Thread: A Package from Japan Pt 2

Well as I sit here I'm looking and comparing the Tosuke and Iwasaki razors. Both razors weigh in at exactly 39 Grams. The Tosuke has the rubber handle covering the metal handle and the iwasaki has no covering. Just bare metal. The Tosuke blade is slightly smaller in height and length than the Iwasaki (a mm or 2) but while the Tosuke is boxier in shape the Iwasaki has more style and work to it. Nothing drastic but its there, very subtle.

On the Tosuke the entire razor is polished carbon Steel though the finish is on the rough side by European standards. The Iwasaki is even more so. The handle and top half of the blade are blackened the bottom half of the blade is polished to a finer degree than the Tosuke. The Iwasaki is swedish Steel however the polishing pattern sure looks like stainless steel to me so I don't know. I'm sure the wrappings say what it is but I don't speak the lingo.

The geometry of the blade is the same on both razors. So how does it shave compared to the Tosuke? Out of the box the Tosuke didn't shave at all. It took quite some work but once there shaves like a dream. The iwasaki out of the box gave a presentable shave but still needs some work to get it to where I can really compare the two but the overall shaving routine is the same with both.

The only other comment is the Tosuke is a spike point with a slight rounding of the spike which makes a big difference when shaving. The iwasaki has a more pronounced spike edge with a scallop in it so you need to be a little more careful.

I will reserve judgement until I get it up to snuff but remember the iwaski costs more than 2x the price of the Tosuke. The maker of the Iwaski is a very famous sword maker and teacher in Japan so no doubt that is part of the reason for the difference. Also I haven't decided if the bare metal handle on the iwasaki makes that much of a difference. I guess if I was handy with wood I could fashion a set of scales or I could wrap some silk cord or something like that around it.

Stay tuned for developments.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The maker of the Iwaski is a very famous sword maker and teacher in Japan so no doubt that is part of the reason for the difference.

I was in a store here the other day (central Tokyo) looking at an Iwasaki razor and the store owner said that Iwasaki had passed away. If it is the same guy I guess these will go up in price? (been here now 8 years and speak the lingo so I am resonably sure it was him but the spelling is slightly different in the original post?)

Originally Posted by Anthony416

I was in a store here the other day (central Tokyo) looking at an Iwasaki razor and the store owner said that Iwasaki had passed away. If it is the same guy I guess these will go up in price? (been here now 8 years and speak the lingo so I am resonably sure it was him but the spelling is slightly different in the original post?)

Great, since you speak the lingo. Look at this post in the hones section. There is a picture of the hone I got. Tell me if you can read the writing on the side of the hone or even better what the history of the hone is based on the text on the japan yahoo site.

I had a brief look at the site and see that the markings on the stone basically refer to the maker and the size (I think there are standard categories that stones are classified under here) and quality?

As you say, there is much more information in the text that is under the photo. My speaking ability is good but my reading of text takes a bit more time so give me a day or so to get some of the important details for you.
This will be a good study for me also since I have not yet purchased a Japanese hone and wanted to learn more about them. (Currently I have a Japanese version Shapton professional 12k, a black hard Arkansas and a pasted paddle strop)

Cheers
Anthony

When I initally got the razor I spent about 15 minutes honing on the 12K Kitayama in the Japanese Tradition. That's what it took to brink the Tosuke to shaving perfection. I would swear that Iwasaki was laughing at the hone. When I shaved there was no improvement. So then I spent about 30 minutes on the japanese natural stone hone I got and when I shaved this morning there was a minor improvement. I've got a bad feeling aboput this. I'm afraid this is going to be like my TI damascus which took forever to hone up. The steel in the iwasaki is incredibly hard.

I actually tried shaving with the concave side against my skin at all times. It was interesting to say the least and at times freightening. At least no blood was spilled.

Trying to shave this way is basically learning to shave all over again. Everything you do with shaving with a normal razor is out the window. You need to shave certain areas with handle pointing up and others pointing down, Some areas shaving backhanded and some forehanded. You need to keep changing the position and manner you hold the razor. Some areas with some crazy position where you can't see what your doing and don't seem to have any control of the razor. It ain't for the faint of heart but if you can shave with this you can shave with anything.

So the moral of the story is what kind of shave do you get? Well certainly not up to the standards I'm accustomed to with a regular razor but its going to take me a couple weeks of shaving everyday and more honing on this thing before I can really answer that. I still have to figure out some problem moves with this thing, maybe I'll post a newbee post and ask some questions.

OK, here is what I think are some of the intersting points in the explanation of the stone....

It is called a Jun-mikawa-nagura and the series has 12 grades (and possibly 3 sizes within each grade)
There is also another series called mikawa-nagura and it also has 12 grades but the "Jun" (series which this stone is in) is the highest grade series. ("Jun" means pure and is used for many products that are highest class. Some sake also has Jun grades)

Anyway this stone seems about the 2nd top of the 12 grades within the "jun" series. It is also the larges size in its category.

Apparently more than 40 years ago most of the barber shops across Japan used this high grade hone.

The intersting other point is that the deposit where this stone in mined (in Aichi prefecture) was discovered and commercially sold by the famous Iwasaki san to use for his razors and scissors.

I might try and get one of these now (if the feedback is good.........!)

Cheers
Anthony

Well, I can tell you the feedback is very good. I have played around with this hone a bit and I thought the Coticule was the cats meow in putting a mirror finish on the edge and sharpening to the max but to be honest this hone puts the coticule to shame and I'm not exaggerating. Its also way faster than the coticule.

From what I gather the belgian stones are quite hard and use garnets to do the cutting. The japanese stones are way softer and use a clay mineral. So basically its kind of like using a super fine levigated alumina to do the work. Almost reminds me of my College days when I worked in the geology lab doing polishing of various types and we used Cerium Oxide for the final polish. Nothing can touch that stuff. The result is similar. Run and buy one before people discover it and there is a run like the current one on Tosuke razors.

OK, now I have to get serious about finding one!
Did you make a slurry when using it? If so what stone did you use to create the slurry? Any other hints appreciated.
Cheers,
Anthony

Yes I used a slurry. A slurry stone came along with the hone. It also has all kinds of stamps on it like the hone does. Its not soft like the usual nagura. I'm guessing its the same type of stone as the hone but far inferior quality. You can tell by the grain in the stone. Check out the Japan yahoo sites in razors and hones. Your bound to find one.

Well I just scored the set shown below via our new mate Spencer.

I'll let you know what happens when they arrive.