Thread: Hello from a kamisori fan in London!

Welcome from a Kamisori fan in North Idaho LOL

Welcome officially, though it sounds like you have been with us for a long while.

Yes, strops make a difference, a big difference especially once you have mastered stropping, which you probably have.

One of the largest differences are the condition and cleanliness of your strop. When was the last time it was cleaned and hydrated?

Take a white paper towel fold it into quarters and wipe your strop, see what comes off. Dampen the back of the towel pad and wipe again, let it dry and see what came off.

Airborne dust is everywhere and been landing on your strop since 2005. Airborne dust is large enough to easily scratch a bevel, a scratch terminates at the edge in a chip.

Imagine, your cars paint finish, do you polish your car with a dusty rag? The last opportunity to polish your razor’s edge before you put it to your face is with a strop.

Stropping is hugely underrated.


Take a look at the micrographs in Tim’s post, (How effective is clean fabric?)

Notice the polish just behind the edge, also notice the straightness of the stropped edge.

And that is just 40 laps on linen.

Forgot to say, since you like your Kamisori and are on the lookout for a strop have a gander at Kanayamas, to many, myself included, they are the pinnacle of razor strops, and they are made in Japan too.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Welcome officially, though it sounds like you have been with us for a long while.

Yes, strops make a difference, a big difference especially once you have mastered stropping, which you probably have.

One of the largest differences are the condition and cleanliness of your strop. When was the last time it was cleaned and hydrated?

Take a white paper towel fold it into quarters and wipe your strop, see what comes off. Dampen the back of the towel pad and wipe again, let it dry and see what came off.

Airborne dust is everywhere and been landing on your strop since 2005. Airborne dust is large enough to easily scratch a bevel, a scratch terminates at the edge in a chip.

Imagine, your cars paint finish, do you polish your car with a dusty rag? The last opportunity to polish your razor’s edge before you put it to your face is with a strop.

Stropping is hugely underrated.


Take a look at the micrographs in Tim’s post, (How effective is clean fabric?)

Notice the polish just behind the edge, also notice the straightness of the stropped edge.

And that is just 40 laps on linen.

Thanks for this! That thread is very illuminating. And I immediately cleaned my strop after reading your advice! It probably needed it badly...

I remember people like Lynn Abrahams and Tilly from back in the day. Are they still around? I believe I bought a barber hone and some NOS barber's linen from Tilly. Still stropping on that linen most days!

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Forgot to say, since you like your Kamisori and are on the lookout for a strop have a gander at Kanayamas, to many, myself included, they are the pinnacle of razor strops, and they are made in Japan too.

Oh yeah, I have been checking these out. I will certainly keep them in mind! They would fit the Japanese theme very well too.

Hi and welcome. Hope you enjoy your stay. We look forward to your input. Very nice work on the box. I think the hinges look okay but a piano hinge could be a nice addition.
There are several people in your area offering honing services. Some right in London. For instance Joseph (JOB15) from Edge Dynamics, edge-dynamics.com to name one. He's a good guy and has an impressive body of work on his site.
Hope you find what you are looking for.

Hi and welcome aboard. Seems Jamie who honed your kamisori would do the Henkels for you too. I find I use different strops for different razors. Cant beat a good condition vintage shell leather and true linen hose strop

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome!

I recently did the same as you... been shaving with straights for many years, but just recently bought my first Kamisori... Its still in delivery, so I dont have any experience yet.

And like you, the two I have incoming: One shave ready, and the other needs a little restoration as it has some devils spit and some burrs on the bevel. So I also bought a Shobu, a Nagura set, and tomo for that work... also on their way! Figured I could bevel it on my Naniwa 1K, and work the rest on the Shobu.

Anyway, enough about our parallels! Welcome to SRP!