Thread: kamisori razors

I was looking at kamisori razors (fixed/ straight handle) and I have no idea what to look for on them. Any pointers on what to avoid? (issues, etc)

Been looking also but since I can't read the kanji's etc
My main view is minimal home wear just like a western

I have seen a lot of Kamisori's on E bay in awesome shape and just as many in rough shape. Many of the older ones have a lot of deep scratches on the Omote side of the razor. (Ura is the side that is signed, usually faces away from the face, Omote is the side with the lower height blade grind that goes around 2/3 the way up the blade). Most of the Omote is softer iron/metal and when the Omote is fully flattened by sharpening, people re establish the hollow grind. I saw a tool once that was a scraper to do this from Japan on Ebay; it was designed to scrape the softer steel and make the Omote face have the slight hollow grind again. Scraping steel will leave it very rough. Other razors look like a coarse bench grinder was used. As long as the hollow was restablished and the steel not overheated/damaged, the regrinds are OK, but when it's reground and still has lots of hone wear, I would pass. Other things like chips and frowns are generally ones to avoid unless you don't mind doing the work to get them corrected.

Look at both sides, especially the Omote of a NOS Kamisori razor. Then compare it to one like this: Henkotsu Kamisori Japanese Straight Razor Shave Ready | eBay

On the Omote side pic, you can see the wider flats from honing and the area between those flats and towards the tang is very rough looking. This looks to be from reworking the razor.

This one has a good amount of hone wear and very little of the hollow grind left on the Omote side:
Exceptional Vintage Henkotsu Kamisori Very Large Japanese Straight Razor | eBay

This one has a lot of hone wear and you can see the rough marks in between those areas on the Omote side. Kamisori will usually have hone wear unless NOS or unused condition, but when the omote side is ground flat, that can be an issue!
Kamisori Marke "井上藤助" Japanese Straight Razor Handmade K260 | eBay

Another with an Omote side that looks like it was chewed on, hone wear isn't too bad and still has a good amount of life, but the re hollow area looks rough:
Shave Ready Large Kamisori Marked "へんこつ" Japanese Straight Razor Handmade K226 | eBay

Looks to be new, unused:
Henkotsu Japanese Straight Razor Kamisori | eBay

Some guys can regrind the Kamisori fairly easily, but there are many in decent condition. If looking for a first Kamisori, I would get a new or NOS Kamisori and have it honed by a honemeister so you have a benchmark of what it should be like. Once you know more about them and feel more comfortable with them and want to pick up a project blade to work on yourself, then you can dive into the rougher looking ones!

As with any razor, look at as little hone wear as possible. Check out pics of NOS blades to see what they look like out of the factory to get an idea of what to shoot for.

Originally Posted by taz575

I have seen a lot of Kamisori's on E bay in awesome shape and just as many in rough shape. Many of the older ones have a lot of deep scratches on the Omote side of the razor. (Ura is the side that is signed, usually faces away from the face, Omote is the side with the lower height blade grind that goes around 2/3 the way up the blade). Most of the Omote is softer iron/metal and when the Omote is fully flattened by sharpening, people re establish the hollow grind. I saw a tool once that was a scraper to do this from Japan on Ebay; it was designed to scrape the softer steel and make the Omote face have the slight hollow grind again. Scraping steel will leave it very rough. Other razors look like a coarse bench grinder was used. As long as the hollow was restablished and the steel not overheated/damaged, the regrinds are OK, but when it's reground and still has lots of hone wear, I would pass. Other things like chips and frowns are generally ones to avoid unless you don't mind doing the work to get them corrected.

Look at both sides, especially the Omote of a NOS Kamisori razor. Then compare it to one like this: Henkotsu Kamisori Japanese Straight Razor Shave Ready | eBay

On the Omote side pic, you can see the wider flats from honing and the area between those flats and towards the tang is very rough looking. This looks to be from reworking the razor.

This one has a good amount of hone wear and very little of the hollow grind left on the Omote side:
Exceptional Vintage Henkotsu Kamisori Very Large Japanese Straight Razor | eBay

This one has a lot of hone wear and you can see the rough marks in between those areas on the Omote side. Kamisori will usually have hone wear unless NOS or unused condition, but when the omote side is ground flat, that can be an issue!
Kamisori Marke "井上藤助" Japanese Straight Razor Handmade K260 | eBay

Another with an Omote side that looks like it was chewed on, hone wear isn't too bad and still has a good amount of life, but the re hollow area looks rough:
Shave Ready Large Kamisori Marked "へんこつ" Japanese Straight Razor Handmade K226 | eBay

Looks to be new, unused:
Henkotsu Japanese Straight Razor Kamisori | eBay

Some guys can regrind the Kamisori fairly easily, but there are many in decent condition. If looking for a first Kamisori, I would get a new or NOS Kamisori and have it honed by a honemeister so you have a benchmark of what it should be like. Once you know more about them and feel more comfortable with them and want to pick up a project blade to work on yourself, then you can dive into the rougher looking ones!

Quote every single word. Couldn't have find better words.

Thanks! Gives me more an idea of what to look for. I am guessing most of these are of good quality? I wouldn't be able to tell if it was good steel or not.

Great info, thanks.
I have my first kamisori's coming and see they have some of the wear you indicate to watch for.
Will be an interesting honing opportunity, if nothing else.

The watchword is GEOMETRY. If it has been altered it will never shave well no matter what you do short of regrinding it. The original geometry must be intact enough so it can be properly honed.

They should call them kamisortatiny's.
Just received my pair and they are delicate little things compared to a traditional straight.

Trying to hone them up on a coti. So it's more strokes on the stamped front face than the rear, soft metal fat side as I read up.
Like 7:3 front to back, heavier pressure on the 3 than the 7?
thanks gents.

No. The stamped face (which you have showing in your pic) gets less honing strokes, the other side gets more strokes.