Oh MAAAAN!

I love custom stuff. I LOVE having stuff that is mine, and only mine. And I've got a great one on the way.

So a while back, a guy going by the nick of "Alchemist" on SRP posted this:


He called it a "variable tension strop", aka a loom strop. I LOVE the idea of loom strops, where the leather is stretched on a fram that you can hold in your hand, no need to hang anywhere, but the one I ended up with is tiny, about 8 inches long. Looking at that beautiful monster of Alchemist's, I got all hot and bothered. So I emailed him.

And now, on its way to me, is this:






That is a custom made loom strop with a custom carrying case and a hand-forged "adjustment key" (aka wrench). How FREAKING SWEET is that? PRETTY SWEET, I think.

I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on it...

Alchemist is a great guy to deal with, by the way. He was cooperative and helpful and extremely generous--he threw in the case for free, without me even asking. He also does custom blades, apparently, so that might ALSO be coming soon. So yeah, this is just making my little day.

Christmas is coming, baby!!!

Some updates...Call me The Kamisori Kid...and VIDEO TIME!!!

Blame Aleks for the title...

So I have been BUUUUU-SYYYY lately. Sorry for the brief hiatus, but it's been a good busy.

I will soon be opening a wee bit of a strop shop, making the fantastic Kanayama Cordovan Stops of Tokyo, Japan (of which I recently acquired an AMAZING example...truly a masterpiece. Details soon, I promise) available to all comers. It's not exactly a business for me, it's more of a labor of love for my wife and I, but it should be fun. Things should be up and running later this week. I'll be honest...if this goes smoothly, and if I learn how to do this kind of thing, there's a tiny little part of my brain that is thinking "Japanese Shave Shop"...maybe some razors, some aftershaves and stuff. Nothing big, just something to open up the market a bit. But this is pure speculation, of course...right now, one step at a time.
So keep your eyes open for the soon to be Eastern Smooth Productions "Kanayama Strop shop!"




In other news, you guys might remember me soliciting questions for Ken Hill, at Schick Japan. He had agreed to do an interview, and so I thought you guys might like to take part. Unfortunately, I never received a reply to the questions, and finally just last week I got an email from him apologizing and informing me that he would be leaving Schick Japan this summer...so it looks like that interview is a wash-up. However, I would like to wish Ken the best of luck with his new venture, and of course welcome him to the discussion whenever he wants to drop by!

And finally, in the more on-topic world of shaving--things are afoot. I've been finding something odd lately; despite the weird physical contortions and acrobatics involved in their use, I have been getting UNBELIEVABLE shaves from my kamisori. Seriously, faceturbating masterpieces. It's enough to make me want to swer off the folders for good! So what I'm thinking is, a good long stretch of "Kamisoris every day". Might throw in a couple of test shaves with my honing here and there--gotta practice for that new stone!--but my real weapons will be the Kamisori of the Kawaguchi collection.



With that in mind, tonight I'll be shaving with one of the Chikushinos I got not so long ago. I know NOTHING about these razors. The name isn't even for sure--my wife had to guess at the reading of the name. All I know is that one of them is marked "1968", and that they are "well used". Some might even say "battered". But we'll see how they shave.

Oh! I almost forgot--I have made my first shave-related videos, demonstrating the "Kawaguchi Honing Method", the way I learned to hone Kamisori from my barber. The razor in this video is the one I will be using this week. Enjoy!


(A screw-up, but amusing)


(The final cut...)

A Thousand and One words...

The strop is here...some pictures and words for you...


Here are the Kanayama Bothers--on the left is my older strop, the "Fine Stars". It's been a fine strop, and I've had no complaints. It's a little smooth for me, I think I'd like some more draw...

On the right, of course, is the new "Llama Brand" model 30000 strop. It's much longer, with much more effective leather space, and the leather is more even and lighter than the Fine Stars. There's more draw, and the lack of a handle is no real limpediment to use.



A close-up of the stamp at the bottom, showing the Kanayama logo. You can also get an idea of the leather's texture--it's smooth, but but not quite glossy, like the older strop was when I got it.



Here are the two stamps at the bottom, the Kanayama logo and the 30000 stamp. I have no idea if the 30000 has any meaning other than denoting the top of the Kanayama line of strops--whether it's just an internal numbering system or it refers to a certain quality of the strop itself...if anyone knows, please fill me in.


Here is the hanging tackle, a decent quality swivel and hook, with a nice clasp held with a screw, in case you need to change it around at all. There are some little details that stand out to me about this pat of the strop.

One, the leather and the linen are trimmed at exactly the same angles on the upper corner, even though the leather is wider than the linen it is still perfectly matched. The linen is also EXACTLY centered with the leather, despite that difference in widths. This attention to minor detail is something that speaks volumes about Kanoyama-san's workmanship, I think...



Here's the hand end of the Linen. That's a leather tab glued over the end. Again---perfectly centered and even, and the tab is glued out to the very edge, but there is NO glue visible. Small things, yes, that do not effect the use of the strop, but the small things are where quality lives. Anyone can cut a piece of smooth leather and make a strop. It takes someone who CARES to make a strop where every tiny, insignificant detail is right.

Now, I have stropped a couple of razors on it, and while I can't say a lot about this strop in relation to others, I can say that the leather feels good on the razors, with decent draw even with full hollows, but not sticky. The leather is supple but not easily "cupped", and it is LONG. A very good stropping stroke on this one. I am well pleased so far!

The linen is the same as the Fine Stars, a very very stiff brown fabric with a coarse grain--it seems to work well, but I've never used another linen so I can't compare, really.

I'm very, very glad I have the chance to see this stop, and use it for the rest of my life.

I MADE this!!!!

I actually, for the first time in my life, with my own two hands, made something that is almost EXACTLY what I wanted it to be...outside the kitchen, that is. I've got the kitchen well in hand.




That, good friends, is a Paddle Strop. I made it because I wanted a pasted strop, and hanging strops aren't perhaps the best for that purpose; and I made it to see if I could. I'm not the handiest guy with tools--but as the years go by, I feel that's something I should really try to change. This was a simple project, but it turned out ok--a first for me. And that is actually something I'm really proud of. I know it's not much, but..I did it, and it turned out well, and for me, that's a big step.

So...what I did was this. I got a board from Daiso, the type of wood wasn't marked, but I think it was cypress, based on some wood at the homecenter I was looking at. SOmething very light and soft, anyway, but not balsa--not THAT soft. I got some hand tools--a Jigsaw, sanding block etc.--and cut a handle into one end. Predictably, the curves aren't as even or smooth as I would like, but they'll do. I smoothed and rounded the handle with my pocket knife and sandpaper, and then lapped the surface of the wood to make a good hone-like backing.

Then, I went to a shoe repair shop because I couldn't figure any place out to get leather. After a long, rather amusing negotiation, the owner (an awesome old dude with a coin purse made FROM A REAL FROG!!!!) sold me a big old piece of leather, something like latigo maybe? for the change I had in my pocket.

I got that home, pressed it for a couple of days, then cut it to size. I used some G-Clear leather bond and glued it to the wood, pressing it under books for a night to make sure it was flat. The leather's back was a velvety, smooth texture and I decided to make that the pasting surface.


I used some of the smoother side for a regular strop.



I sanded the smoother side to remove some of the finish and to help reduce some of the residual cupping of the leather--that's the lighter coloration you see there.

Then, I applied some neatsfoot oil to keep the leather healthy, and improve the draw, and when it was dry, I applied some Chromium Oxide paste to make a fine finishing strop.

(You can seem y disorganized workspace...sorry about that...)
Et voila! I made a strop! Overall length 46cm, 6cm wide, leather portion is 33cm long. The Eastern Smooth strop, less than $10!