Phrank that is a beautiful razor, I love the simplicity of the scales. Are the scales a natural material?
Printable View
I find most Japanese Straights have some heft to them ,Ja[panese steel has more weight than most razors .In most cases they take a great edge .
Got this NOS Tanifuji Fukutaro Straight Razor 666 SILVER STEEL.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4282/...64e70588_b.jpg
Very nice Dmitri I have the very same razor I love all my Tanifuji razors exceptional quality and class shavers.
http://i.imgur.com/iQftODj.jpg
Terrific razor, Dmitri. Tanifuji are right up there with the best of them.
My "Fab Five" Japanese Razors- all wonderful shavers!
Top left to bottom right:
Super Kikuboshi 6/8
Diamanten 7/8
Fuji Tombo Tungsten 6/8
Scheön Burg 5/8
Hoshi Tombo 6000 Western Kamisori
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...338ee0e41b.jpg
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That is a beautiful collection of razors; do the all have the same grind or do you like to mix it up? They all have one thing in common and that is beautiful scales!
I mix them up Dan, but I have taken a strong liking to extra hollow ground. That being said the Hoshi Tombo 6000 is a Kamisori grind and an incredible shaver.
The scales on the Fuji are not original I had them re-done by Stefan this year- absolutely stunning work!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Just how large has your razor collection become?
I was likely eyeballing that Diamanten on eBay a few months ago...NOS and a very affordable price since it's not a well-known brand. I really loved those crazy blue scales! Nice to see one here on SRP.
http://i67.tinypic.com/2dje1z9.jpg
New arrival, Ribbon 'Gloria Super G' 6/8
The blade intrigued me and the scales pushed me over. Can't wait to give her a shave.
Attachment 268671Attachment 268672Attachment 268673Attachment 268674
Hey Dan, thats a kamisori with scales, 99% of kamisoris have an asymmetrical grind like yours. Typically the shorter less concaved side goes against your mug to shave with and receives more honing strokes than the other.
Search for kamisoris and you'll find loads of info on them. I personally love mine and im hope you will too.
@doc47 and so it begins! Great find and as usual for you another STUNNING razor! I have a Hoshitombo 6000 scaled Kamisori that I enjoy very much please let us know what you think of the shave :) I think you will be surprised ;)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's me diving in to the Kami deep end without a net! I'll let you know how the landing goes...
Attachment 268696
I had my first Kami shave this morning! I watched a couple of videos and then went for it with the Omote side out. It was awkward at first and double awkward because I can't use my left hand when shaving (it won't obey). However, 30 minutes after I started I was done and had only one small spot on my upper lip that drew blood. It was quite fun and I know I'll get better with practice. The one aspect that I was comfortable to me was the use of the scales, they felt comfortable in my hand and gave me a bit of additional confidence.
I shaved with a personal favorite of mine this morning.
It's a Heart Columbia.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...be6584e9e0.jpg
I love the way it says "Real Japanese Hollow Ground", as if all the other Japanese hollow ground's are imitations. :)
This should shortly be on its way.
Attachment 269345
Attachment 269346
Thanks Jamie.
The top two are of the photos I initially posted. I can obviously only post clearer definitions once the razor is in hand. The photo on the bottom is from https://historyrazors.wordpress.com/2016/12/08/iwasaki/
Attachment 269348
That is exactly what it looks like, congrats Tony!
I can see it's genuine just never seen that style of stamp great aquisition congratulations.
Thanks Srdjan & Jamie.
An extremely fortunate raffle win.
Wow Tony, thats a beautiful mint Iwasaki, the 90 model is full hollow. I need to start entering some raffles.
Here's a picture of that full hollow.
Attachment 269362
:dropjaw: That is some perfect grinding.
Tony, you will love the way she shaves. My Iwasaki 30 V it is a dream shaver.
Attachment 269375
I'm sure I will Dan but I'm in two minds whether to actually use it or not.
Maybe reserved for special occasions.
I had an Iwasaki no 90 identical to the one you won!...a bit more use on it then this one but otherwise identical.
It was an exceptional shaver.
Blade @0,5 -1cm shorter (I cant recall exactly but I think 2,5 inch-ish) then a regular size iwasaki....a no.50 for example is regular size @3inch cutting edge.
If I remember corectly the no 30, 60 and 90 are made a bit shorter to make them easier to sharpen by lady barbers....some are even found with the marking''Lady'' on the tang or the kanji meaning the same thing.
They are quenched horizontaly like a katana and you have to keep in mind that only 2/3 of the blade is actualy hardened....the 2/3 at the cutting edge...the spine is left soft-ish and I recomend if you always use a layer of tape when honing it.
If you ever decide to etch it...and I doubt you will...it will show a nice diferential heat treatment line.
I would box it and use it on special ocasions:D... blades like this rarely pop up...and over the years they will be even rarer.
Enjoy it!
I only have one Iwasaki, and it's a wonderful shaver. I wish I could afford a tamahagane in reasonable condition. If I was only allowed one razor to shave with, that would be the one.
My 30 V has a 3" blade and was hardened to 64-65 HRC, which if I remember correctly is just shy of the Tamahagane hardness level of 66-67. The harder the steel, the sharper the edge because hardened steel can be ground finer than softer steel. I think Swedish steel used in razors is hardened to something like´61-63 HRC. All these steels are hard enough to get and keep the finest edge possible. And that is why these makes, in particular, are so highly prized.
For an edge freak like me this is as sexy as it gets (IMHO)
Attachment 269601
It has less to do with the steel type and mre to do with the timeframe of production....
From my research, older Iwasaki razors are quenched verticaly.
At the begining of Sanjo Works Iwasaki Kakusen colaborated with Yukio Kamijo - one of Japan's top razor makers at that time 92 years old.
Kamijo's influences are present in Iwasaki's earlier razors.
Blades are quenched verticaly...the diferential heat treatment line can be seen where the blade meets the tang=>The spine is hardened.=> razor keeps a better geometry without tape.
Steel is quenched softer then later models and is easier to sharpen and takes a sublime edge.
Tangs are stamped with both masters names...on show face for tmahagane and on the back fro sweedish steel razors.
Blade faces are mostly satin finished as oposed to mirror polished in Tanifuji colaboration.
Sometimes tangs are left rougher finished.
Kamijo loved wedge grinds so in early iwasaky - kamijo colaborations there are quite a few wedge iwasaki razors made as oposed to Tanifuji colaboration when the wedge razor became excedingly rare.
After Kamijo retired Iwasaki turned to Tanifuji Fukutaro for help and started a colaboration with him.
Iwasaki tried to modifythe tamahagane recipe....he wanted a harder steel... more ware resistant.
One of his experimental steels ment to replace tamahagane turned out a fiasco...a tad to brittle and hard to sharpen but with propper care it takes a nice edge.
This steel was dropped.
Only a few kamisoris were made in this steel.
He was obsesed with perfecting the tamahagane and making a better razor (also influences from swordmaking)so...
He ended up having a harder steel by modifying the heat treatment procedure at the old tamahagane...pushing hardness up some all the way up to 920 vickers @ 67 HRC...these blades harder then 64 HRC are a real pain in the ... to sharpen and are unforgiving.
He also changed the way the blades were quenched...from Kamijo's vertical quench...to horizontal quench...similar to katana sword quenching....These blades show a heat treat line/hamon somwhere in the upper 1/3 part of the blade towards the spine.
The spine is left softer then the cutting edge...this is why you can often see wide bevels and wide spineware on later Iwasaki razors that have been intensly used...because the spine eats up faser then the edge and decreases honing angle.
Also by this time many women began working as barbers and had difficulties honing hard razors.
This is the period when the shorter "Lady" razors started beeing produced...blade lenght shorter about 1/2 inch then standard and softer quench @ 62-63 HRC for ease of sharpen....the No.30, No.60 and No.90, No.96 are great examples of "Lady" razors. and have a cutting edge of @ 60 mm as opesed to 70mm for the regular razors.
So a few trademarks of the Tanifuji colaboration period would be:
Horizontal quench...and subsequen quench line / hamon
Harder temper ... both for sweedish steel and tamahagane.
Better finish...blades made in this period were finished at Tanifuji's facilities and have a nice near mirror finish to them.
Die - stamps...razors were no longer stamped by hand (During Kamijo colaborations some - especialy early razors were stamped by hand)
...and the lady razors.
Less wedge razors in production.
my 2 cents...hope it helps.