Thread: What's the secret of a japanese razor?

So, I received my kamisori today that I bought on ebay, and it came wrapped in jap. paper with letters on it that I can't read, and a silk bag to put the razor in. It was dull so I put it to the stones, a norton 4/8K combo and a black arkansas surgical stone. I actually succeed to get an edge that was far sharper then my western razors and I didn't spend much time honing at all. Can anybody tell me why? Is it the way you hone a kamisori, the material, the way it is shaped or what? When I tried it on my arm I cut myself but I didn't felt it, I saw blood when I stropped it. And another question, what side should be on the face? Is it the hollow side or the other side?

There have been a ton of threads about this. Take a look at post #3 in this thread. It should get you started very nicely. One isolated point....stay off the 4K hone.

You honed it and after the fact you are asking how to do it?

read some of the prior posts.

The Japanese quite often ship their blades unsharpened. Apparently it's a cultural thing that people get the blade (knife, razor, chisel etc.) and then sharpen their own edges to their own specifications.

Concave side goes against the surface you are cutting.

The Japanese use a number of different carbon steels, White Steel, Yellow Steel, Blue Steel, each of which has different properties. I'm not an expert so I couldn't tell you what the grades mean, only that they exist. From wah I've seen the Japanese don't appear to be using the 'super steels' or powdered steels that they've developed for knives in their traditional razors yet.

Are your western razors stainless steel? Carbon steel takes an edge much quicker that stainless. I find Japanese single bevel kitchen knives easier to sharpen than double bevel knives because it's easier to get a consistent angle, but that's an apples and oranges comparison.

I have not yet used Japanese razors (will in the near future) but I have some experience with Japanese carbon steel knives:

• Carbon steel = NOT stainless
• Carbon steel takes a much finer edge (acute angle) when compared with western stainless materials.
• "white" steel (comes wrapped in white paper) is a high carbon steel used to conform the edge of a blade.
• "blue" steel (blue paper) is a carbon-tungsten steel (used in high-end tools). Much harder (wear resistant) but more brittle than white steel. Also much harder to hone, for obvious reasons.
• These carbon alloys are often clad with softer, low carbon steels (or even pig iron) in order to give the whole blade more flexibility and toughness, as well as to make honing easier.

I have, for years, relied on a number of mid to high-end German stainless steel knives but when I first got my hands on a blue steel Santoku (watanabeblade.com) I never used them again. The blade angle is ridiculous (12°-15° vs 30°-40° for western knives).

I sincerely hope that the same applies to the Japanese razor I have just ordered . The kitchen knives are more like "food prep razors", so this straight razor should be "surgical".

Another note: Japanese knife smiths do use European carbon steels (V1, K990, etc.) in order to achieve the results which traditionally required very time consuming processes (e.g., Tamahagane steel). For more steel info I recommend zknives.com.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You honed it and after the fact you are asking how to do it?

read some of the prior posts.

No I was asking how I could get a sharper edge on the kamisori than I get on the western style razors that I have. And I was using little or no pressure at all. Using little or no pressure on my Heljestrands and Törnbloms don't give me that sharp edge that I got on my kamisori.

Originally Posted by Pauly

Are your western razors stainless steel? Carbon steel takes an edge much quicker that stainless. I find Japanese single bevel kitchen knives easier to sharpen than double bevel knives because it's easier to get a consistent angle, but that's an apples and oranges comparison.

I don't know if they are stainless. I have two Heljestrand and two Klas Törnblom.

Originally Posted by furir

I actually succeed to get an edge that was far sharper then my western razors and I didn't spend much time honing at all. Can anybody tell me why? Is it the way you hone a kamisori, the material, the way it is shaped or what? And another question, what side should be on the face? Is it the hollow side or the other side?

There are western razors that hone quickly also but because the kamisori is clad in soft iron you are essentially honing only a very small amount of hard steel at the edge. The edge angle will also be on the more acute side than some westerns too.

Both sides are hollow to differing degrees on Iwasaki razors but my worn vintage has very little hollow on the omote (front side). As these are right handed razors designed originally for shaving other people , hold the razor in your right hand & imagine standing beside someone you are about to shave.
You will be able to see the stamps showing on the Ura or (reverse side).
You can shave with either side really but as with a chisel the reverse side is not commonly used. YMMV