search will yield more than you want to read! :D Why not post pics of the Diamond Hayishi 888 in the workshop? Others with the same razor may chime in on their's and get some eyes/opinions on the spots. You may be worrying needlessly?
Let's hope so! ;)
10-05-2014, 04:33 PM
Baxxer

I've been planning on taking pics since I got it but there's often a lot of time between when I decide to do something and when I actually do it, I'll hopefully get around to it sometime this week.

Also, sorry for hijacking your thread and a late happy birthday.
10-05-2014, 09:29 PM
Tarkus

Great look.
Like wearing your finest Sunday threads.
:tu
10-06-2014, 12:08 PM
ZethLent

Although I'll not a huge fan of replacing original scales if they are still intact, the work fine on this razor is a great match.

Well done!!
10-10-2014, 10:44 PM
Wullie

There you go again.

Knocking stuff out of the park.

GORGEOUS!!
10-10-2014, 11:03 PM
nipper

I don't know how I missed this the oter day. What a great looking razor to celebrate your birthday with. Great work again once again!
10-11-2014, 03:39 AM
tiddle

Dog gone that is Purdy!
10-12-2014, 05:15 PM
Baxxer

4 Attachment(s)

I said I would post pics this week and here they are(although it's Sunday evening here).

The rust spots are not easy to see in the pictures because I polished them off as as well as possible with some autosol on a cotton swab. but it's possible to see them in the last picture:

Attachment 181718
Attachment 181719
Attachment 181720
Attachment 181721

link to workshop thread:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...ml#post1404467
10-12-2014, 07:47 PM
sharptonn

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZethLent

Although I'll not a huge fan of replacing original scales if they are still intact, the work fine on this razor is a great match.
Well done!!

I usually feel the same. I suppose the plain black did not seem to do it justice. Especially since I had these scales lying about! Thanks! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wullie

There you go again.

Knocking stuff out of the park.

GORGEOUS!!

My thanks, Wullie! Makes me all warm and fuzzy hearing that from a horn-scaled Sheffield man like yourself! ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nipper

I don't know how I missed this the oter day. What a great looking razor to celebrate your birthday with. Great work again once again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiddle

Dog gone that is Purdy!

I appreciate that, gents! :bow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baxxer

I said I would post pics this week and here they are(although it's Sunday evening here).

The rust spots are not easy to see in the pictures because I polished them off as as well as possible with some autosol on a cotton swab. but it's possible to see them in the last picture:

Attachment 181718
Attachment 181719
Attachment 181720
Attachment 181721

link to workshop thread:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...ml#post1404467

I have replied to the workshop thread, Baxxer. Might help explain?
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ml#post1404512