I just got back from a sweet trip to Bali with a brief stop in Singapore, and I came back with some fine shaving goods, appealing to both the DE and straight shaver! Maybe!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A Pleasant Visit
In a nearby town, there is an old "kanamonoyasan". That word is hard to translate--it basically means "Metal thing shop." I've passed it at least 50 times over the last couple of years, and I never went in for some reason. Until last week or so.>
The wife and I were out and about and had some time open, so we pulled in. And lo and behold, there was a big sign saying "We hone."
I went in, and it was just perfect--the shelves were overloaded with pretty much anything you can think of in the tool/equipment vein...saws, knives, nails, and more. I poked around and looked at the knives, and then the owner came out, fitting the place like a glove. 60 years old if he was a day, happy to chat and see us, and more than happy when we started to talking about hones.
He only stocked artificials...king and Naniwa green carbon hones, and only a few, but when we started talking about naturals he went back and brought out his hones.
He had a few suita and aoto, for sharpening his customers' kitchen knives, plane blades and the like. He wasn't entirely sure of what kind of stones he had (Mo...moto...motoyama?) but he had used up quite a few of them over the years. He was so excited to talk about them, that he went in the back and got some old broken stones for me.
We thanked him for his generosity, of course, and went on our way. I'm astounded at how often this happens...people are so generous here, it's such a warm nation.
They are, admittedly, broken--but not beyond use, especially as tomo-nagura.
I decided to open up the suita and flatten out the back.
I took a chisel to the crack in the center of the stone and a tiny tap opened it up.
It split a little off center, but still left me with one reasonably usable hone and one that I can cut up for tomonagura use. So fun!
But you know, this is yet another example of something I've noticed at other sharpening places...they only sell artificial stones because customers don't buy naturals, but the professionals themselves always use naturals.
I've seen this at knife shops in Kyoto, at kanamonoya here in Yamaguchi, and among Miyadaiku (The highly skilled "temple carpenters")...the pros use naturals. I still don't know why but it's interesting...
Anyway, just thought I'd share.
The wife and I were out and about and had some time open, so we pulled in. And lo and behold, there was a big sign saying "We hone."
I went in, and it was just perfect--the shelves were overloaded with pretty much anything you can think of in the tool/equipment vein...saws, knives, nails, and more. I poked around and looked at the knives, and then the owner came out, fitting the place like a glove. 60 years old if he was a day, happy to chat and see us, and more than happy when we started to talking about hones.
He only stocked artificials...king and Naniwa green carbon hones, and only a few, but when we started talking about naturals he went back and brought out his hones.
He had a few suita and aoto, for sharpening his customers' kitchen knives, plane blades and the like. He wasn't entirely sure of what kind of stones he had (Mo...moto...motoyama?) but he had used up quite a few of them over the years. He was so excited to talk about them, that he went in the back and got some old broken stones for me.
We thanked him for his generosity, of course, and went on our way. I'm astounded at how often this happens...people are so generous here, it's such a warm nation.
They are, admittedly, broken--but not beyond use, especially as tomo-nagura.
I decided to open up the suita and flatten out the back.
I took a chisel to the crack in the center of the stone and a tiny tap opened it up.
It split a little off center, but still left me with one reasonably usable hone and one that I can cut up for tomonagura use. So fun!
But you know, this is yet another example of something I've noticed at other sharpening places...they only sell artificial stones because customers don't buy naturals, but the professionals themselves always use naturals.
I've seen this at knife shops in Kyoto, at kanamonoya here in Yamaguchi, and among Miyadaiku (The highly skilled "temple carpenters")...the pros use naturals. I still don't know why but it's interesting...
Anyway, just thought I'd share.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Care and feeding of a Kamisori
As someone who uses and sells Kamisori, it's probably a good idea for me to know how to take care of them. Luckily, now I do.
One of the problems specific to Kamisori is the flattening of the Omote.
As I discussed in a previous post, the omote of a Kamisori really should be slightly hollowed out, visible as an arc in the blade.
However, the hollow is very slight, and over time the particular honing process of a Kamisori will lead to a flattening of that hollow; in some extreme cases (after several decades) the blade can be come completely flat.
In order to prevent this, then, maintaining the kamisori requires the owner to rehollow the blade, either by himself or by sending it back to the maker.
I'd seen several websites where kamisori owners used hand grinders (like a Dremel) and ground it out but frankly, it looks terrible. My barber used a file for his razors, and it honestly wasn't too bad looking, but I never really thought of a better way to do it.
Then last week or so, Takami-san of Takamitou cutlery sent me an email about his experience with just this problem.
As I described in that previous post, one of the razors I had from him did not have a sufficient arc and so was difficult to hone and use. He fixed it for me, and he then posted on his blog how his teacher showed him to take care of a kamisori.
You can see it here in Japanese, but basically you use a tool called a "Sen" or "Tombosen" (don't bother looking it up in Japanese, I searched for a week and found only one reference on a blacksmithing site).
Here's a pic:
Basically, it's a bar of hardened Hitachi Aogami steel, with one end ground into a very heavy blade, something like a machinist's hand scraper. It's got a very thick bevel, so it will stand up to the abuse of scraping steel, but is still quite sharp. Simple, and kind of elegant.
Here it is in use (That's Takami-san, from his blog):
This is the one that Takami-san made for me, and I tried it out on my "tester kamisori".
Basically, you just scrape. It takes some practice to hit the right angle, and you shouldn't put any weight or strength into it, just let the Sen do the work. Takami-san recommends clamping the kamisori to a board, or cutting a notch into the board to hold the tools at the proper angle, to do it.
It is a slow, but very precise, way of removing steel, and very gentle on the steel. When performed frequently, it'll keep your razor in shaving shape for decades.
One of the problems specific to Kamisori is the flattening of the Omote.
As I discussed in a previous post, the omote of a Kamisori really should be slightly hollowed out, visible as an arc in the blade.
However, the hollow is very slight, and over time the particular honing process of a Kamisori will lead to a flattening of that hollow; in some extreme cases (after several decades) the blade can be come completely flat.
In order to prevent this, then, maintaining the kamisori requires the owner to rehollow the blade, either by himself or by sending it back to the maker.
I'd seen several websites where kamisori owners used hand grinders (like a Dremel) and ground it out but frankly, it looks terrible. My barber used a file for his razors, and it honestly wasn't too bad looking, but I never really thought of a better way to do it.
Then last week or so, Takami-san of Takamitou cutlery sent me an email about his experience with just this problem.
As I described in that previous post, one of the razors I had from him did not have a sufficient arc and so was difficult to hone and use. He fixed it for me, and he then posted on his blog how his teacher showed him to take care of a kamisori.
You can see it here in Japanese, but basically you use a tool called a "Sen" or "Tombosen" (don't bother looking it up in Japanese, I searched for a week and found only one reference on a blacksmithing site).
Here's a pic:
Basically, it's a bar of hardened Hitachi Aogami steel, with one end ground into a very heavy blade, something like a machinist's hand scraper. It's got a very thick bevel, so it will stand up to the abuse of scraping steel, but is still quite sharp. Simple, and kind of elegant.
Here it is in use (That's Takami-san, from his blog):
This is the one that Takami-san made for me, and I tried it out on my "tester kamisori".
Basically, you just scrape. It takes some practice to hit the right angle, and you shouldn't put any weight or strength into it, just let the Sen do the work. Takami-san recommends clamping the kamisori to a board, or cutting a notch into the board to hold the tools at the proper angle, to do it.
It is a slow, but very precise, way of removing steel, and very gentle on the steel. When performed frequently, it'll keep your razor in shaving shape for decades.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
In the Details
Someone bought one of the Coral razors on sale at Kanayama Strops and when I opened the box to check it I found a lovely surprise.
Inside the package, the maker had sealed a pamphlet explaining the source, use and warranty for the razor, including both the date of manufacture and the hanko (personal stamp) of the inspector.
Apparently the company, Takagi Riki, is out of business and I haven't found any info on them.
Inside the package, the maker had sealed a pamphlet explaining the source, use and warranty for the razor, including both the date of manufacture and the hanko (personal stamp) of the inspector.
Apparently the company, Takagi Riki, is out of business and I haven't found any info on them.
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