Thread: Clem and Japanese Razors.

I had a vintage Japanese which looked to be in good shape. It was the Japanese equivalent of probably a western 3/8s probably designed for trim work. No matter how long I tried and no matter the hones or routine I used I couldn't do anything with it and then I noticed that canting of the blade was badly worn. I even tried mounting it on a block of wood with shams to raise and lower the angle. it was a waste of time.

I still have it. It's a great letter opener.

So this next brings us to another issue. Since it's a given we are doing asymmetric honing to maintain the grind one side should be way sharper and smoother than the other right? So the guys who use both sides to shave and say they get great results either way, hows that?

Well, another way to think about it is that the edge itself is symmetrical. It has to be, since it is a triangle if you cut a cross section. The only consequence of the blade shape is that the edge is at an angle.

Thus, if you use a different shaving angle for the ura and omote sides, the contact of the edge to the face can be completely identical.

Cutting edge is the same just bevels are different when you compare concave to convex side.