Kamasori - help

I received my first Kamasori from Jens (Honed) today. It's sharp ootb and will only need a stropping to get it ready.

Now the questions:

I have no feeling in my left thumb, so I shave with my right hand only. I've seen people saying it's possible with a kamasori, but how hard is it?

When honing, I heard the hollow grind hits the stone more than the flat side. (7-1 ratio seems the most popular) Is this the way? The stamps are on the flat side, so I guess that's what I should be doing

How the hell do I store this thing? It came in a cardboard box, but the edge will hit the sides if stored upright and I want to avoid that. Any tips?

When stropping, I feel like it would be easy to cut the strop. Is that true? Is it a good idea to strop with the strop laying flat?

Thanks for your time gents.

In response to your questions:

1. Are you right handed? If so, there should be no issue at all with shaving with a kamisori. There's no need to switch hands while using a kamisori. Just flip the razor over to the other side and shave normally. This "only use one side of the kamisori" thing is a myth that keeps getting repeated here and seems to cause more harm than good. Please, please do not gash your face or hurt your thumb just because you're trying to follow this "rule".

2. Don't hone the razor until you get a lot more practice with it. Yes, the omote side gets more strokes on the stone than the ura side, but it's also very easy to screw up the geometry of the razor by overhoning because the jigane (the steel near the spine) is relatively soft compared to the hagane (the steel near the edge). For now, don't hone at all or practice honing with electrical tape on the spine.

3. I store mine in a regular leather sheath, like what you get from TI or SRD. Yes, the leather is in contact with the blade edge, but it doesn't seem to hurt the edge.

4. It's just as easy to cut your strop with a kamisori as with any other razor. Just go slow at first and as you get more proficient your speed will improve.

Ok I stropped it and shaved with it like I would with another razor. 1 handed.

Worst shave in months. This thing is definitely something I need to master.

Takes practice, that's for sure. Use a very light touch to start with. There's a much shorter blade, so the pressure does not get spread out over as wide an area as when you are using a Western straight. On the other hand, you should get much better feedback about your cutting angle when you hold the razor correctly.

One trick I use is this. Do NOT grip the razor all the way up close to the head (near the blade). Instead, move your hand back so that you are holding the razor more towards the middle and away from the head. You'll find that this grip takes pressure off the cutting edge and gives you better control over the angle. Give it a try.

I'll try that. thanks!

I went to the stones (8k, 15k, 30k shapton) Finished on 0.125 CBN. It's a LOT sharper now. the shipping didn't do the edge any good (hitting the paper wrapping over and over killed it.

Second try tonight!

Good luck, and don't worry if it's still not cutting. The blades are very sensitive to angle of attack, and you get used to "finding" the right angle for each stroke after a while.

Tried it again.

The idea was WTG with tha Kamisori and XTG an ATG with a western straight. I didn't nick myself with the Kamisori
When I switched to the western, I cut myself twice. The difference in weight made it harder I think because it's been a while since I nicked myself with a western.

Tonight will be a full kamisori shave again.

Did a 3 pass shave and it went very well. It feels like nothing is happening because you don't feel the stubble since the razor is so heavy. But it went through my beard like nothing else. Very nice!

The difference in pressure that you need with a kamisori versus a regular Western razor is very noticeable, but it sounds like you've got the hang of it. With a kamisori, you don't really want to adjust the blade pressure very much, so you end up adjusting the angle a lot more as you are shaving, and the cutting edge is very sensitive to angle. Eventually you will get used to the correct angle for the razor, but for now don't worry about "hunting" around for the correct angle as you are shaving.

For me, these razors were the answer, and I even went from 3 passes (on typical Western razor) to just 2 passes with a kamisori. There's just nothing left to shave after the second pass, so I just stopped the shave there. Saves some time too.

Good luck!