Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Progress?

Well, I've polished up the ol' Tamahagane...

What do you think?
Just to remind you, here's a before:


And after:







I like it...now to hone it up again!

****************

In other news, I have found something so EXCITING!

I live in Yamaguchi prefecture, in western/southern Honshu, on the Seto Inland sea. I'm not far from Iwakuni City, which has an American air force base and, apparently, a NATURAL HONE MINE! I just found out today...I stumbled on a blog written by a carpenter in Iwakuni, who found the mine and met a miner who worked there, and now has some stones from that mine. There is a full range, and they even have some finishers that rival the famous ones from Kyoto!

I am so so excited about this. I've gotten in touch with the blogger, and hopefully I can arrange to meet the miner as well. And, of course, see if these stones are any good for razors!

AAAAAND, in enlisting my wife's help in the search for stones, she stumbled on a little shop here in Hikari called, get this: Kobayashi Hone-stone workshop (小林砥石工房). What a day! What fun! Why don't I have any money!?

Oh yeah, I bought the coolest razor in history, that's why.

Hmmmm....

Anybody want to buy a Filarmonica?

5 comments:

Batmang said...

It just keeps getting better and better...:-)

JimR said...

It does, it really does...

Jeff E. said...

Jim, great story, and I love the new razor! You are very lucky to find it. What types of steps did you take to polish it? I would be too afraid of damage, but it looks like what you did was exactly what the razor needed.

Also, does this mean that you are going to be selling off any of your Tosukes or other JP razors? If so, don't forget about your friends!!

The new hone mine sounds really interesting too. I would be interested to see the color of the stones it is producing, as the Nakayama and Suita stones seem to have such a distinct appearance. Anyway, keep us posted!!

Justin said...

Wow. Sounds amazing Jim! Can't wait to read your future posts.

Funny, I was just looking at Google streetview in the Hiroshima area, checking out all the cool looking mountain villages, islands etc., thinking about how much I want to go to Japan. That's it! I'm packing my bags! Well....maybe next year.

JimR said...

Jeff, thanks for reading! I won't be selling off any of my Japanese razors at thgis point, as they were all gifts. Sorry!

I will of course let you know all about the stones--I can tell you, there is a wide range of colors, including Karasu, in the mine.

Justin,

Let me know if you make it, it's a great place to live!

Best,
Jim