Thread: My holy grail, Iwasaki western Tamahagane

Originally Posted by Dovo1695

It looks like a really nice example of an Iwasaki Western Swedish Carbon Steel Razor that's been nicely re-handled. I don't know a lot about the carbon steel ones, but I do know that they are very well regarded as exceptional razors. They're less sought after than the tamahagane ones by collectors, but many would argue that's really only due to the relative scarcity of the tamahagane one's, not due to a significant performance difference or craftsmanship.

I can't see the Kanji well enough in the pic, but if it has an "M" on it, that stands for medium hardness. These were hardened to 775-795 Vickers (63 Rockwell) rather than the 800-820 Vickers (64+ Rockwell) that the standard carbon steel Western razors were. This was done to make them easier to sharpen, and were marketed to the growing number of female barbers in the postwar period. They tend to be a bit shorter as well which also makes them easier to hone.

I shall post a clear picture of the tang tomorrow.
Thanks for helping! I don't know it's history other than it was used in Japan. The tang is etched and not stamped.
I actually shortened it a tiny bit and rescaled it, as-explained in this thread; http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...l-iwasaki.html.

I should have said the majority of razors were made between 1946 & 1967 by Kousuke sensei.

Tom, all I see is the Maru san mark & Iwasaki name on the tang. Anything on the flip side ?

I can safely say 'nary a thing!

I shall look tomorrow morning. I have slept since I last saw it!

Tom
I have a Iwasaki like yours with the etched tanged, mine has the kanji for Tokiwa on the reverse.
Its unusual in the fact it has a stabiliser and i haven't seen that particular model in a Iwasaki catalogue, all i can say is that it is made with Swedish steel and mine is a wonderful shaver.

Dang! Went to work and forgot top get a better pic. Nothing on the backside tang.....
An old workshop pic. .........

Mark congrats on finding your holy grail razor. Tom great work on that razor, scales are incredible. Here pics of mine hopefully someone can tell me more about it?Looks like the same stamp as Tom's but its on the back side on mine the front got that 3m stamp.

Martin - yours looks like it is an Iwasaki Tokiwa razor, Tokiwa would frequently finish some of Iwasaki's razors, on my phone right now so typing is limited, but I posted a similar iwasaki tokiwa a couple of months ago....

The Kanji on the other side of Iwasaki's mark is Tokiwa...as I mentioned, I posted a similar razor...

Martin

As Phrank said the kanji means Tokiwa, Im not sure what the 3 stands for but the M means medium hardness. Yours will be made from Kousuke Iwasakis' modified Swedish steel that closely resembles Tamahagane. Iwasakis' western razors were sent to Tanifuji Fukutaro for finishing.

Here's a pic of my Iwasaki Tokiwa razor....