Japanese Razors - buying advice

[mdripadvm]

Hello All,

I would appreciate any input here. I have been looking into purchasing/trying a japanese straight razor. Has anyone immersed themselves in this topic and able to guide me? I do not have huge financial restrictions here. However, it is difficult to determine the following:

(1) type of steel (I have found tamahagane to be a fantastic choice but hard to find, I have also found swedish steel?)
(2) used or new
(3) reputable vendors

Thanks for the assistance!

 

[Obiwan]

Are you talking about folding or non-folding kamisori?

Kentos put together a very helpful thread for kamisori info.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/271480-Kamisori_Korner

 

[casus4844]

I added more to Kento's thread. See here http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...at-least-to-expand-on-Kento-s-Kamisoi-Korner) The link above is also included. Everything from steel names, to vendors is included in this post.

 

[mainaman]

The steels typically used for Japanese western straights are
Swedish Carbon
Sheffield -rare
Some times you can see chemical steel (w/e that is supposed to mean)
Iwasaki western come in his modified version of Swedish Carbon, or Tamahagane
All western Japanese razors are superb shavers, the heat threat is excellent.

Kamisori are made from White #2 (most often), Blue#2 (rare), Aogami Super (rare), Tamahagane (only on vintage blades, also rather rare), Yellow#2 (a lot of current production.)