Just received this after sending it off to our wonderful resident honemeister @Mark :
It's a Hoshi Tombo 8000, made by the Tokyo Riki razor company mid last century. It was a fantastic stroke of luck finding this in decent condition - they aren't common, they come up for sale rarely, and it seems that most of the examples left in the wild are pretty bashed up.
The razor is a true hybrid of a Western straight and a Japanese Kamisori. The shape, blade length and handle are pure Kamisori, while the scales and the symmetrical 1/4 hollow grind are pure Western straight.
The razor was in decent nick when I bought it, but there was a bit of fine patina on the surface of the blade. I sent it off to @Mark (where else?) who immediately made the discovery that the razor uses harder steel than is usual in a Kamisori. This made the removal of the patina and subsequent buffing much more difficult than either of us had anticipated, but @Mark managed to a fantastic job in spite of that. He also put a superb edge on it, as usual.
I am most certainly looking forward to learning how to use this beautiful piece of equipment.
It's a Hoshi Tombo 8000, made by the Tokyo Riki razor company mid last century. It was a fantastic stroke of luck finding this in decent condition - they aren't common, they come up for sale rarely, and it seems that most of the examples left in the wild are pretty bashed up.
The razor is a true hybrid of a Western straight and a Japanese Kamisori. The shape, blade length and handle are pure Kamisori, while the scales and the symmetrical 1/4 hollow grind are pure Western straight.
The razor was in decent nick when I bought it, but there was a bit of fine patina on the surface of the blade. I sent it off to @Mark (where else?) who immediately made the discovery that the razor uses harder steel than is usual in a Kamisori. This made the removal of the patina and subsequent buffing much more difficult than either of us had anticipated, but @Mark managed to a fantastic job in spite of that. He also put a superb edge on it, as usual.
I am most certainly looking forward to learning how to use this beautiful piece of equipment.
