Hi All,
I've been out of straight razor shaving (and community) for a few years now and decided to get back into it this month - which was a great choice! Loving it again already.
I decided to get one of the highest quality strops around and was saddened to hear of Neil Millers passing. He made fantastic products.
Instead I decided to go for the Kanayama 8000 - I wanted one of these many years ago when I was a student but couldn't afford it. Thankfully I now have a great job so went all in. I purchased mine from Aframestokyo on 7th December, and it arrived here in the UK today. Even with the €55 shipping cost, it was by far the cheapest supplier for this product for me. I am very happy with the speed at which my product was shipped and the quality of the packaging (big rigid triangular box filled with newspaper and bubble wrap packaging. Thank you Takeshi
Even more so, am I impressed with the product!!! I am amazed that such a thick leather (3.15mm main leather, 4.19mm suede) can be so supple. It feels fantastic to touch. It also feels like I could use the inside portion of the both the main and suede strops.
The main piece of leather seems like it will give a fast strop, with a slight draw (which is what I like - I tried Latigo before and really disliked the heavy draw). I cant wait to try it out. It does seem like the edges of this piece are higher than the middle of the strop - and these edges seem like they could be a little sharp. Could this damage the razor? Should I do something to try to flatten it or round off the edge? If it wont affect the razor, I think its supple enough to just conform to the razor anyway, and use of the strop is likely to straighten it out (I assume). I have added a pic of the strop end showing what I mean.
Can you / should you strop over the gold sections of the strop? Will this affect the razor? Will doing this over time rub off / wear out the gold parts?
The suede side interests me a lot - a very nice, beautiful finish on it. You can see in the pictures how the surface is almost napped. There was a fair amount of fluff on this piece which wiped off on the surface (again, you can see in the image)
I also like the feel of the linen. I have read a lot about how people find it too stiff etc, but to me it seems like it would probably be really nice to strop on. My very first strop was a cheap Illinois with leather and a 'linen' component that felt like it was plastic and was absolutely horrendous to use. So in comparison the Kanayama feels a dream!
I currently use one of the small Dovo strops which I bought from Gary Haywood. I love this strop - the leather and linen are both soft and a joy to use. So it is going to be great to see how the Kanayama feels in comparison.
I don't expect any technical advantage by using the Kanayama (any keenness advantage) - its more about the feel, aesthetics and the knowledge of having the truly artisan product which will make it a joy to use and admire
I've been out of straight razor shaving (and community) for a few years now and decided to get back into it this month - which was a great choice! Loving it again already.
I decided to get one of the highest quality strops around and was saddened to hear of Neil Millers passing. He made fantastic products.
Instead I decided to go for the Kanayama 8000 - I wanted one of these many years ago when I was a student but couldn't afford it. Thankfully I now have a great job so went all in. I purchased mine from Aframestokyo on 7th December, and it arrived here in the UK today. Even with the €55 shipping cost, it was by far the cheapest supplier for this product for me. I am very happy with the speed at which my product was shipped and the quality of the packaging (big rigid triangular box filled with newspaper and bubble wrap packaging. Thank you Takeshi
Even more so, am I impressed with the product!!! I am amazed that such a thick leather (3.15mm main leather, 4.19mm suede) can be so supple. It feels fantastic to touch. It also feels like I could use the inside portion of the both the main and suede strops.
The main piece of leather seems like it will give a fast strop, with a slight draw (which is what I like - I tried Latigo before and really disliked the heavy draw). I cant wait to try it out. It does seem like the edges of this piece are higher than the middle of the strop - and these edges seem like they could be a little sharp. Could this damage the razor? Should I do something to try to flatten it or round off the edge? If it wont affect the razor, I think its supple enough to just conform to the razor anyway, and use of the strop is likely to straighten it out (I assume). I have added a pic of the strop end showing what I mean.
Can you / should you strop over the gold sections of the strop? Will this affect the razor? Will doing this over time rub off / wear out the gold parts?
The suede side interests me a lot - a very nice, beautiful finish on it. You can see in the pictures how the surface is almost napped. There was a fair amount of fluff on this piece which wiped off on the surface (again, you can see in the image)
I also like the feel of the linen. I have read a lot about how people find it too stiff etc, but to me it seems like it would probably be really nice to strop on. My very first strop was a cheap Illinois with leather and a 'linen' component that felt like it was plastic and was absolutely horrendous to use. So in comparison the Kanayama feels a dream!
I currently use one of the small Dovo strops which I bought from Gary Haywood. I love this strop - the leather and linen are both soft and a joy to use. So it is going to be great to see how the Kanayama feels in comparison.
I don't expect any technical advantage by using the Kanayama (any keenness advantage) - its more about the feel, aesthetics and the knowledge of having the truly artisan product which will make it a joy to use and admire
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