Recently, NagoyaTodoroKai (Nagoya Slurry club), a Japanese hone-centric blog I often read, introduced me to a new Kamisori maker on the block. Takami-san (天水さん) makes kamisori and other cutlery, and he has some interesting designs--you can see his blog here. It's Japanese, of course, but the pics are worth a look.
Anyway, I mentioned to Yuuken-san, the owner of the Nagoya Slurry Club blog, that I would be very interested in trying these new razors out, and he facilitated an order. I got two of them, and here they are!
As you can see, they've got some unique design points. First is the shape. The handle is hefty, with an almost bamboo-ish design making a nice grip. Second is the texturing. The entire razor has a rough, woody grain to it making the bamboo impression even stronger. Then there's the blacking. It's much sturdier feeling than the carbon on Iwasaki razors.
So I love they way they look. In addition, they're heavy--close to an Iwasaki 2 chou gake, but a little shorter. These two run 175mm and 170mm, not quite up to the 180mm of a size 2 Iwasaki.
The longer razor, the 175mm, is made of standard jigane on the spine, and the blade is SK-3N steel. On the back, you can see a gorgeous suminagashi pattern. Very cool.
The other is made of Hitachi White Paper #2 steel, but without the groovy suminagashi.
Anyway, enough about the details, about the handling.
They feel fantastic in the hand, well balanced and hefty. They grip is firm, the blacking/woodgrain pattern making for excellent traction.
They needed a honing, so I got out my babies and went to town...and realize a problem.
Here, see if you can spot it:
The razor on the left is an Iwasaki, the other two are the Takamitou razors. Can you see it? The Omote, the side that gets the major honing, is almost perfectly straight on the two Takamitou. There is a gentle arc to the Iwasaki. This means...well, let me show you:
When honing with slurry, the flat omote creates serious suction with the stone, and it gets stuck. It's not the worst problem, but it does make honing difficult. It ALSO makes shaving difficult, as the angle is not clear to shave, and the razor keeps getting stuck in the lather. Not cool.
In addition, the longer razor has this bump just down from the blade:
Can you see that? It makes honing and especially stropping a real pain.
So these razors, though gorgeous, are not perfect. I posted this all on my Japanese blog and the maker has offered to fix the razors to my satisfaction, though, so that's all good.
I hope they can be made perfect, cause they really are cool to look at and would be such fun to use...
5 comments:
Thank you for the pictures. Those razors are beautiful, the handles look very organic. I bet they will be great to shave with. Thanks for the pictures of the end views. I am still trying to wrap my head around an asymmetrical grind.
charlie
It is nice to see that there is still a craftsman who makes kamisori razors. It would be interesting to try these razors.
Charlie,
Thanks. I've sent them back for regrinding, so maybe it'll be better soon.
The asymmetrical grind is tricky, I'm guessing, since this guy is no newbie to blade making but he still made some missteps. It shows the importance of background, like the Iwasakis have.
Marco, thanks for your comment, and I agree about the craftsmen. There are more and more, and it's good to see how they're growing and developing.
Hey Jim: Do you know his full name? I think I have one of his razors. Thanks.
Telly,
I do know it, but I think he'd prefer to keep his real name out of the public sphere. His name is only marginally similar to his work name, though.
I think it unlikely, though possible, for you to have one--I think he's only made 10 or so, and only last week put them up for public sale through Yahoo Auctions.
If you'd like, email me pics and we can see.
Best,
Jim
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