I own and use a Suehiro 1200 grit. I paid about $35 for it in the states so it shouldn't be too hard to find in your neck of the woods.
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I just got back from visiting Sidney Kidney's Japanese razor emporeom.
Well, it's more of a knife heaven, to tell the truth. Fantastic array of slicers and dicers, folded steel knives that'd break your heart (and credit rating!).
Alas, the selection has apparently dwindled since his visit. The way overpriced Dovo Bismark is still there. It is an odd duck. It's carbon steel, it has three pin scales, and it has the same blade profile as the Dovo Renaissance. All for a mere $230 bucks or so!:gaah:
The other high quality option that got me a bit jumpy and squirmy was a beautiful Japanese style straight not pictured in the original post. Fantasticly sharp, even just to look at. I believe it is a Tosuke, but it has a rattan wrapped handle. The blade is the usual melded steel and shape as the other Tosukes I've seen pics of, and it says "English Steel" across the top of the blade. Really a cool grind to the razor. I had never seen one in person before. I held it for quite some time turning it over in my hand, admiring the light glinting along the edges and angles of the steel.....
And then I remembered that they were asking $195 for it, and I put it down.:cry:
I was hoping to score the $95 Tosuke I had seen in Mr. Sidney's post, but that was apparently long gone.
Not a bad price, mind you. But after holding one in my hands, the balance felt odd to me, and the asymetrical grind wasn't doing it for me at that pricepoint.
Thanks Sydney for the head's up! A fun store to poke around in for any man. Knives, scissors, axes, chisels, big knives, small knives, REALLY big knives! All good stuff!:D
Oh, forgot to mention they also had a terrific array of hones, both natural (a couple in the >$1,000 range), and synthetic. There was a synthetic 10k hone that I was pondering, but I decided to stick with my tried and true diamond lapping film....
Thanks for letting me know :) At prices like that i'd probably be ding the same.... :chop:
If you have any pics i'd appreciate seeing them. :tu
Congratulation! Nice haul. Looks like a beauty of a hone you picked up.
I was at the wrong store yesterday! It was at the opposite end of the street and around the corner....
Today I found Sidney's store and had a score!
Lookie, lookie....:rock:
I know it probably wasn't crafted by Mr. Tosuke himself, but I don't care, beacause it's mine, all mine!:p
Needs to be honed first of all, and I'll ease those spike points a touch...
And the balance of this razor is much, much better than the one from the other store. The pricepoint too!
Man that is an AWESOME find! :bow I'm UBER jealous
How do you know the second store was the one I went to?
And that end on view of the razor looks strange. Is the razor symmetrical or not? :thinking:
Those japanese razors aren't supposed to be symmetrical as far as I know. They are ground hollow on one side and flat(ish) on the other I believe. Looks like it was the store you went to since that looks like the razor seen in one of the pics you posted! Could have been yours!
Ah right. :gaah: