Thread: Behold The Glory...

Originally Posted by JimR

INdeed...to find it for ME, not 50000 other mugs...


Care to lay any wagers? I reckon it'll sell for about 4 grand.

I'll keep an eye on it to see what it goes for.

Well, just got off the phone with the wife and through her guffaws of laughter, she let it be known that even a token bid would not be made.

Ah well...

There will be more. Maybe. Someday.

So sorry Jim

She really shouldn't laugh...it's an illness

Originally Posted by JimR

Well, just got off the phone with the wife and through her guffaws of laughter, she let it be known that even a token bid would not be made.

Ah well...

There will be more. Maybe. Someday.

Did I miss something?

Originally Posted by ZethLent

Did I miss something?

Seth, Rob ( avatar1999 ) posted link to an auction for the Tamahagene Iwasaki Western style razor Jim's been yearning for so long ( as well as many others ). Rob removed the link to prevent others from sniping it out of Jim. :beer:

Rob was being too nice and taking me too seriously.

HEre's the link and, for posterity, the pictures. Starting bid, 130,000 yen...

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Yeah I saw that one too, the good lady wife said "Akan!"

I would love to see the profile of the blade tho.

Maybe to help you come back to Earth and leave that heart felt longing aside...

I have a tamahagane woodworking knife made by an actual swordsmith. Which I mean someone who's daily craft is nihonto. Has Shigeoshi ever made a sword? I am not sure but it appears to be a long abandoned family legacy.

I have read that old Swedish steel is virtually indistinguishable from tamahagane. Indeed there is no hada visible within my kiridashi nor have I seen any hada visible in pictures of tamahagane razors. (maybe they're just not polished right?)

On the practical side I have never observed any magical cutting abilities or unusual sharpness. It is just a knife. In fact I would gladly trade it for a swedish steel knife made by Kanada or Tasai, etc. as these gents know how to make a knife. A swordmaker, not so much it seems. I had to do a lot of work to get the blade right for regular daily sharpening.

I'm a guy that likes tamahagane, the history and nature of its making is very appealing to my mindset and I hate to see modern knife/swordmakers beat up on it b/c it is not their thing. At the same time I would not pay even twice what a standard piece(razor or other tool)) would run. That puts me out of the collectors market. As a user i do not believe there is any benefit other than the love for the idea of it.

Kevin, I understand your point, but I think perhaps you mistake me. I don't need you or anyone else to "bring me back to earth."

I see nothing magical in tamahagane, nor do I think it is any better than any other steel.

What I see in this razor is a pure expression of a master craftsman's passion for steel, and a direct fruition of a son's apprenticeship at the feet of his father.

Kousuke Iwasaki basically made modern tamahagane what it is. After the first world war, Japan's blacksmiths were being destroyed by the cheap, mass-produced but still high quality cutlery coming out of Solingen--Kousuke's father was one of those blacksmiths, and he lost his business because people could go buy a knife cheaper than he could make one. So Kousuke, in his later life, vowed to bring Japanese steel working into the modern age, without losing its tradition, and tamahagane was how he did this.

He studied metallurgy and apprenticed himself to blacksmiths to find outjust what this steel was, putting science to the myth, and eventually his son, Shigeyoshi, began working with him. Kousuke not only qualitatively defined tamahagane, he also worked out the classification for other Japanese steels (paper, blue, white, etc.) and revived the Japanese steel industry, as well as working on his own smithing.

Shigeyoshi worked with his father, followed his passion and his dream. Shigeyoshi made this, a Western style razor, out of Tamahagane, the steel that his father used to connect Japan's history to its present...this razor is a work of truest art, nothing less. It is a piece of Japanese history, rare and precious, and I value it for what it is, not for what you tell me it is not.

Originally Posted by JimR

Shigeyoshi worked with his father, followed his passion and his dream. Shigeyoshi made this, a Western style razor, out of Tamahagane, the steel that his father used to connect Japan's history to its present...this razor is a work of truest art, nothing less. It is a piece of Japanese history, rare and precious, and I value it for what it is, not for what you tell me it is not.

A value that can only be indignified and smudged by filthy amounts of money.
After the original maker was payed for his work, such pieces should really only be passed on as presents from fathers to sons, sons to fathers, mentors go pupils or pupils to mentors, and other strong bonds that celebrate the art of being human. Anything else is a disgrace, in my humble opinion.