Tatara Amakuni: Number Seven in My Stainless AC Razor Series

Welcome back. This is the seventh in my series on my nine favorite stainless steel AC razors, and I’m going alphabetically, so we’ve landed on T: Tatara. This is the Amakuni.

The Razor

It’s 303 stainless steel, two-piece, and it goes together magnetically. Handle runs 93mm. Listed weight is 84 to 85 grams, but the one in my hand for this shave comes in at 82. Blade gap is 0.85. Positive exposure: I want to say 0.06, but don’t hold me to that number, it’s up there on screen if I’ve got it wrong.

The magnets are what get me. They hold the two halves together and lock the blade in place, and the whole thing just sits right in your hand. Weight, balance, the shape of the handle- it all lands comfortably.

The Loadout

In this shave, it’s a Feather Professional on its seventh use, three days of stubble to work through, Stirling’s Sharp Dressed Man as the soap, and their Sharp Dressed Man splash to close it out. The brush is a Shield knot on a Tatara handle, with black bristles. The bowl is the black stainless steel one Hendrix Classics sent me, Pete specifically, a good four or five years back now.

I’ve had this razor before this one, and every time I’ve had a little trouble finding the angle that feels right. I get a great shave off it, but it feels like more blade than I expect for a razor like this. Might just be me holding it wrong. Ian loves this razor; no angle complaints from him. Tatara just put out a black edition of this one. Looks stealthy. I’m a sucker for a black razor. I also think there’s a titanium version, though I’ll be honest, I’m second-guessing myself as I say it.

First Pass

No lenses on, so I’m leaning in close to actually see the skin. There it is.

Funny thing: everything I said earlier about this razor feeling like more blade than expected? Take it back. First pass feels great. Just have to remember not to lean the angle too far one way, keep it a little more upright the other.

Second Pass, and a Word on the Soap

Sharp Dressed Man smells fantastic, and it works exactly the way you’d want a Stirling tallow soap to work. Doesn’t break the bank either. Their stuff is priced fairly across the board, and the base has been around since close to the start of the company and hasn’t changed much since. They got the formula right early and stuck with it. Not every artisan does that. A lot of them keep chasing the base, V2, V3, and so on. I get why. We’re all suckers for “better” when someone offers it. Works out for most of us most of the time. This one didn’t need the chase.

I don’t work off notes. I spend a couple of hours the day before a shave pulling the specs together, then run through them again in my head, and if there’s a number I’m not sure about, I double-check it right before I hit record. Keeps me sharp. Keeps the videos consistent. I still get one wrong here and there. Numbers like 89 and 98, or 97 and 79, those get tangled in my brain more than they should. So I stop myself and double-check before I say them out loud.

Doing the best you can with what you’ve got is enough. My old boss used to say nobody’s responsible beyond their ability. She wasn’t talking to me specifically, just something she said in general, but I loved her for it. If you’re doing your best, staying focused, staying present, whatever you turn out is good enough.

Sound check’s good. Like it, subscribe, hit the bell, share it if you got something out of it. We do this because we’re not obsessed; we’re dedicated. Sig Solo, out.