Big 'Grats, Jimmy. Very nice!

Fast or slow, I've never heard a single instance of a bad rock coming from Yamashita-san. That's where I got mine. 'Costly, but you don't have to buy and sell several costly toys (with the learning curve for each) to find a good rock.

My asagi also tests out as very slow cutting, confirmed by Yamashita-san. It seems impossible for it to deliver an edge that's anything but smooth. I put a few things together this eve, and tried it out on the 1/4 grind spanish point wacker you have. At the finishing stage, the harder steel seems to need twice as much work/strokes as the more normal soligen hollow. 'Was told to give 20 strokes on the asagi, look for the gray metal swarf. If no swarf, it was slow, and might take 100 strokes. So, if the wacker usually takes twice as many as the normal (my experience so far), I gave it the equivalent of 200 strokes in a combination of mostly circles, and some x-strokes. I followed by heavy stropping - 100 canvas, 200 latigo. Yes, for other rocks and other blades, this would be nasty over-kill. As is, it's the best edge I've ever gotten, and this eve, gave the best shave I've ever gotten. So close you keep touching your face, wondering if all the skin is really there.

You've been at this many times more than I've been around, so I'm very interested in your thoughts as you get familiar w/ this rock - especially hearing that it is also slow. I hope you enjoy it way beyond anything tasteful, prudent or civilized. Pls. let us know your thoughts and experiences with it.

Thank You very much for posting and especially the pics.