Honing a Japanese kamisori, Stropping and Hair test 

The ratio used has a big impact on the honewear and angle of the edge. For example: - A 10:1 ratio will remove a lot of the soft steel and barely wear the hard steel. Such ratio is a super fast way to hone a kamisori but it also means a lot of hone wear on Omote. An efficient technique for barbers who needed the kamisori shave ready asap. The honewear was removed later by regrinding the kamisori. - A 3:1 ratio takes a bit more time to hone, but won't wear the soft steel from Omote so much. Such ratio is good for personal use, when the user can't send the kamisori for regrinding. In time, depending on what ratio you used to hone, the angle of the edge will modify. Smaller the ratio, (1:1) you'll have comfortable shaves with both sides. Bigger the ratio (10:1) not very comfortable to shave with Ura I read somewhere that Iwasaki used or recommended a 2:1 ratio.

@@ZenRazorJapan Wow! Thank you for telling me this. It makes a lot of sense. I have a few sukisen because I do not own any grinding tools. The sukisen is slow yet efficient at re-profiling the omote. If you have the chance to purchase a Kamisori from Takamitanzou, please do. His razors are outstanding!

Thank you Juan! I’m glad that this video was useful for you! 😊🙏🏻

Hi, I usually start honing from 5k. With all types of razors. I go to lower grits only for issues that require removal of significant amounts of steel, like warped blades, or large chips.

I’m just holding it in position, without much pressure.