Thread: Iwasaki Kamisori Repair/Restore

This one was a bit of a mini disaster all over.
The owner had stored it on a window sill which invited rust. Even the maker's stamp had rusted. The edge was pitted & chipped & the icing on the cake was that he dropped it & broke a few mm's off the tip. All on a near new razor
Bit of bad luck & bad management but we caught it in time rust wise.
Yet to hone it but so far so good.
First set of pics are all befores. Remembered to do them this time

I feel like crying...

Originally Posted by JimR

I feel like crying...

There there...
It's in a better place now.

Sad to see ain't it

Anyhoo.
These next pics are after about 3 hours on the wetgrinder reshaping the tip on a lapped, very slow 80 grit stone. Did some work on the nose bevel with a bastard file & some slip stones & then cleaned up the blade faces with scotchbrite wheels & a coarse cut polishing compound. The omote (front) is soft steel & you can see the weld line is starting to show as a shadow (pics 2&3). First pic is ura or back. Pic is edge down.
I've left a rather large muting on the point. The honing should shorten it some. Still some rust remaining at this point. More to do.

Next lot are pics after trying to reblacken the stamps & other patchy areas. The stamps came up ok after sanding them over but didn't seem to improve the rest much. I used oxalic acid to try neutralise the rust I was chasing & then took it all back to the buffs again as I had some over runs. Happy with the rust removal but I must research that black finish a bit more. It seems more than just an acid etch as I tried to do. Has a powdery feel too. Any input appreciated of course.
Start honing tomorrow. Need alcohol now

btw pics are beside another Iwasaki to compare toe reduction & finish. Repaired razor is on bottom &/or right side

Nice Work!

Great work on the magnified photos. Microscope and a good camera I assume? Roughly 20x?

Jeff

Great work Oz!

I'm jealous. An Iwasaki is toward the top of my wish list.

Currently too expensive for me.

Originally Posted by TURNMASTER

Great work on the magnified photos. Microscope and a good camera I assume? Roughly 20x?
Jeff

Thanx Jeff. Yes an older Fuji S9500 & a Veho 20-200x USB m'scope. The first lot of bevel pics are near the 200x end.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Oz,
if I am not wrong that it Kurouchi finish, it is basically the crud after the forging that has not been cleaned off the blade. This is a very popular finish on Japanese style chef knives, it is great way to prevent rust.

Thanx Stefan . Of course it is I should have known that. Oh well, that's my dumb question for the week I'd still like to find a way to chemically reproduce it as the original process is out of the question.

Originally Posted by JimR

Oz, the black is charred mud left over from the tempering--you've seen it in blade making videos, I'm sure, how the hamon is made by using clay to "insulate" parts of the blade. Iwasaki kamisori received a full clay coating before final heat treating.
If you check this post on my blog: Been and Gone, Sanjou City Post 2: Conception of a Kamisori | Eastern Smooth: The Blog
about halfway down you can see some pics of razors fresh out of heat treat. The clay remains on the whole razor, and is only removed in the grinding.

Thanx Jim. The charred mud would account for the dusty texture eh. Would have been great to go & hinder/help Mizu san with the razors.
I think you earned your 'Sanjyo Kaji' t-shirt

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Very nice save Ozmodius

Let us know how you decide to hone it all out...

Thx G. Before I jump into it I'm gonna do some research on setting up JP plane & chisel blade geometry.
As I've kinda 'reduced' the bevels. I reckon I may need to set a small bevel on the ura (back, stamped side) first.
Any ideas appreciated


Thanx to everyone for comments & input

I've followed this up with a new thread in the 'advanced honing' forum. Tons of pics http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...e-restore.html