Thread: Honing a Japanese Straight

I purchased a Japanese straight on the Bay about 8 months ago and have yet to give it the ole' college try. It has a slight chip in the end, but the rest of the blade is in excellent shape. Because my japanese is a little rusty to say the least, I have no idea who the maker is.

I was wondering if there was anyone on here that hones japanese straights and might be able to give me a little insight as the best way to keep it nice and sharp. Thanks for your help!

Hey, here's a thread with some advice in it...

And if you post a pic of the Kanji characters, then I'msure someone like OLD_SCHOOL could help you out on the maker!

Good luck, and enjoy!

The biggest thing that I can advise regarding sharpening one of theses is to put it lower than a kitchen table. This will allow you to put more of your weight on the cutting edge.

Also use a 12k only unless the edge is shot and cannot cut butter.

Yeah I thought it was daft too but it works and works well.

Edit:
The edges on these blades are really fragile. So a SMALL chip may happen but if it is a big chip that may be a problem.

i think that thread is OK. Jim did you ever get the other set translated?

imho the main reason for the pressure and its placement near the edge is to help the soft steel float, so to speak, over the hone. Otherwise the differential between the hard edge and soft body could give you some excessive wear. So with pressure and even without be aware the spine of the razor can abrade away rather quickly unless you direct the force you use appropriately.

I think the abrasion of the spine and face are the reason that it was suggested to use a 12k.

I believe the Jim did have that thread translated. I use a 21/7 stroke combo. 21 on the concave and 7 on the flat. It worked really well for me.

Thanks for the help - unfortunately Im out of the country, so pictures may come a little later. I'll give the honing a shot and see if I can get a decent shave!

Japanese straights can be cantankerous to hone even when they are razors in great shape and just need a touch-up. I know a lot of guys buy from a few vendors on Eboy who sell these things in bad shape and having to redo a bevel is a job best left to someone with experience working on these and there aren't too many guys out there.

They are really different to hone and starting from scratch using a knowledge of western sharpening is probably the opposite of what you really need. The 12K hone is the proper but that's really for touchups and minor sharpening. If you have to really get a dull razor up to speed your going to have to experiment with different hones to see which works for you. I've found when doing major sharpening on these I almost treat the two sides like they were two different razors. You also have to make sure the edge geometry is still intact. I've seen some that weren't and some of these really needed a regrind.

Originally Posted by kevint

i think that thread is OK. Jim did you ever get the other set translated?

imho the main reason for the pressure and its placement near the edge is to help the soft steel float, so to speak, over the hone. Otherwise the differential between the hard edge and soft body could give you some excessive wear. So with pressure and even without be aware the spine of the razor can abrade away rather quickly unless you direct the force you use appropriately.

Hey Kevin, if you mean that very last set--the 19 page one? No...no I didn't. Didn't even start to try, to be honest...maybe that'll be my project for this year?

Originally Posted by singlewedge

I think the abrasion of the spine and face are the reason that it was suggested to use a 12k.

I believe the Jim did have that thread translated. I use a 21/7 stroke combo. 21 on the concave and 7 on the flat. It worked really well for me.

I believe the high grit is an indication that the razor was set and ready for polish; if you see what I mean. Minding to the spine, I thought to be good advice: never mind it if you choose. Jim was good to check the translation i was handed and having BS watching over us is nice too.

Like BS says it must start at some earlier point- somewhere between unmade to old and rusty. 12k is never the start

I have very limited experience. 1 microtome and 1 Jstr8. I can say that with the amount of wear on the Jstr8 that I would not have started any lower. May be if I have a Japanese Natural Razor hone, I would start there. With "western" hones, I believe that a 12k is the best spot. It takes a lot of work and for me gave me a great result. My edge on the Jstr8 is rusted through and occasionally swiss cheeses, but it still shaves great.

I would agree that if you need to set your bevel. That you do that on a lower stone, but then move to a 12k. Once I obtained a serviceable edge on the 12k I moved to 1 micron diamond and .5 micron CRO2 on balsa to just touch up the edge. That did a wonderful job.

This is just what worked for me and your edge may very.