Quote Originally Posted by DaveW View Post
I still haven't seen anything definitive about tamahagane - how it holds up in durability or how absolutely sharp it gets compared to white #1 and #2, or assab K steels, I'm wondering if you didn't tell people what was in a razor if they could tell the difference. In woodworking tools, there were gobs of tools labeled Tamahagane that just had mass produced carbon steel in them. I don't think iwasaki would do that, but he may be forge purifying steels to take things out of them and make them more like tamahagane.
I have both Swedish and Tamahagane Iwasaki western straights and I can tell you there is difference.
The tamahagane is full hollow it is in the HRC 65 range, I can flex the edge with a nail but there is absolutely no chipping when honed. It is very wear resistant compared to standard solingen or sheffield steel. The Swedisn steel Iwasakis I have are in the HRC 62 range hollow as well and also pretty tough to hone but easier than the tamahagane one. I have honed a lot of white steel kamisori and they hone easy compared.