Thread: kamisori

hey,

i got a kamisori a time ago. i didnt know whats the make is. i asked in a german knife forum and the said that there is written: 御吉信作 which means: o Yoshinobu saku, in english it is : done by yoshinobu.
about the other signs they didnt know.
here are pictures:







does anyone know this maker yoshinobu and could give me some infos?
or someone could translate the missing signs?

thanx in advance!

noone could help me?
please.

Hello, I'm not an expert in anything, so if someone comes out with other info you can disregard mine. The circle with a symbol in it is a kanji for public or company as for it's meaning it could mean endorsed by the government or it could mean it's part of a company. The "A" I don't have a clue. The maker is Yoshinobu Nanagou or Shichigou or Nanasato the kanji after his name even though spelled one way can be spoken the three ways I have written depending on where he lived in the country so it could also mean the town he made the blade in. Now for the short column of kanji, the first one is badly made and hard to read so if it is SHI it could could mean Easy/Cheap or purple the second kanji JU could mean Layer or heavy so it is the name of the blade probably, Purple Layer could be it's meaning and sounds better than Cheap Heavy. A blade by this maker went for sale on the net for around $150.
I hope I helped a bit.

Thanks alot. Pretty nice shaver but honing was a nightmare, my new azuma was much rasier to hone.

ALRIGHT!!! Lets get another thread going on the proper way to hone a kamisori blade.

Is there a different way? I figured that straights and kamisori would be the same, I own no Kamisori myself for I think straights are a far more beautiful design.

There are actually quite a few threads here on the subject.

The method is totally different. The Japanese blade is asymmetrical. If you hone the same as western over time you will create a symmetrical profile and what I call a Frankenrazor. Most of the honing is done on the side you use to shave with. There have been honing ratio's expressed. We've used 3:1, 10:1 but the best advice I can give is do as little as possible on the non shaving side.

Typical honing strokes are back and forth strokes using a degree of downwards pressure needed to do the job. The real art to honing these babies is knowing how much pressure to use.

This is for typical minor honing. If you need to redo a bevel or major restoration it can be a difficult proposition for the uninitiated.

Thanks Mr Spender, I'm sure there is quite alot on the subject of kamisori here so thankyou for replying, I never bothered to check myself for straights float my boat