Thread: In the market for a Japanese Natural :)

Originally Posted by kevint

Chef,
I have a palm size stone, it is narrow;
wanna try it? PM me

For the next month I'll be "between" addresses, so at the moment I'll have to pass. Once I get settled I'll see how brave I feel

Well I just got an email back from So, seems to have a nice palm size hone that may be right up my range Now I have to decide what one to get... OldSchools hone or the one So just posted to me.. Now my head hurts...

155x55x17

Just asked if that thin a stone would be strong enough for hand held work. Looks nice so far. See if anything else pops up

Since straight razor shavers all over the world started buying Nakayamas and Lynn recently endorsed them prices have sky rocketed. I got a reaeally nice one for 150 Aus$ but I was one of the first in the West buying one.

I can attest that if So asked for $2000 for a hone, it was worth $2000. Stones are sold partially by weight but also just plain by their relative appeal. A great stone is going to cost more. Whether a $2000 hone is 10x better than a $200 hone is kind of hard to quantify or qualify, but it is going to be great stone. Like a lot of other stuff, you can reach a point of diminishing returns fairly quickly with both razors as well as hones. That is, I have a lot of "$30 razors" that shave just fine, that doesn't mean that I don't want a Livi razor some day. It's the same thing with the hones.

I have no clue what grit equivalency mine is, but it gives a damn good shave. Like a hot knife through soft butter. Mine is also 10x2.5 which is mad nice cus you have a lot of area to work with....

The guy I bought mine from seems to know a lot about them. He is of the opinion that the "pear" coloured ones are the finest. Ie the yellowy ones. Mine is a beautiful swirly mix thats mostly yellowish but has soem olive hues and baby bluish areas.