Six months of shears sharpening finally clicked

I switched from just hitting the bevel with a flat stone to maintaining a hollow grind on my Kamisoris, and the difference is night and day. Smooth cuts on thick wet hair without any snagging now. Anyone else do their own sharpening and notice a big change when you adjusted your technique?

4 comments

4 Comments

wade2501mo ago

Oh man, six months of sharpening just to hit that "aha" moment? That's some serious dedication my dude. I've been messing with my own edges for years and I swear half the time I'm just guessing until it suddenly works. Glad you got there though, nothing worse than feeling snags on hair you know should be smooth. Now you get to enjoy that honeymoon phase before your Kamisoris decide they need a touch up again.

the_thomas1mo ago

Twenty minutes? That is just INSANE to me. I have been fighting with my kamisori for what feels like forever and I still cant get it to pop hairs without some tugging. Hearing that a woodworker buddy just picked it up and nailed it instantly makes me want to throw my whole sharpening setup out the window. Its like the universe is telling me I am doing something fundamentally wrong that a chisel guy can just see right away. Maybe there really is something to that single bevel logic that us razor guys overthink to death. Seriously though, twenty minutes? I would pay money just to watch him do it once.

nguyen.morgan1mo ago

C'mon, it's just shaving not brain surgery @dixon.james.

dixon.james1mo ago

Yeah but here's the thing nobody talks about with those kamisoris, they're basically single bevel knives with a handle. I got a buddy who sharpens chisels for woodworking and he picked up one of mine and within twenty minutes had the best edge I've ever seen on it. He said it's because the geometry is almost identical to a plane blade but with a thinner grind. Makes you wonder if all the specialized straight razor stones and techniques are really necessary or if we're overcomplicating it. Like maybe half the struggle is just unlearning bad habits from double bevel knives and thinking about it like a woodworking tool instead.

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