Iwasaki abuse

[BakerAndBadger]

Thought I'd share my pain with you fellas.
got lucky in a lot of razors I bought the other day - an iwasaki western straight that has lead a hard life.
The previous owner must have honed on a convex stone and a really coarse one too - when I got it the bevel was 2mm at the tip on one side and probably 0.2 at the heel and the other side was the other way round.
I've tried to show the hone wear, I can't get rid if it with my flat stones so I'll live with it.
honed it Jnat style and am gonna give it a run out tonight.

 

[johnmrson]

Nice find. Some razor owners really need a bit of a slap for the horrible way they treat razors. Hopefully you'll be able to rehabilitate it.

 

[MileMarker60]

Maybe the razor had a bit of warp to it or the grind may have been a little uneven.
Either of those could lead to the "look" of your razor.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Maybe the razor had a bit of warp to it or the grind may have been a little uneven.
Either of those could lead to the "look" of your razor.

Well that's what I thought until I took it to the stones and the edge started to even out and the hone wear too. Strange, very strange!

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Shaved with it this morning - compared it with a Bartmann that I recently picked up too. The Bartmann lasted one cheek, Mr Iwasaki got two and a half passes.
Now it's the first time I shave with an iwasaki and damn it's good. The spine is thicker than the Bartmann by I would guess 2mm but the depth of the razor is the same - I'll have to work out the angles but it's not as acute and it's also a lot stiffer - both full hollow but completely different.
The iwasaki shaves like no razor I've ever used - better than my fillies and even my MK33's. As ugly as it may be I think I've just found nirvana. BBS and next to no irritation. Now, I'm wondering if this is a combination of the angle and the hardness of the blade - I seem to remember that the normal western iwasakis were slightly harder than your average straight - would that help retain an edge that is as sharp as a more acutely ground razor?
in any case this is a keeper and may well take first place in my rotation. If only the previous guy hadn't screwed the spine with rough honing - I guess I could always restore it but why fix something that isn't broken?

 

[GreekGuy]

Always sad to see a beauty like that abused. But it sounds like it shaves like a dream so personally I would just let it be. I know you have a lot of beautiful razors, and I would be afraid of tinkering with something that works so well, you know?