Thread: Restoring an Iwasaki Tamahagane Western Razor

Great job Peter!

That is very cool I figured you had some kind of cooling system with that awesome setup you have, I wish I had a setup like that I'd be in business then. An I understand not completely correcting it I have 2 Iwasakis that had the same issue an I fixed them leaving the toe a little narrower so that I didn't have to take off too much material I just wish I had your setup it would have went a lot quicker when I did mine.

Great work and great story the tradition and history of these past artisans lives on in your workshop thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Iwasaki razors are without a doubt among the best razors ever produced. I love the skill and craftsmanship of Iwasaki razors.

Iwasaki was obsessed with razors and edged tools in general. In pursuit of his passion, he obtained a PhD in metallurgy from the University of Tokyo (the top university in Japan). He conducted extensive research on ancient samurai blades, collecting insights from centuries-old documents. His book, Understanding Blades (Japanese title: 刃物の見方), first published in 1969, is a classic work on Japanese smithing, metallurgy, and tamahagane steel. It is still in print and referenced and discussed today. If anyone should be anointed the saint of straight razors, it ought to be him. You're lucky to own one of his razors.

Anyhow, amazing restoration! I'm now even a bit tempted to buy a beat up Iwasaki and send it your way. I also want to thank you for acquiring the equipment and learning the skills from the old masters. I hope you will pass on your knowledge and keep the tradition alive.

Thanks for the info concerning Kosuke Iwasaki, of course I know the background and what is generally known about him and his work and skill.
Unfortunately I did not found his book that you mentioned somewhere translated to english language. It is only published in the original japanese I suppose!? I would devour this fantastic source of information.
Maybe we can get some of our japanese straight razor friends to start a translation?

As far as I can tell, it only exists in Japanese. Fortunately, the research library I have access to has a copy. I'll take a look at it, but I expect it to be a very technical translation. It's 177 pages long, so it'll take a least a year to translate in one's spare time (~1hr/day).

However, since it's still in print, it'd be a bad idea to publish an unauthorized translation online. Given that many razor and knife enthusiasts as well as woodworkers are eager to read it in English, a specialty publisher could probably easily get the translation rights from the Japanese publisher. If anyone here knows such a specialty publisher, we could get this project going.