Let's gather up the C.V Heljestrand "MK"
- Thread starter honed
- Start date
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
You did well!
Thanks looking forward to it arriving.
Nice razor Steve.
The light on the bevel shines more toward the toe. Is that just a light illusion thing, or is the bevel wider at the toe?
Steve 56,
Just so elegantly beautiful.
Just so elegantly beautiful.
That is what I love about CVH and Iwasaki. Simple, elegant, and very well made!
Illusion - light coming from the top.
Yes they are simplified post war versions. The production of the 33 stopped with the war. The 32 was continued to be made, but not with ivory scales. I've never heard of anyone shaving with the scales though.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
And arriving today, a post-war MK 32 in fantastic shape. Not ground as well as the pre-war razors though. Still, very nice, and has a great edge on it.
I'm impressed, and my personal favourite specimen is an early post war one in black bakelite scales. Many years ago I named her "The Lady". She'll he with me for the rest of my life.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Thank you Arne, I have a set of tortoise scales from a MK 31 that the blade was junk, looks like they’ll fit if I want. I also have a set of ivory scales from an old Joseph Rodgers that had to be the absolute worst re-grind in the history of straight razors. Those are a little pointy on the ends but I bet they could look original with a tiny bit of work.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I used jnats on my MK 33 when I got it. It had been honed with electrical tape, edge needed some attention, so I taped up with 1 mil Kapton and did a back-and-forth with Shapton Glass 2k/4k until (amazing) HHT off the 4k, then a Nakayama transition stone and to a probably Nakayama dull egg kiita finisher that’s very fine grained.the edge is so good I actually went back to my honing log to check the finisher.
I’d have to check on the others but this edge is just superb.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
The Nakayama transition stone in the middle is soft compared to most Ozuku and the hard kiita finisher at the top. Image above. It is however, fully capable of finishing a razor on it’s own quite well, it is extremely fine. I like it for a transition stone because it’s also so fast and full of grit that you can do one stone honing with it. By the time I get through a normal honing regimen with most razors the slurry is black, so it’s perfect for hard Swedish steel. For lesser razors I usually pull back the number of strokes a little with it, maybe 20% less.
In the one stone hone trial, I lightly glassed a Gold Dollar and confirmed a dead edge, then set the bevel with diamond plate slurry, refreshed it to a light diamond plate slurry and then finished on tomo slurry. There wasn’t any difference in the edge versus using more stones. But jnats that can do this are rare, and the only way to find them is to buy and try, which can get expensive. And really no point in using a valuable stone to set a bevel other than to see if you can do it. I have an Aiiwatani and a grey Shobu gousa that are this fast but they aren’t quite as fine, can’t finish as well.
The finisher is as hard as many Ozuku. I select them by the edges that they make, and I have some that are softer like the one above, some harder, and some darn hard. But I don’t care, for a finisher it’s all about the edge feel.
Apologies to Arne in advance for putting an image of a Gold Dollar in a Heljestrand thread, please forgive me...
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
If your Ozuku is making good edges on other razors and the coticule worked better on your CVH, you might try flattening the bevels on a 4-8k synth then trying the Ozuku. I’ve noticed that after a while razors just don’t seem to want to do what I want them to, and a trip to the synth to flatten everything out before final finishing usually works or helps noticeably.
You could also try more time on the Ozuku, hard steel can sometimes take a bit extra on the rocks.
You could also try more time on the Ozuku, hard steel can sometimes take a bit extra on the rocks.
Lots of great info in those two posts.
I’ve had great results on other razors with my ozuku, I have been able to do a botan to tomo progression on it. I also had a mk31 that I was able to get a good edge with the ozuku, the mk10 is new to me so I’m just figuring out its intimacies now.
Previously I did the full progression for the mk10 on the ozuku with decent but could better results.
Decided to take that edge as is to a medium slurry on the coti and dilute down to water. Edge is much better now, shave ready as is for sure. I’ll shave off of it and then take it back to the ozuku to a finishing stage to see what changes.
I’ve had great results on other razors with my ozuku, I have been able to do a botan to tomo progression on it. I also had a mk31 that I was able to get a good edge with the ozuku, the mk10 is new to me so I’m just figuring out its intimacies now.
Previously I did the full progression for the mk10 on the ozuku with decent but could better results.
Decided to take that edge as is to a medium slurry on the coti and dilute down to water. Edge is much better now, shave ready as is for sure. I’ll shave off of it and then take it back to the ozuku to a finishing stage to see what changes.
Last edited:
I'm sorry to tell you this Steve, but I don't think the tortoise scales will fit. As far as I know it was only the very first No.31 that had tortoise scales and those No.31 were smaller than 5/8. Furthermore even the normal No.31 have smaller scales than the No.32. Then again you could always try. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
I've never used anything but Naniwa synthetic stones.
Similar threads
