http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1252882653
Printable View
Very nice :) One of these days :)
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...26_09_2009.jpg
One of mine (I made it). Hand forged, hand finished, 01 carbon tool steel. integral heat treating, triple quenched and normalized to around 62 HRC. Bamboo handle.
Here's pix of mine. This is also in response to a question asked about Japanese straights made from stainless steel.
When I first got this one, I made a simple enough spark test but only on the very end of the tang. Those sparks indicated a decent grade of stainless.
Because I just had to know, the last picture shows a quick etch with ferric chloride and voila, the edge is high carbon steel consistent with the Yasuki tradition. The black steel is welded to the stainless and runs about halfway up the back side of the blade. No matter how much honing, a high carbon edge is always present.
I'm very new to Japanese blades - got my first today in fact. It's am Iwasaki that I bought from our own JimR. I was so impressed that I started a thread over in the Razors section
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ese-razor.html
Suffice to say I was completely hooked and already thinking about asking Jim to put my name in the queue for another - but the bigger model this time just so that I can compare them.
I am wondering about stropping though. I use a SRD 3" Premium II and it seems to work very well with all of my ladies. Lately I've been looking at the Kanayama Cordovans and wondering if they could be one of the reasons behind the rumors about 1,000 Iwasaki shaves before needing a hone.
I'm going to run my own test to see how many shaves I can get from my Iwasaki before it needs a touchup - but those Kanayamas have me intrigued. I know there's an inherent grit to all strops and that the more expensive ones offered by Kanayama even state their grits to some level (around 60-80K I think). Has there been any discussions in here yet about using Japanese blades on Japanese strops and natural hones? Any real benefit there? Pretty big bucks for sure but if it's all worth it then it's money well spent. I did read an article months ago that suggested that many of the upper end Japanese blades were created with the intent that natural Japanese stones would be used for honing. I've been wondering about that ever since.
Here's Mine Can Someone Tell Me What Kind Of Razor This Is And What Is Written On The Blade
Here's my newest acquisition, a 1960's vintage Inoue Tosuke from O_S, thanks mate. :tu
The lettering on the razor is filled with gold, though a lot of this has worn away over the years, you can still clearly see it glinting if you angle it under a bright light. You can also see this in the 2nd and 3rd photos.
Telly kindly had a look at the kanji for me, and provided the following translation (see bottom pic for colour key - thanks! :)
Green: Registered
Blue: Tosuke Inoue
Yellow: Special Order
Pink: Made By
Red: Kinmoji - Gold or Gold Letters
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/e...tosuke_1-1.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/e...tosuke_2-1.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/e...tosuke_3-1.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/e.../tosuke3_a.jpg
Here is mine. Recently arrived no time to take other pics... this are "factory" pics.
here the pics .. sorry
This was brought to you by ZethLent! Thanks again!
My beloved Yahatamaru :
http://i47.tinypic.com/2hxsgn7.jpg
Any current pics of your Tamahagane?
Picked this up from OLD_SCHOOL:
Norikazu's Kanetake ( left most razor )
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a.../SPM_A0002.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/SP_A0005.jpg
More can be seen here
I have two Japanese straights en-route from Japan right now... one is a used Tosuke Inoue that looks pretty good. It appears to need a bit of cleaning up, but the only non-cosmetic issue appears to be a spike tip that has been blunted, on purpose or not I don't know. If I decide I have to have it as a square tip, I suppose I can take down the front a couple mm to square it back up.
All of the pictures in this post are auction pics, I don't have either item in hand yet and likely won't have them for weeks.
http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~bjb52646/e/razor/d1.JPG
http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~bjb52646/e/razor/d3.JPG
http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~bjb52646/e/razor/d2.JPG
The same seller 6733tak has several other non-Tosuke razors with blue handles and without for sale in their store. I have no connection to the seller other than having purchased the above razor.
Giving in to JRAD a second time, I also picked up this one for a little bit more than half of what the Tosuke cost. Can anyone (is Dr. Old_School in the house?) provide an ID and/or opinion on this one?
http://shiomi1.web.infoseek.co.jp/no...kamisori1b.jpg
http://shiomi1.web.infoseek.co.jp/no...kamisori1c.jpg
http://shiomi1.web.infoseek.co.jp/no...kamisori1d.jpg
http://shiomi1.web.infoseek.co.jp/no...kamisori1e.jpg
Also, is there any way to tell if either or both of these razors are Tamahgane, or would that require personal examination by an expert or metallurgical testing?
Any thoughts or comments are welcome.
Thanks.
Teethbrush: Looking at these both sets of pictures carefully...you can see the welding lines where a piece of high carbon steel has been welded to a lesser steel. The square corner of the high carbon piece even shows up on the second razor. They would not likely do that with tamahagane, if they could get some away from a swordsmith. The toolmaker's tradition dictates a high carbon steel welded to wrought iron or mild steel generally. Where it can be deceptive to the buyer is that wrought iron has a grain pattern that can look like pattern welding. You would need to etch these blades to really know for sure. I think enough evidence is present to not have to do that.
And what Dr. Old_School said...
I didn't know that. Thanks.
But the practicality of saving money in construction is a safe assumption when applied to smithing techniques world wide. I'd validate that based on the methods of Japanese smiths I've met.
Thank you gentlemen for your thoughtful and informative replies! The knowledge and experience here is amazing.
I would have purchased the Tosuke in any case, but the seller put the "T word" on the sale page; not in a sentence declaring the razor to be made of Tamahgane, but throwing it on the page certainly caught my eye. Whether this was on purpose (as in the blunting of the spike tip) or merely a misunderstanding (a misinterpretation of the weld line) I can't say, and on this matter ignorance is bliss. :)
Time now to read up on honing these while I wait!
Oh... and Mike, I first read your signature line with bleary eyes and thought it was something about testing a man's mettle by giving him a powerful Lincoln! Took me a second reading to realize it wasn't about cash for clunkers... :beer1:
Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!
3 of his razors have on description "used Japanese handmade razor, Tamahagane"
They may not be as advertised but he's the feedback of great seller. It still false advertising though.
I don't know what shipping details in your auction but with the 3 razors I mentioned, it states 3-4 days according to his page.
I got couple of packages from both JimR and OLD_SCHOOL and it was within the 4-5 day range. Pleasure to deal with.
With regards to razor: you shave with the omote ( front/flat side/non-stamped ) as can be seen on OLD_SCHOOL's diagram here:
Japanese razor part names.
Italy Vs. Japan. (Lengthy)
Explanation of how a Japanese razor works.
Tosuke Japanese Straight Razor
So my Iwasaki razor arrived...now what?
Honing a Japanese Straight
Japanese Razor Profiles
Japanese razor part names.
My first Japanese Razor
Japanese Razors
iwasaki
Japanese Razors
A Honing Lesson from my barber - Straight Razor Place Forums
Sharpening Wakamisori - Straight Razor Place Forums
JimR's video on Japanese razor honing
Japanese waterstones info...
Very basic, but valuable information about natural Japanese hones.
Nakayama Maruichi
Tales of the Nippon Honing Miracle Worker
My Japanese Finishing Hones
Japanese stone grit levels: Suita, Narutaki, Nakayama
Very cool, I only found half those links on my own. Good stuff!
The seller has already been in touch, telling me shipping would be delayed a short while due to the hectic New Year season. So, if I get the razor inside a couple weeks I'll be very pleased.
I hope the razors won't be upset at being honed on a Mexican 4k/8k, a Chinese 12k, or a Belgian Coticule... might have to start saving for a Japanese Natural! Right now the only ones I can afford are the softer variety.
I never liked the rubber grip. We'll see how it is. Any of you guys remove yours? Thanks
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0169.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0170.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0171.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0173.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0174.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0176.jpg
http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/a..._SPM_A0177.jpg
Yours might be made by Takahashi Norikazu, Kazumi's son-just different grind compared to the site. It looks a lot like mine. But I can't be certain it's difficult to see the kanji on site. You can ask OLD_SCHOOL as he's the one who'd know.Quote:
Originally Posted by vgod
T-word (Toro? Tora? Tomagachi? Tako? Toshiro Mifune? j/k) though it is not, I will clean it up and post pics when it arrives, which hopefully won't be too much longer.
I am really looking forward to honing the Kamisori up and trying it out. The Japanese straights were the first straights I ever looked at, was intrigued by, and thought about trying. As luck would have it, I ended up adopting western straights first!
Have you received them yet? Thoughts?
Sorry for the delay! I've been on the opposite side of the USA for work... very worthwhile but it's great to be home again!
Both razors arrived on the same day. Both were in dire need of honing.
After cleanup and gentle blemish removal and polishing, I spent the rest of the evening on the edges. I used the honing advice found on this forum regarding Japanese straights and JimR's outstanding video, I have managed to achieve (drum roll) mediocre results.
The Tosuke is a problem child. After long work on a Japanese razor grade hone, with and without slurry, the bevel gleams like a mirror. The razor is too dull to shave with however and just glides over my beard. I have the impression that it's harder than the hammered hinges of hell and laughs at my puny efforts... I tried several different honing systems including a coticule with slurry and got no better results.
Kamisori #2 likewise seems to be made of very stern stuff, but did take an edge and shaves comfortably, but not with the fabled atom splitting, peel your face like an apple if not very careful uber-sharpness I have read about.
In fact, even the "sharp" razor won't even do HHT beyond maybe a faint "violin". :boohoo:
No doubt my technique is to blame rather than the razors, although I was following the written and video advice pretty well, or so I thought... and further advice is always welcome. I intend to get these things up and running!
I finally got my first Kamisori in the mail. It was expected sooner but got delayed due to some USPS issues. She's going for a shave tonight.
That's great Max! I thought it was long gone! Welcome to club mate. Shave and live well my friend.
Did Jim manage to translate the rest for you?
USPS works in mysterious ways :beer2:
It does seem to be a razor made of high quality and the maker is still unkown. I guess the shave will tell.
http://www.madaspenhome.com/straight.../lg/sotd79.jpg
Update: The Kamisori wasn't really shave ready to my standards so I quit half way my first shave and finished with my W&B backup razor. The next day I took the Kamisori to the hones and when I was done it was popping hairs. The next shave I had was delightful. I had the opportunity to try an Iwasaki 1 so my only comparison was against it. I found my new acquired Norio (seems to be the maker as I was told) to be extremely smooth compared to the Iwasaki 1. I don't know if it was my honing or the fact that I finished on my Karasu. I never touched the Iwasaki 1 as it came to me honed, popping hairs and extremely sharp.
The translation I have received from the stamping (Thx JimR) is
Right side going down on the spine: saikou kyuu hagane-highest grade steel
middle two going down: tokyuu- extra special
middle two right to left (above the maker's mark): toroku-registered
bottom, right side going down: betsuuchi-special made/forged
bottom center, going down: fushio (???) made Norio
My first Japanese straight....hope to get a kamisori at some point too!
http://i48.tinypic.com/205wnmb.jpg
Here is a club I can't wait to join. Those are some beautiful razors.
So wold this be called JRAD.
I also got some weeks ago one of these beautiful Japanese razors.
It's a "singing one".
http://up.picr.de/4729492.jpg
Tom,
Those are one of the best there are. I have one along with quite a few others similar to it. Here are my three H. Diamonds.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...2-ts380873.jpg
Are these razors all "singing blades"?
Regards
Tom
I have recently ventured into the kamisori world, and i have un/fortunately contracted JRAD!
I still have to clean them up.
Top is my tamahagane tarou.
And out of focus on the bottom is my yahatamaru.
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/8498/64010303.jpg
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/5766/34106382.jpg
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/4771/57855456.jpg
I too have an H. Diamond 8000. It's been here for some time, but was just made shave ready today..
Attachment 51036
I also have a Diamond 8000, it is among the very best razors I have ever owned, including all of my customs. Fantastic blade!
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...d-10-18-10.jpg
Here's my Folding Kamisori. The non folding one is in the mail right now.
here's my addition
This is my Iwasaki 50mm Swedish Steel Kamisori
These things put a whole new definition on "Scary Sharp" or should anyway :D
This was run up on a Select Grade Coticule then taken up into real sharp on a Nakayama Midori..
Attachment 57888