A Trip to the Barber

I went to visit Kawaguchi-sensei today (he really does deserve the title now...)

The other day I ran into my barber and his family out shopping, and asked him if he wouldn't mind giving me a honing lesson. He gladly agreed, so today I packed up my razors (I KNEW it would come in handy!!!) and my Japanese Natural stone and headed off for a haircut.

Luckily he wasn't busy (he rarely is...which is ok, barbering is more of a hobby for him, he actually runs a large rehabilitation center in Hiroshima...no joke!) and dived right into the razors. He examined my previous honing critically, tut tutting and muttering "Not quite..." under his breath. He wasn't impressed with the ugly Torrey I have, but he really seemed to like the Revisor. Good taste!

Then we start with honing. He gave me some pointers on straight razors, showed me the right way to use the nagura--PUSH when you raise a slurry, really get it nice and thick--and the best strokes to use. He uses a kind of circular X stroke, ending with just the tip of the razor on the hone. I practiced a bit with his guidance, and I do think it helped a lot.

Then we started on Japanese kamisori. He brought out a huge Maruka Kiita stone--it had to weight 5 pounds, and talked about how rare they were these days, and how this one had cost an arm and a leg. Apparently the stone I have isn't ideal for kamisori, because they need a longer stroke and pressure--a bigger stone is better suited, according to my barber.

He gave me guidance starting with body position. First off, he said you start with the right posture, with the hone on a table at about waist height or a little lower, your body centered above it with your eyes aligned with the center of the hone. This position helps regulate the length and proportion of your strokes.

He put the razor on the hone at about at 30 degree angle handle leading, Omote ("flat" side, NO kanji side, etc) down. He told me to place the first two fingers of the left hand in the hollow of the blade ("ura" or Kanji side up) and put pressure on the blade--not a lot, but some. The right hand on the handle is only for balance--no pressure at all from the right hand. In that position, do about TEN back and forth strokes--Up and down, edge then spine leading. Then, flip the razor (Kanji side DOWN now) and do ONE spine leading stroke.

If the razor needs more sharpening, continue that pattern until it's done.

It's not exactly what I've learned before, but I've experienced the results and they are really, really good.

So I practiced that, as well.

Then, we talked a little about razors and shaving--and he was explicit: when you use a Japanese kamisori, the "Omote" is against the face. The honing makes an assymetrical bevel that cuts best when used a that way. When you use it the other way, your angle has to change a LOT or you raise the risk of cuts. He siad it like it was obvious, which it kind of is...but I had to ask.

I asked him a little about the razors he gave me before, when he bought them and who had made them, and he had no idea. "40 years ago? 50? " he wondered, then went rummaging through the drawer that had produced the razors in the first place. This time, he brought out some razor boxes--including one stamped by Iwasaki-san himself!!! It's almost like having a signature! The boxes gave no clues to when they were made, but he gave them to me anyway...and they are awesome!




(Iwasaki's stamp is the red circular thing at the bottom right.)

And, of course, when he opened one of the boxes, out slipped an Iwasaki kamisori he had forgotten he had...he looked at it, then held it out. "Take this one too!". Of course I accepted...I wonder how many decades it sat in that drawer? Amazing...ANOTHER gift from this amazing man.



After my stumbling thanks, and after we had chatted a while, I decided I should actually get a haircut so I sat in the chair and we talked some more while he trimmed me up. We talked about this and that, the way barbers do, then he mentioned that I should keep practicing honing, and if I ever wanted more help or just to talk, I should come by any time--I think he really likes that I'm interested. Then, the real kicker: he gave me a challenge. If (when!!!) I hone three razors to his satisfaction, he said he'd give me that enormous kiita he used to hone the Kamisori... It was pretty cool. He said, "You like this stuff, and you'd actually use it, so I'd like for you to have it. Hurry up and take it from me!"

I'll do my best, Kawaguchi-sensei!

Masterpiece Shaving Theater

I have had a couple of great shaves from a great razor...and it makes me really, really happy.



I have two razors made by Shigeyoshi Iwasaki. One is the Japanese style "kamisori", the non-folding traditional form. This is the one that is really, really popular with lots of people around these "internets". It's awesome, yes, and I feel very lucky to have it, but the really special one?

This one:


It's a traditional western style folding straight...a rarity. I don't know how many he made, he might have made thousands for all I know, but I have only seen photographic evidence of three others. Unlike the Japanese style razors made by Iwasaki-san, these are not really that widely known.

I have gotten some really good shaves off this one, and there is something immensely satisfying about using it. I can feel the history--I KNOW it's history, for the most part.

It's a well used razor, a gift from my barber who used it and maintained it for decades. It's seen thousands of faces, and has kissed the finest Japanese stones in its life. It was bought new decades ago, and it made its way to me through years I can never know. There is a story that Iwasaki-san apparently liked to tell, that a razor made by his father was used by a barber 1,032 times before he had to rehone it--that is, just stropping in between...and this is a razor like that.

But perhaps the most fascinating thing for me is that this razor, this relatively simple, unassuming blade, was handmade by someone who can only be called a true master smith. Shigeyoshi Iwasaki was born in Kanagawa prefecture in 1933, the son of Kousuke Iwasaki, who was a blacksmith himself and more than that--a gifted metallurgist, who researched the system used to classify Japanese steel quality (paper steel, ball steel, etc.). So in the old way, Shigeyoshi learned at the feet of his father, living with steel from his earliest years.

Later, the younger Iwasaki became a swordsmith, working out of the "Sanjikajikoubo" forge in Niigata prefecture, Japan. He continued to study and train in traditional blacksmithing techniques, becoming a kind of unofficial "ambassador", traveling around the world demonstrating Japanese smithing techniques. I know that he continued to forge until recently; I have been told that he passed, but I've been unable to find any real confirmation. At any rate, his legacy has passed to a former apprentice, Ryouichi Mizuochi, who is currently supplying the world's hunger for Iwasaki kamisori...but who knows if he's making any more like this.

But I know who Iwasaki is, I know where he learned and what he made, and I can see his picture and pictures of the works that came from his hands, and of those works is this razor I have. A true master made the blade I hold, the blade I can use every morning (or night) to shave my humble face.

How unbelievably cool is that?

I was warned...

I was. I KNEW what to expect from the Feathers. But I still got bit.




Let me just say, I know what sharp is. I've had straight razors professionally honed, and I've shaved with DE blades thin as paper. But I've not shaved with anything, ANYTHING, that is as terrifyingly sharp as these Feather Pro Super blades.

I got the smoothest shave I have ever had, I will admit. That first pass gave a new meaning to "wiping off the whiskers". My face just came clean--and then the blood started oozing. I had NO IDEA how much I nicked myself that first pass. I mean, I didn't feel a thing--apparently, the blade is so sharp it just slides through anything it touches without even exciting the nerve endings.

I couldn't finish my second pass--it was just too scary. Luckily, I got smooth enough to have a full 20 hours with no stubble. So last night I thought, "You know what? That first shave probably dulled it enough to make a pretty good shave tonight." And I was right--the first pass last night was perfect. The second pass, however, was crap. The blade had passed from terrifyingly sharp, through perfect, and right down into uncomfortably dull. And dull for a feather apparently means jagged, because it turned my neck beet red and--you guessed it--the blood did flow.

So I learned my lesson. The Feathers go. If anyone wants one, they're $30 apiece, and if you need blades we can work something out. They're sold, thanks guys.

IN better news, a friend sent me a sample of The Gentleman's Quarter Provence Lavender soap, and I am QUITE pleased with it! A full review will come after it gets a fair shake (no feathers...) but prospects look good!

Well, I'm off to reapply the neosporin...

I GIVE UP

This freaking Rongin has broken me.

I've spent a good 4 hours trying to get this razor sharp. It has taken me over 200 passes on a 1k diamond plate and a 1k King stone and I haven't even set the bevel!!!! I think I've taken a good 1/8 inch off the edge, and all I've done is gotten half a good bevel set. The back half, toward the heel, is sharp and pops hairs easily, the front half is butterknife blunt. Ridiculous.

Thank god I didn't actually care about this one...but man is this discouraging. Of course, the fact that it had a ridiculous frown when I got it should have been an indication of problems, but silly me I thought I could fix it.

Obviously, I was WRONG!!!!!

**UPDATE** Well, with a little help and encouragement from the good folks at Straight Razor Place (Thanks Lee!) I finally got a decent bevel set on this one. I was being stupid (of course) and not paying enough attention to BOTH sides of the blade. Don't do that.

So, I still need to move (carefully!!!) up the progression, but the heavy lifting is done I think. From the keenness of the bevel, I have a feeling that if I am careful this could be the sharpest edge I've achieved yet. It's just wiping away the hairs on my arm coming off the 1K. I like that. And won't that be fun? The razor that almost killed me becoming my best edge? Very dramatic...

SOP

So my routine is shifting a bit. And I wonder if I what I've been doing up to now might not have been a little off?



My daily shave routine is fairly trim. I hear people talk about shaves lasting 45 minutes or an hour, and I can't get my head around it. My routine takes 20 minutes, from the time I hit the bathroom door to the time I sit down on the bed to cool off. And that period includes a shower!

Here's what I do. I fill the sink with hot water and drop in my boar. I take a fast shower, about 5 minutes, and make sure that I scrub my face with nice hot water for a good minute or so.

I get out, and first thing I do is lather up. I let the lather sit on my face while I dry off, put on alum block and deodorant, and put on some pants (NO NAKED STRAIGHT SHAVING!!!!).

After I've given the lather some time to soak in, I start the shave. I start with a mostly XTG pass...I find that the WTG pass isn't that necessary with a straight, except on my chin and upper lip, so that's the way I rock it. I sue short, quick strokes--almost like blade budffing, but I take the blade off the skin on the back stroke. I rinse, relather, and my next pass is mostly ATG, except for my neck, which I've never figured out how to hit ATG with a straight. Something to work on there...And again, short quick strokes, not long slow ones.

After the ATG pass, I DON'T rinse--I take a little water and wet the little places that still feel rough. The residual lather makes those places extra slick, without the cushion of a full lather, and I blade buff the remaining patches.

I finish up with a warm water rinse, then a cool water rinse, then usually a light balm to moisturize and help seal up any bleeders. This routine usually results in a 90-95% BBS shave, with no razor burn but the occasional nick or cut. Satisfying, but not perfect. I'm looking to up that BBS percentage, though...Any thoughts on a good way to do that?

Completely out of control...

Yeah, I don't even know what to say. These all came this weekend...One big lot, and three individual razors.


This is a tiny little Filarmonica Doble Temple Inox...a sweet litte 4/8 stainless steel blade in some ugly scales.


A Herder...this is a German brand I've been hungry for, and it's a big one, too...Looking forward to restoring it!


Two Feather replaceable blade straights--been wanting to try one out for a while, now I have two!


This is a Japanese made ABC razor...it has a big, beefy blade and two tone silver/blue pearlescent scales. Pretty sweet...


A Filarmonica 14 Sub Cero (Cryo-treated steel, very hard apparently...).


This is a Japanese made razor--again, a nice beefy blade, with some scale damage but a good blade in her.


This is the balde of a Filarmonica 14 Inox. A stainless version of the Sub Cero seen above, with green scales instead of brown. This is the last of the big lot...


This one is a vintage Dovo, made in the 50s or 60s, with GORGEOUS cracked ice scales and a history of pure beauty...I hope to bring a little of that elegance back.


Here's a Burrell Top Flight, an American Razor made in New York State...Again, there is a lot of work here, but I think it will be worth it.


And another brand I've been really looking for, a Case Red Imp wedge. This has seen some polish already, and just needs some finishing up and honing.

There is a lot of restoration to be done, but I enjoy that, and when I think about it--there is a lot of hours of entertainment here! And, all of these razors together still cost less than the Revisor.

Oh man. I have WAY TOO MANY RAZORS.

See anything you like? Make me an offer. jimsama (at) gmail (dot) com.

Seriously.

Kell's Original Shave Soap...Review!

There's a new soap making the rounds at The Shave Den, and I got some samples to try out.




Dan Kell, of Missouri, has made his own shave soap. His website, Kell's Original, is ALL shave soaps, which I like a LOT. The soaps he sells are a Hemp Oil blend, with three varieties: Hemp, Hemp\Aloe, and Ultra Aloe, and Dan's story, as he puts it on his website, is "I started playing around with soap and managed to blend up a soap from a combination of several that let me shave every day, enjoy it, and do away with the after shave balm. I shared a bit of my extra with some friends. They liked it so I shared it with a bunch of people from one of the internet forums and they liked it too. And thus was born Kell's Original."

The soap Dan came up with is clear, and comes in a tin or as a plain refill in a variety of scents including classics like lavendar and sandalwood, as well as more unusual ones like Amber (yay Amber!), Juniper Sage and Casbah Mint.

The ingredients are very nice, natural and gentle:
Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)

Hemp/Aloe ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Aloe Vera Gel, Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner)

(Apparently the Ultra Aloe blend is identical to the Hemp/Aloe with twice as much aloe).

One thing I noticed was the absence of Bentonite Clay. This is a very common ingredient in shave soaps, used to give some added slip and body to the lather. I asked Dan about this, and he explained that bentonite is, at its base, a mixture of volcanic ash and glass and that he didn't like the idea of putting that on his face when he shaved...Sounds reasonable, I reckon!

So we have a shave soap specifically made and tested to avoid skin irritation? Yeah, I can get behind that! I picked up 4 samples, Casbah Mint, Sandalwood, Lime and Amber. I have used the Sandalwood for the last four shaves, and it's a dry, spicy sandalwood rather than the warm, sweet one I typically prefer. But how does it shave?

Fantastically. Really. It's a smooth, thick lather that has tons of slickness. The cushion is a little less than some, but it didn't have any adverse effect at all on the shave. I got 4 great shaves in a row, and that's a good sign indeed. It was a soothing, gentle shave soap and it was a pleasure to use. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other scents, especially the amber...

There are a couple of different things about this soap I should mention. One, it doesn't need as much water as some of my other soaps...try shaking a bit more out of your brush than you might otherwise. Also, my shave routine includes a "water pass", where I do some touch ups with just water--most shave soaps and creams seem to leave just a little residue on the skin after the shave that, with just a little water, is slick enough for a bit of a shave. This soap does not. I'm not sure why, it might be the bentonite, and it might not be a bad thing, but something to be aware of.

Anyway, if you're looking for a nice all-natural shave soap, with an emphasis on skin-care, then I think you've got a good option here. Oh, and for our international readers don't be dismayed by the ridiculous shipping charge that the Shopping cart automatically generates--it's some kind of glitch. Email Dan and he'll get you fixed up.

Give it a try!

The View From Japan: Not Really a Shave Soap

Well, you can't win them all...

I mentioned this "shave soap" before, but I figured I might as well let you know just what went down on the shave.

And finally, there's a new soap: Narcissist for Men Shaving and Facial soap

I gave this one as much as I could. Almost three shaves, 4 or 5 practice lathers...and it was all the same. Utter failure.

I tried, I really did...I used all kinds of different water ratios, time, even tried a badger brush. But this soap simply can't produce a stable lather. On the brush, the lather is thick and creamy. The scent is fresh and soapy, with a touch of cedarwood, and it SHOULD have made for a great shave, but once the lather hit my face, it fizzled away to nothing. A thick layer of sticky soap that did nothing to help your shave. It's kind of lubricating, but so is snot. The shaves I tried were hardly worthy of the name. Uncomfortable, unenjoyable, and unhappy.

Soooo...yeah, I can't even believe they market this as shaving soap. *sigh*

I Been Making Again...

I've been thinking about ways to carry my razors around. Why? Because you never know when a shaving emergency might happen.

So I saw this awesome razor roll on Straight Razor Place that lets you carry 7 razors around rolled up in canvas. I decided I needed one. You know, for emergencies.

But then, when I was talking to my wife about it, she said why don't you make one? And then I said, why don't WE make one!

So we did.



We started with a cheap notebook case from Daiso. We cut it open and made a padded holder using foam rubber and elastic bands.



We wrapped it in felt to keep the razors all nice and safe and made everything velcro-attached so that it's totally removable in case of damage.



It was fun and cheap to make, and it's all nice and protective and...there you go! I made a razor case!

My Shaves In Revision!!! (Sorry, sorry...sorry).

Well, my newest acquisition is in! My shiny new Revisor razor...it's so PRETTY!

When I got home on Friday, a nice big box was waiting for me...all the way from the Fatherland! Yay! (NB: The Revisor service is outstanding. My payment was delayed for some reason by PayPal, so it didn't get processed until AFTER the folks at Revisor went on vacation--and someone actually came in on Vacation to send me my razor, which arrived in four days. Thanks guys!).



Of course I ripped it open asap, and gave it a once over. I am very, very pleased! The balance (as in the aesthetic balance, not the actual physical balance) is really good. The blade is well proportioned, and shows a good attention to the details. The gold wash is even (for now) and well applied. The etching is very nice, too...even if the gold wash and blue enamel come off it should still look awesome. (if you notice a little dark spot along the edge of the spine on the gold wash, it's not damage--it was green paste stuck to the spine, and it came right off.)



In the hand, the razor fits very well. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the grip just seemed to fall into my hand right away, and it was very comfortable to hold. I hadn't even realized that MATTERS until I held this one. The pins fit really tightly, and for some reason the third pin makes me very very happy.



It isn't perfect, though...the scales are a bit uneven at the butt, so the spacer is clearly visible when you look at the face of the razor straight on. Also, there are some minor grind marks on the tang which don't please me immensely. However, it is a hand made razor, and it is a very very NICE razor, and I'm happy with it.

I shaved with it this morning, and it was good. Not great, but good. The edge is clearly shave ready, just not FANTASTIC shave ready. Hoglahoo/Lee from SRP and TSD, for example, put a better edge on my Wapi. It's not bad, but...I'll try to get along!

Also in the box was a loom strop--a very complicated little item that is apparently the standard strop in Germany. It's small...VERY small, but well made and the leather has great draw. The back is pasted with green paste--Chromium Oxide, I reckon. It should make a great travel strop!