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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 19, 2022
I’ve had two grail razors that remained for me until yesterday, when one of them arrived. The Iwasaki family is renowned in Japan for the quality of their razors, Mr. Kosuke Iwasaki established Sanjo Works in 1947 after the end of WWII. He began making western style razors from tamahagane steel in 1954, but was frustrated by the inconsistent quality of the steel produced. Those original tamahagane razors have been pretty much snapped up by collectors in Japan and around the world. My son, Ben, acquired one almost 25 years ago.
All Iwasaki western razors were made between 1954 and 1973. They were scaled and finished by Mr Fukutaro Tanifuji in his workshop. He retired in 1973 and there have been no western style razors made since, only Kamisori. Kosuke’s son Shigeyoshi learned steel at his father’s feet, and is the maker of the Iwasaki 33 blade which is crafted from Swedish Sandvik steel hardened to between 62-64 Rockwell. This particular razor was supposed to be presented to me on my 75th birthday in a few weeks, but why wait!
My mug shave was divine. The razor’s edge was buttery smooth and easily swept away my whiskers in two and a half passes. In hand the razor is extremely well-balanced and has good heft in hand. It shaved exactly as I imagined it would leaving me incredibly smooth. And the noggin shave that followed couldn’t be anything but great, given the tool used, my Eclipse Red Ring. This little razor is every bit as efficient as my Shake Sharps, but does require focus during the shave as it will bite if the shave angle inadvertently changes. Fortunately, that was not the case this morning. Two ATG passes left me velveteen smooth from neck to noggin.
RAZOR: Iwasaki 33 (Mug), Eclipse Red Ring (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Custom Blue Resin Handled Two band Badger made for me by my son
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys WH. Finished with Royall Lyme AS/Cologne.
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