Package from Japan

Yesterday I finally received the Nakayama I bought from So.

I don't have HAD. I had a perfectly logical explanation fopr each stone that I bought. ;)
I had already looked at So's page several times, but managed to be strong.
But then I bought that unknown Japanese stone from Jimbo and I asked So what he could tell me about it.

Then we started exchanging a lot of emails, and after 3 weeks I suddenly found myself accepting So's offer to seel me this stone. It was selected after discussing a lot of details about how I would use it, on which type of blade and based on my preference for wide stones.

http://msmvps.com/blogs/vandooren/Razors/Nakayama.JPG

I had to balance width against length, because usually Nakayama hones of this quality are either
a) short and wide
b) long but narrow
c) long and wide, but extremely expensive

Mine is the sweet spot between those 3 options.
It is 65 mm wide (slightly over 2,5 ") 180 mm long (slightly over 7") and feels very smooth. So assured me that I would be very happy about this stone.

I got very lucky that this stone was thin, so I could afford it. It is 14 mm thick. Stones are priced per gram, so double the weight == double the price.

The little stone alongside it is a nagura stone. Apparently, these come in different grades too, and this one is supposed to be the best kind. I'll update here if I get the chance tomorrow to hone a razor that is not quite there yet.

Hi Bruno,

I don't know much about Japanese stones but it looks really beautiful to me.
And to be honest I envy you. Hopefully it will bring a lifetime of unsurpassed honing. Does this mean that you leave you Coticule(s) for what it/the is/are??

That's definitely a beautiful looking stone Bruno. :bow

James.

I don't know about that stone Bruno. If I had a stone that ugly and full of all those imperfections I'd want to dispose of it as soon as possible so it wouldn't embarass me. So just pack it up and mail it to me for disposal. I'll just bury it in my back yard at night so no one will see it.

WOOT
:y:y:y

I just tried it out for the first time on my 11/16 solingen weltmeister that I use for experimenting with stones. As a sidenote, I have NEVER managed to get adecent edge on that one, no matter how hard I tried. It was always 'the one that got away...'

I used the nagura stone to raise a light slurry on the nakayama. Bear in mind that I hadn't yet lapped it.
When I started X-in I could see a nice light slurry. I could feel immediately that the stone was not flat at all, but I wanted to try it first like this to see what happened, and to try the nagura stone.

I managed to compensate for the unevenness, and I did 150 laps.
I also noticed that this stone was not porous at all. The water stayed on top.
The feeling of the stone was VERY nice. a bit like a coticule with a thin slurry, but much finer.

When I had done the 150 laps I put away the razor and lapped the stone so that I wouldn't have to do that next time.
This is when I really noticed how hard it was. I immediately saw where the stone was uneven because the stone was so old, and the surface had discolored a bit with age. The amount of stone I removed was not noticable (I know because of a couple of teensy nicks near the edge) but it took me 45 minutes to do it.

Q: when you are lapping the nakayama with a DMT plate, how do you know when it is flat?
A: You know when it suddenly gets stuck to the plate, and you cannot budge it anymore.

I got it from the plate by gently moving one end left and right, all the while trying to pull it of the stone lengthwise. I didn't dare to use force, because I was afraid I'd snap it in 2.

Now for the shavetest...
With the first stroke I knew I had a winner. I had finally caught up with the one that got away. It was truly shaveready. The shave was superb. In fact, I think that this is the second sharpest razor I ever honed. And remember: this was with a very uneven stone on which I could also still feel the ink from the Kanji, and with a troublesome razor.
I am now very curious what this stone can do now that it is truly flat.

In any case, this stone is worth every penny I paid for it.

I, also, have a nakayama stone, and completely understand what you are describing. These stones are amazing!

I got mine from David (Heavyduty) who got it from O_S. And it is absolutely the finest surface I've ever rubbed a piece of steel on. There is one side with a little bit of blue-gray coming through which is a bit coarser than the yellow tan side and doing a progression from one to the other leaves an edge that beats CrO paste.

I don't have a nagura, so for the moment mine is a very slow cutter, but I dont mind at all since it is so great as is.

[quote=Russel Baldridge;208727. There is one side with a little bit of blue-gray coming through which is a bit coarser than the yellow tan side and doing a progression from one to the other leaves an edge that beats CrO paste.
[/quote]

The blue is some Asagi, IIRC. And should be harder than the tan stone. I'm not familiar with the grit level so will take your word for it. I actually have a small Asagi sitting in my cupboard.... Collecting dust.