Thread: Iwasaki Hone Countdown - A Test

Interesting. I thought the 1000 shave razor was a japanese style one. I've got a Tamahagane western style razor from Iwasaki or one of his students, but was never interested in the japanese style because I really dislike shaving with them. I'm in the middle of a project right now, but once this is over I'll give it a run and see how it compares with some of my others. I've got several western razors with >100 shaves on them, one with >200 and still going strong. I'm using linen very aggressively though. I never got more than about 14 shaves on a razor using just leather.

I have a hard time believing that the japanese-style tamahagane razors are made to a lesser standard than the western-style ones, but maybe the asymmetric grind produces a sharper but weaker edge, or maybe the use of only one side results in faster dulling. Or maybe it's just those whispy Japanese beards, and any well-made razor could have pulled off a comparable number of those shaves.