Thread: Vintage Kamisori Razors and Microtomes?

SEEKING INFORMATION.

Please help eradicate my razor ignorance.

In looking at non-western style vintage Kamisori Japanese razors and other vintage Traditional Japanese razors, I began to wonder "How do they differ from a microtome razor?"

Does a microtome, designed for taking tissue samples, have the same grind as a Kamisori or other traditional Japanese razor? The question was brought more intensely to mind when I read a member's comment that "microtomes were never meant for straight razor shaving and are best avoided." After a search, I also read some pretty negative comments about Kamisoris in particular but those reviews were on the newer Kamisori western style razors.

Are traditional Japanese razors ground only on one side like a microtome or are they ground on both sides?

If they do have the same grind, why would shaving with a vintage Japanese razor be "good" and shaving with a microtome be "bad?" Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks for your help!
Happy Shaving!

A kamisori has an assymmetrical grind, meaning one side is more hollow than the other but both sides ARE hollowed. A microtome is completely flat on one side...0 hollowing at all. This makes honing a microtome very difficult, and the edge angle is also far more acute than other razors.

The work involved to get a microtome to a level where it will shave is simply not worth the reward. I've got a couple and they are, to my mind, curiosities at best.

The Microtome was originally made to cut, so the chisel grind was easily made sharp, but without the second grind, although minute on a Kamisori, the ability to make the edge smooth is lost on the Microtome. It is that very slight hollowing that allows the Kamisori to achieve smoothness while honing... (Read Jim's Post)
This is the essential difference between "Sharp" and "Shaving Sharp" that we talk about so often, on a tool, the edge is established when a burr is formed then it is drawn off creating an edge that is sharp to cut.. With a Shaving Sharp Edge that burr is detrimental to the smoothness of the edge, therefore we don't create it...

The difference in practice is to simply use 1 layer of electrical tape as a cheater on the microtome this lets you create a shaving edge and the smoothness, The actual use of a microtome for shaving is even more difficult then learning the difference between a Western style razor and a Kamisori razor, they are however when honed correctly probably the sharpest edge you will ever put on your face.. They are also as Jim says a curiousity more then a way to shave They are mostly fun little projects, that we do just to see what happens, we call them Mico-soris most of the time...