Thread: Zowada method again

Originally Posted by nessmuck

Hey ...a guy who MAKES razors for a living has got to know a wee bit...yah Think ??????

I 'll put on my black hat here & say, not necessarily. The best J/swordsmiths still send the sword out to the polisher for sharpening & then the next maker for scabbard etc but not casting nasturtiums at Tim's honing skills.


On topic. If you use progressively lighter strokes through the progression, the edge will polish before the bevel shoulder . You can see that under magnification. If not, your pressure is too heavy. This is not a microbevel but it kinda makes one unnecessary unless the geometry calls for it.

I would think the sharpeners and scabbard makers are apprentices (sp) under the master smith ??

Originally Posted by nessmuck

Seems smoother to me....

Maybe because the bevel is a bit steeper, even if only a degree or so.

Otherwise, the microbevel shouldn't do anything different from a razor honed without a microbevel if such other razor was honed top shelf.

I'm in glen's camp, I go to it usually only when I have a razor that the steel isn't good enough at it's regular geometry (happens sometimes), but is good enough with an extra degree or two of cutting angle.

Originally Posted by DaveW

when I have a razor that the steel isn't good enough at it's regular geometry (happens sometimes), but is good enough with an extra degree or two of cutting angle.

I have a razor like this. Would not hold an edge at 15 degrees, added one layer of tape to get 16 degrees and things improved. Finally bread knifed the blade to change the geometry to 17 degrees and all is well.

Originally Posted by nessmuck

I would think the sharpeners and scabbard makers are apprentices (sp) under the master smith ??

Nope all seperate masters in their own right.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Nope all seperate masters in their own right.

Pretty much the same in tools. Someone made a paulownia box for a couple of my tools, and it's got kanji on it that someone applies as a trade. I don't even know if the box maker and the person doing the writing are the same, they might be two different people. Then the tool that goes into the boxes is either a chisel or a plane. For the nicer planes, the wooden body of the plane is made by a different maker than the plane iron, and on the chisels, the handles are made by a handle maker, and the chisel itself forged by the maker who signs the chisel. All of the trade masters are well known and have a stamp that identifies them.

The makers sharpen the tools, but not as well as the user does.

Originally Posted by DaveW

Pretty much the same in tools. Someone made a paulownia box for a couple of my tools, and it's got kanji on it that someone applies as a trade. I don't even know if the box maker and the person doing the writing are the same, they might be two different people..

The kanji on the box may even be done by the maker's wife.
I know a fellow who's Japanese wife is a master in calligrapyhy.