Thread: Customized Or Butchered 'That is the Question'

Hi All,

Well a few days ago I got three razors in from a FleaBay seller out of Japan, I knew that this one had been 'Customized' or 'Butchered' depending on your point of view but I'd never honed 'this style' of a Frameback and it really wasn't that expensive. I'd shaved with one but I Would Never Have Considered Honing it; you can see it here;
Straight Razor Place - The Saga of a Japanese Straight Razor's Long Journey Home From the Battle Field of Iwo Jima

Once in hand, this razor was apparently dropped and shortened + the 'customizing' of the shank and scales at that end. The toe isn't very smoothly finished but a little 1K and 2K sandpaper + some Mothers will take care of that.

Anyway I'd purchased the three razors from the same seller and he combined the shipping from $6 EA to $8 total shipping which brought the cost of the entire transaction to $66.50

The blade measures about 11-12 thousandths and honed up nice. I just gave it a full shave test and got a surprisingly nice CCC shave.

I stumbled upon some very faint etching on the face of the blade and it says:

HATANAKA CO

On the Front of the Shank I read;

COLUMBIA
also No 8

On the Back of the shank I read;
FOR BARBERS USE
ESTABLISH. 1919

Well it is a Very Nice Shaver But Not A Looker/at least in my humble opinion; Any thoughts out there Gents?

Here's some pics of the 'customized' razor and the others that came with it;



Second Razor;



Third Razor;

the 2nd link isn't working

looks alright for a custom Japanese western style Kamisori Shorty LOL
if it shaves well, all is good
some prefer the shorty's over standard length, so it must still have some merit

Originally Posted by Substance

the 2nd link isn't working

looks alright for a custom Japanese western style Kamisori Shorty LOL
if it shaves well, all is good
some prefer the shorty's over standard length, so it must still have some merit

Thanks for the heads up about the 2nd link not working. FleaBay can do some strange things.

That first razor looks a little odd sitting in those scales. Almost like it was an afterthought . . .

Your first razor is King Heart Columbia, I have never seen other than a full size blade from them. IMO the blade has been shortened and the the scales have been modified for whatever reason.
Those frame backs are very common for Japanese razors, many makers had them. The way I see it you get the stiffness of a wedge in the form factor of a full hollow. Those framebacks hone just like any other razor nothing different as far as technique goes.

One of the more common brands on this side of the pond is the Toyo Sheon burg. They have three different models that I am aware of that are frame backs, 663,665, 666.

Nice catch! I enjoy shaving with those framebacks. That is a little shorter than all but a wa Kamisori and may have been cut down to shave like one. They are easy to hone and keep up also. Japanese were no slouches as to configuring and tempering fine steels.
~Richard

Originally Posted by Orville

That first razor looks a little odd sitting in those scales. Almost like it was an afterthought . . .

I don't know what the previous owner was thinking. the scales are shortened a proper distance/the toe clears the wedge by about an 1/8th of an inch. If they hadn't ground the shank down then I don't see the need to carve out the scales/but it's been done and while it's not a looker it is a nice shaver and that's what counts in the end.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Your first razor is King Heart Columbia, I have never seen other than a full size blade from them. IMO the blade has been shortened and the the scales have been modified for whatever reason.

Thanks Stefen, I agree that it was shortened but for what reason I don't know. I do know that the toe had a very small chip so instead of working the blade back I went ahead and put a radius at the tip.

Any ideas of when it was made?

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I don't know what the previous owner was thinking. the scales are shortened a proper distance/the toe clears the wedge by about an 1/8th of an inch. If they hadn't ground the shank down then I don't see the need to carve out the scales/but it's been done and while it's not a looker it is a nice shaver and that's what counts in the end.



Thanks Stephen, I agree that it was shortened but for what reason I don't know. I do know that the toe had a very small chip so instead of working the blade back I went ahead and put a radius at the tip.

Any ideas of when it was made?

I would guess sometime n the 60's.
I also remembered tat I have seen a short frameback, but it was different brand and was shaped similar to a French point.