Thread: Japanese Straights

Originally Posted by mainaman

Were swedish steel models differentialy heat treated? I have tried etch on swedish steel Iwasaki and there was no hamon.

Well at least some of the Iwasaki western straights made with Swedish steel have been heat treated with the Honyaki method.
I personally have not found a hamon on the examples I have in my collection, but to be honest, most of them are still waiting for their restoration, so no hamon could be visible at the moment. But here is a picture So Yamachita sent me some years ago, where the hamon is clearly visible.



Anyhow - heat treatment was something Iwasaki experimented a lot. He sent razors to barbers and asked them about the performance. If the barbers gave a feed back that the razors was to soft iwasaki hardenend them again to higher HV grades (as far as possible). Nearly all of the characters and a lot of the numbers you found on Iwasaki razor have something to do with different heat treatment.
After a couple of years that he practiced this field experiment, he recognized that the reason why a lot of barbers sent his razors back to him and claimed, was not mainly a wrong hardening, but the incompetence of the barbers in honing. That was when he wrote his essay on Honing razors and Nihon Kamisories. He also began to sell special quality whetstones at this time. I have read somewhere here in the forum that Iwasaki himself never sold whetstones. That is not true.
I have a friend who is blacksmith in Sanjo city and knows Shigeyoshi Iwasaki and Mizuichi san very well. He also bought a lot of whetstones from the last wholesaler of Iwasaki who ended his business early this year.
Sanjyo Seisakujo, the company of Iwasaki, sold Japanese whetstones, especially Maruka stamped hones for quite a while. But they stopped selling hones some years ago.

"So Yamachita sent me some years ago, where the hamon is clearly visible."
Can you help me to see the hamon in your photo, I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Is there a hamon in this photo?

Originally Posted by doc47

"So Yamachita sent me some years ago, where the hamon is clearly visible."
Can you help me to see the hamon in your photo, I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Is there a hamon in this photo?

Hi Dan,

so the hamon in my photo can be clearly seen in the marked area:



I am not sure what I see on your photo - is it hamon or just light reflexes and different luminous intensity caused by the curvature of the grind?

Here's an Iwasaki Western folding Kamisori for the show....beautiful shave, great Kami experience with the scales attached, much easier to maneuver and scoot around.

One thing I notice about these things, they are uber, super sharp, even less pressure than using a normal straight, and the whiskers literally get wiped away.

Only Kami I own, and can't see really going down this worm hole any further, but enjoyed the experience much more with the addition of the scales.

Iwasaki Western Folding Kamisori

That is a beautiful razor Phrank. There is just something about Iwasaki kamisoris that I love so much.
Yes, you can hone them up stupidly sharp. Its hard to explain but on the second pass I use very long slow strokes, the kami sucks to my face, squeegee like, its a very nice experience.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

That is a beautiful razor Phrank. There is just something about Iwasaki kamisoris that I love so much.
Yes, you can hone them up stupidly sharp. Its hard to explain but on the second pass I use very long slow strokes, the kami sucks to my face, squeegee like, its a very nice experience.

Ha! That's exactly what happened with this first shave. One thing I like about the Kami experience, is it takes longer to shave, something that's been bothering me lately.

To the point now, where I can get the lather whipped up in the scuttle, lathered up, and have a 3 pass shave in 5 minutes with a normal straight.

This kami, first pass was nice and slow, you have to take your time.

Second pass, just like you said, I found myself going from my collar line, straight up to just under the middle of the nose area, just felt like it was almost peeling the skin off my face and had a mind of it's own. Did 3 passes, and I've had my share of BBS shaves, uber close shaves, but I guess Kami's get real close and personal.

Thinking maybe I might be using too much pressure even though I felt and was trying to actively not use any pressure.

Slapped the aftershave on afterward, and Bazinga! Haven't felt that electric sting in awhile....haha...but there isn't a stray rough spot, or whisker left.

And it was nice not to be done my shave in 5 minutes...that was a major bonus...of course, I won't have to shave for another two weeks after it....

I too enjoy the much longer and slower shave with a Kami, I'm amazed it takes so little time now to do 2-3 passes with a regular straight. It makes the Kami a very refreshing shave for me.

Fantastic razor, Phrank. I also prefer folding kamisori razors. The three I have are incredibly sharp and provide an extremely close shave.

My fourth razor hailing from the land of the Rising Sun.
Waited quite a while to pull the trigger on this one. Watched it on the bay over a year.
Finally RAD kicked in. It was worth the wait.
This razor ticks off all the requirement for a razor IMHO. Fit in the scales, finish, grind, balance, edge it is capable of taking. All top notch. As the blade etch denotes "Super Extra Special Made". That is no lie.
My first covered tang. A subtle tactile difference when wielding it.
Great addition to my humble collection. Folks there is a reason this thread is presently 105 pages. My $.02 Ken.

Nice one
Another very similar to the Diamond Hayashi. I swear they are all made in the same place.