Thread: New to DE shaving, old hand with Japanese knives -- exploring possibilities

OK, I'll admit it, I was shaving with a Mach 3 a month ago. Well, that changed and now I'm getting much better shaves with a DE. Unfortunately, I know the delights of picking up a beautiful piece of steel that has an edge from my own hand on it to work in the kitchen. One thing leads to another and I'm thinking, "What do I need past my Shapton Glass Stone 8000 to do this?" and "Why is a kamasori only designed for someone else to shave you?"

Well, I definitely have a lot of reading to do and probably some convincing as to the virtues of straight over DE, but I do have a feeling that I need to try this all out one day soon.

Jeff

I would say enjoy both, don't make it an issue of DE vs Straight. I do both & enjoy each one. Tonight will be a straight shave, Friday a DE.

Read the honing section in the Library & use the "Advance Search" button, above right, put in keywords, "finishing hones" or stones; there is a ton of information waiting there for you.

Sorry, but I wouldn't know a Kamasori if it knocked on my door.

Welcome to the 'Place'

To answer one of your questions. The Shap GS 16 & a good strop would be a nice progression from your 8k.

I could only speculate on the why's of kataba design of Kamisori but you could ask the same question re J/knives & chisels.
Luckily you can shave yourself with kamisori regardless.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

I picked up a serviceable CV Heljestrand, ~4/8, roughly full hollow at a very attractive price and I've got a Whipped Dog Poor-Man's Strop kit arriving today, so I think tomorrow will be the first test of my confidence.

I'm thinking of finding some 1 u film before I dive into a full-on stone purchase, assuming that the razor is, in fact, "shave ready" to a reasonable level. As it turns out, I have a Shapton 6k, not an 8k, so there are probably two ​stones I would need if I went that way.

Try 1 micron lapping film(al/oxide) from Thor Labs. 40 laps then put some wet copy paper under it and do 40 more. Then do 15 laps on crox on linen. Super smooth and sharp edge. I stopped using my naniwa 12k.

Forgive me, but what is "wet copy paper" and if it is something past a wet sheet of standard printer/copier paper, where can I get some?

TIA