Thread: To-Un Ihara 6/8

This razor recently popped up on Fendrihan. It's a hollow grind with a damascus steel blade exterior and white paper carbon steel core and goes for USD $245, which immediately caught my attention. The scales are mesmerizing too! Unfortunately, they specify neither the white paper steel # nor the depth of the grind (I hope it's #2 full hollow).

I'm curious if any of you have tried, or even seen, this razor. I haven't found any information about it or the manufacturer, either in English or Japanese. Someone at B&B ordered one, but they haven't reported back yet. Any information about the razor or the manufacturer would be most welcome. (High-resolution image)

I know nothing about this razor, but it sounds too good to be true.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I know nothing about this razor, but it sounds too good to be true.

I was thinking the same. However, as far as I know, Fendrihan is a reputable vendor and the manufacturer has a good reputation, albeit as a knife maker. Plus, Japanese damascus knives are much cheaper than their German counterparts. Given these background factors, it at least seems possible that it is a quality razor. Nonetheless, I am still quite wary (and hence why I'm asking around).

I had the same thoughts about the vendor. I never have dealt with them but I think it might be worth contacting the vendor and discussing it with them.

You can see the knife maker heritage by the way the scales are pinned, just like the bolsters on a knife. It would be an interesting proposition to tighten the hinge pin if it loosens up. That sorta throws up a red lag about what the blade geometry might be like too, again considering the knife maker heritage.

Bob

I just received this blade in for honing and will report back with my findings. Upon initial inspection, I'm not impressed. It's ground to .025" thick at its thinnest - so the bevel is massive, it also doesn't feel quality to me, and the steel kinda feels "dead" is the best way to describe it... also, the etchings are very light and to be honest it could be a re-labeled pakistani or chinese blade... But I haven't touched it to a stone yet, so, maybe I'm wrong.

Also, it appears this razor is the exact one that Fendrihan used for the listing pictures -- the G-10 layering is identical and the light colored G-10 imperfections around the pins is identical, as is the layered steel lines.

Looks to be suminagashi steel.
That would explain the "dead" feel, as the out layers are mild carbon steel that doesn't harden.
The steel could be fine.... the execution of the finish product may be the biggest problem.
Hard to say exactly without on in my hands.

Thanks for saying this.. I think you may be right, and given how much work the bevel needs, I don't think it's going to be wise to sharpen this razor without tape as the spine may wear too quickly for me to get a proper bevel set. I'm going to use tape and see how it goes.

Originally Posted by MileMarker60

Looks to be suminagashi steel.
That would explain the "dead" feel, as the out layers are mild carbon steel that doesn't harden.
The steel could be fine.... the execution of the finish product may be the biggest problem.
Hard to say exactly without on in my hands.

Fendrihan is a great place for soaps and the like but their razors are not hand honed and they have sold some lesser inventory over the years. They sold tons of Timor razors that essentially had all of the issues that everyone complains about with Gold Dollar razors, although they were mysteriously marked made in Solingen Germany.

Well boys, it took me 2 hours, but, the razor is shaving - and shaving well.

I can say that the steel is of good quality. But I do NOT recommend it to someone who is learning to hone. with 1 layer of tape, the bevel is nearly .100" wide.