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I'm thinking of buying a vintage Kamisori but I have a few questions.
Is there a big difference in different makers as it is with normal SR:s or are all vintage Kamisoris good razors?
How do you hone them? I read it should be a 3:2 ratio and you move them back and forth unlike a normal straight. What side should get three strokes?
And how do you strap them? Just like a normal razor?
Kind regards,
Magnus
I haven't honed a large enough sample of different makers to make a statement on quality...
I have maybe on the outside done 100 of them, heck I am not even positive about what all the names were, Most were Iwasakis and Tosukes...
I haven't met one that won't shave, I have met a few that required more work to get an even bevel on .. Basically the same as western razors :)
I have a Vid up on here about honing them, I will warn you that it looks very very easy to do in the Vid, it isn't, the motions are easy, getting the pressure right takes some practice... If the bevel it straight and set you should be ok, but if you mess on the pressure, it is a bit faster to mess up a razor than the Western counter part...
The Vids you want are at the bottom of the page, and I did not use any Japanese terms while doing the vid by design..
http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...-gssixgun.html
I've only ever honed Iwasakis and I've honed precisely two of them..! :D Mine and an eBay one for another member here.
Because I got fed up with flipping the blade over I ended up doing the honing in a 6:4 ratio rather than 3:2, which seemed to work fine. Those are the only razors I've not used tape on and the one I did for the member here too ages to bevel set because the the flat side wasnt hollowed out at all so I had to remove a lot of steel to get the bevel set and repair the edge, which was a bit chipped up.
I agree that if you get it wrong it seems to go wrong much faster than with a western razor. I would say it took me nearly an hour to get that eBay one shave ready, but when it was done she was a sweet shaver.
If they are quality pieces they are all good shavers the same as Western Razors. From what I've seen they all have a different feel to them the same as Western Razors however if they are in good shape and well honed they all shave great.
I have 11 kamisoris and all are really good shavers. I honed them all with 10:1 Ratio.