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Thread: not loving my kamisori

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    Senior Member globaldev's Avatar
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    Default not loving my kamisori

    i understand what appeals to me about kamisori style razors, but i recently acquired a size 2 iwasaki in great shape and the shaves off of it have been nothing stellar in comparison to my self honed straights...

    i read a ton, watched a bunch of vids and this morning had to put down the kamisori after two short strokes and finish with a joey allen med. grind which melted the 60 hr beard right off. this kamisori is supposed to be wicked sharp when properly honed right? that just makes sense.

    please confirm a couple things before i put the kamisori on sabbatical... you shave with the back side of the blade which is the flatter of the two sides, “Omote”, not with the side of the blade w/ stamped “Ura” side.

    honing is anywhere 3-7:1 omote:ura with some slight pressure on omote side and back pull with ura only... watched glenn's youtube for reference

    thanks for any suggestions...

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    The Hurdy Gurdy Man thebigspendur's Avatar
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    The only thing I'll tell you is when properly honed the kamisori will give you the best shave you will ever get period. The trick is getting it properly honed and getting the right shaving technique down. As far as the honing goes most of the strokes are going to go on the shaving side of the razor and I'll leave another to discuss the sides issue. In the end the razor will shave equally well no matter which side you use though it's designed as a one sided shaver.
    onimaru55 likes this.
    No matter how many men you kill you can't kill your successor-Emperor Nero

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    At this point in time... gssixgun's Avatar
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    OK shaving with one, watch these vids as they are really really good, and have some awesome blade handling techniques for keeping the razor right.. Honestly I am not that good with one myself, I still use both sides sometimes but like TBS says you can but you have to do a bit of angle adjustment...


    http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ori-shave.html.

    Kamisori Shave - YouTube



    For sharpening, it looks much easier than it is, the pressure is the trick, I try and explain that in the vid but honestly it is something you have to play with to learn...
    Watch and listen to what I say about using the thumbs to push the edge into the stone, and about how the pressure reverses to the spine on the single draw back stroke..

    And yes it should be so sharp as to want you to use no pressure more like a gliding over the face rather than trying to cut hair stroke...


    Give it another soild attempt at getting the honing down if it doesn't work for you then pm me and I'll hone it for you N/C.. Once they are dailed in, they are very easy to manintain, but yep getting them dailed can be a chore
    Last edited by gssixgun; 12-14-2011 at 05:22 PM.

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    Hones/Honing/Master Barber avatar1999's Avatar
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    I've been trying to find one...anyone have any leads to where I can find an Iwasaki? *sigh*

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    Don't they sell them on SRD?

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    I used Nakayamas for my house mainaman's Avatar
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    I shave with both sides of kamisori and it works just fine for me.

    Also if honed correctly they really shave great.
    Stefan

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    Not with my razor 🚫 SirStropalot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by avatar1999 View Post
    I've been trying to find one...anyone have any leads to where I can find an Iwasaki? *sigh*
    Check the classifieds, there's one there now. Straight Razors - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

    Howard

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    Hones/Honing/Master Barber avatar1999's Avatar
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    Ok, here's another question. Glen says in his video that these razors NEED a high finishing stone above an 8k. My concern is that I will have to find some really expensive hone to keep this thing in shape. I guess the question is, what are my options for a stone for an iwasaki? And would anyone be willing to hook me up with a great deal? LOL

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    At this point in time... gssixgun's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by avatar1999 View Post
    Ok, here's another question. Glen says in his video that these razors NEED a high finishing stone above an 8k. My concern is that I will have to find some really expensive hone to keep this thing in shape. I guess the question is, what are my options for a stone for an iwasaki? And would anyone be willing to hook me up with a great deal? LOL
    This is one of the few times that I really feel that a high grit stone is in order,,, These razors really should just glide over the skin IMHO... Most times I am all for the keep it simple solution and really I can't feel huge differences for the money when talking shaving, but with Kamisori I can feel the difference


    Yes go right ahead a call me a Kamisori snob
    Last edited by gssixgun; 12-14-2011 at 07:58 PM.

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    Hones/Honing/Master Barber avatar1999's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gssixgun View Post
    This is one of the few times that I really feel that a high grit stone is in order,,, These razors really should just glide over the skin IMHO... Most times I am all for the keep it simple solution and really I can't feel huge differences for the money when talking shaving, but with Kamisori I can feel the difference
    So basically...I'm gonna have to fork out big bucks for another hone huh? lol

    Does it have to be a Jnat? Or would something else work?

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