Thread: A buyers guide to Kamisoris

I was looking into buying a Kamisori and I was hoping for some tips on what to look for. I'm not so much worried about makers but more about things such as hone wear and condition. Also what are some of the things that you look for in a Kamisori (blade with, angel, handle). Any information would be much appreciated.

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They usually come in 45 , 50 & less often, 60mm lengths.
Handle wrap or no is up to you. I like the bare metal.

They can usually shave ok even with a lot of hone wear if you know how to restore them but a lot of the ones on eBay only have one restore, if that, left in them.

If you don't have the know how, you can only go on price & honesty of the seller. It's rare to find a bargain kamisori on eBay.

I too have been window shopping for a Kamisori. As with so many other razors out there, there are a lot of them marked NOS that clearly are not. There are quite a few sellers that need to realize that NOS does not stand for nice old shaver. I was hoping for some finer details too. A lot of them seems to be honed crooked too.

I'm afraid I'm not much help, but I'll be watching this thread in hopes of learning more. I do know that they come in right or left handed versions.

Same thing you look for on every other razor

BUT

On a Kamisori it is actually harder to correct the issues that might have been left from the old honer
Some of the stuff that I have seen newbs post "Proudly" I just *SMH* and think what a waste of money

Honestly buy a new one for your first one, and even then they are rarely Shave Ready from e-bay, but at least they have the steel there to be able to correct them..

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Honestly buy a new one for your first one, and even then they are rarely Shave Ready from e-bay, but at least they have the steel there to be able to correct them..

The red highlight is probably the best idea.

To buy second hand you need to know the maker's grind style eg the apparently large looking edge bevel on a Tosuke NOS could mean something was wrong if you saw the same on a Iwasaki.

Below is a NOS Tosuke followed by another that looks like it's had a pretty straight regrind. You can see the grind marks & polish are different.

Here are some Iwasaki with a few years of hone wear.
Notice that on the stamped side (Ura) it should always be miniscule.

The 2nd pic of the non stamped side (omote) shows acceptable wear for 5 or 6 years use. Notice that altho the ridge wear is tapered the edge bevel is smallish & straight

Last pics are some considerably worn Tosuke. The blue one has been honed into a smile. Not usual for kamisori.

The 2nd one has consideable wear & has been scraped with a sen (jp metal file) into a pretty rough finish. In spite of the wear on this one, it could shave very nicely. It just may not have enough meat for more restoration if, eg it was dropped & chipped a few times.

This thread is loads of help! I thank you all for the advice and pointers.[emoji3] [emoji106]

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Originally Posted by aaron1234

This thread is loads of help! I thank you all for the advice and pointers.[emoji3] [emoji106]

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I agree! This is helpful.