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Thread: Unknown Kamisori producer

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    Senior Member Slur's Avatar
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    Question Unknown Kamisori producer

    I am thinking of buying the following Kamisori straight razor.

    I would like to have some opinions about the quality of this razor.

    I am concerned by the fact that the producer “Mizuike Kobo” is unknown to me, and by the price. Most new Kamisoris cost over 300$, and this one costs half of the price.



    Do you have any idea if this is a good razor at all?

    Does anybody know anything about this producer (Mizuike Kobo)?



    Thank you very much!

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    Senior Member Slur's Avatar
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    I see that there is no answer. I guess that nobody has ever heard about this producer.


    Would you buy this razor?

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    The Great & Powerful Oz onimaru55's Avatar
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    The ad says it's from "an emerging maker" so maybe the seller could give you more info , like what the smith has made in the past & what steel he uses, Is it honed & ready to use ?
    The bevels look small & even so the smithing seems good but otherwise can't make any judgements.
    “The white gleam of swords, not the black ink of books, clears doubts and uncertainties and bleak outlooks.”

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    Senior Member Slur's Avatar
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    I asked the seller what kind of steel did the smith use,
    I got this answer:
    Hi the supplier states "Hitachi Yasuki White steel(Shiro-gami)" thank you


    Do you have any idea what is this white steel?

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    The Great & Powerful Oz onimaru55's Avatar
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    Hitachi White steel is a high carbon steel, 1.1C I think. Commonly used in Japanese knives & chisels. Takes a very hard & sharp edge.
    http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/medi..._M_WE_D_en.pdf
    “The white gleam of swords, not the black ink of books, clears doubts and uncertainties and bleak outlooks.”

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    Senior Member blabbermouth JimR's Avatar
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    Well, google told me that "Mizuike Koubou" probably refers to Osami Mizuike, who works under the name "Kanenaga". I found a Japanese site which also sells those razors (for quite a bit more, due to the exchange rate) Mizuike became a smith about 3 years ago, at the age of 62 or so, but he was in the scissor business for most of his life before that. He met Ichihara, formerly the Henkotsu smith a few years ago, and apparently also now makes razors. The site says there is a month wait for each razor.

    So on the one hand, he probably knows things like heat treating and proper steel handling from his teacher, but on the other it looks like he's just now started making razors...the site also says he understood the difficult art of razor making amazingly easily (they use a bizarre idiom saying "he understood ten things by asking one.").

    Probably good razors, the cheap price is most likely due to the fact that the guy has no name, and is breaking into a very very small market with little support from tradition.

    In reference to the steel, the Japanese site lists it as Hitachi White Paper #2, which is a high quality blade steel popular in Japan for all kinds of uses. But remember, blade quality is as much a matter of the maker's skill as the steel.

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    Know thyself holli4pirating's Avatar
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    My .02 is you could likely get a known quality Japanese razor for about the same price, and I myself would make the safer play. But, it would be wonderful if someone tried these out and could share the experience with the rest of us.

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    Senior Member Zelenbakh's Avatar
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    Just for wider shoice I would advice you to check with japannippon | eBay .
    He has different Kamisoris, starting from 70$ and up to 600$ for a razor made of famous Tamahagane.
    brokenknee likes this.

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    Senior Member blabbermouth JimR's Avatar
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    Everything about Japannippon's listings rubs me the wrong way. Yes, there are some good razors in there, but there is also plenty of garbage, which shouldn't be sold. Everything about the listings says "all I know is, people will pay money for this stuff so ima get me some. NINJA SAMURAI HIYA!"

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    The Great & Powerful Oz onimaru55's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimR View Post
    Everything about Japannippon's listings rubs me the wrong way. Yes, there are some good razors in there, but there is also plenty of garbage, which shouldn't be sold. Everything about the listings says "all I know is, people will pay money for this stuff so ima get me some. NINJA SAMURAI HIYA!"
    Interesting he has one from the same maker (Kanenaga) for $386
    Last edited by onimaru55; 04-25-2011 at 08:08 AM.
    “The white gleam of swords, not the black ink of books, clears doubts and uncertainties and bleak outlooks.”

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