Thread: JNAT & Nagura questions/identification - help!

I wouldn't be using the norton lapping plate, It will leave marks on the Jnat.. Not to mention the norton lapping plates do need lapping themselves.

The DMT lapping plate works well if the stone is very dished although the scratching it leaves behind is not suitable for razor friendly Jnats. You would need a worn 325 to remove the scratches after.

A synthetic nagura on a natural stone? Doesn't make much sense to me. The Jnats break down in to extremely fine particles while honing, synthetic stones don't do this as well.

Genuine nagura's aren't expensive but if you don't want to buy one you can use the DMT to make a slurry. A medium and fine nagura would be the better option though.

Originally Posted by londoner

Sounds like the Norton flattening stone I have doesn't really cut the mustard?

From what I've read the DMT 325 is way better? I know DMT also do a lapping plate but at $160 cheap it ain't.. if a 325 is good I'd rather get that given the price difference.

I've also heard that the chosera 1k slurry stone works really well? Any thoughts?

you can't lap hones with a slurry stone, its purpose is to clean or condition the surface.

Thanks a lot gents, appreciate your patience with my ignorance!

I'm going to try & find a DMT 325

Originally Posted by londoner

Thanks a lot gents, appreciate your patience with my ignorance!

I'm going to try & find a DMT 325

Just remember to condition the DMT before lapping or you will end up with larger then expected diamond particles scratching or even breaking off and lodging into your Jnat.

This isn't a must if all you are doing is lapping but, preparing the DMT doesn't hurt so why not.

Originally Posted by Brighty83

A synthetic nagura on a natural stone? Doesn't make much sense to me. The Jnats break down in to extremely fine particles while honing, synthetic stones don't do this as well.

Genuine nagura's aren't expensive but if you don't want to buy one you can use the DMT to make a slurry. A medium and fine nagura would be the better option though.

Synthetic nagura on a natural stone is very bad idea.
So you should avoid it.

DMT diamond plate istead of natural nagura is a kind of palliative. It works well in some cases, for example for Suita toisi.
But it ain't work well for hard razor stones like Nakayama Asagi.

So it is very right point to get at least two nagura stones. Say one BOTAN ( ボタン ) and one Meijiro ( 目白 ).
Once you have meijiro you don't need to get 天上 ( Tenjou ) because both of them are very close in their grit.
Koma Nagura コマ （ 細名倉 ） is the finest kind of Nagura. It is very good thing to add to your Nagura set, but it is expensive.

I find tomo slurry to be better than dmt slurry if you have a well matched tomo. If your tomo is too hard or soft then a dmt is the way to go. Dmt slurry can definitely put some micro chips on a blade if they break off too large as you said. Koma is expensive, but if you can get some its worth it. I almost always do a botan tenjou mejiro koma and tomo.
Ive done 1k 5k then 2 tomos for some great results also.

Originally Posted by bill3152

I find tomo slurry to be better than dmt slurry if you have a well matched tomo. If your tomo is too hard or soft then a dmt is the way to go. Dmt slurry can definitely put some micro chips on a blade if they break off too large as you said. Koma is expensive, but if you can get some its worth it. I almost always do a botan tenjou mejiro koma and tomo.
Ive done 1k 5k then 2 tomos for some great results also.

you can get the same results with tenjio or mejiro only , much cheaper and fast enough

Originally Posted by mainaman

you can get the same results with tenjio or mejiro only , much cheaper and fast enough

What way?

How do you get the same result as koma could give using meijiro nagura only?

Originally Posted by bill3152

I find tomo slurry to be better than dmt slurry if you have a well matched tomo. If your tomo is too hard or soft then a dmt is the way to go.

Is there any ideas how to find most appropriate tomo nagura for the stone?

Should it be exactly the same as stone? Should it be softer?

I have found that sometimes it is too hard to get as good result as Mikawa Nagura could give with a peace of the same stone.

I believe the tomo should be part of the same stone if possible. Large stones are sometimes cut one inch shorter for the tomo. The hardness being the same results IMO in a very fine slurry. As opposed to a thicker slurry as the dia plate even a 1200 is much coarser than the stones are. I have an ozuku asagi that was cut short for the tomo. The slurry I get from it is very very fine and because it is so fine breaks down very quickly. But Im sure there are exceptions, as I have used an oohira suita on the same ozuku asagi and ended up with a great edge. Stefan has much more knowledge of this than I do. Its very likely mejiro can result in an excellent edge. Ive done a few on mejiro only and had great results. So I will say yes. It may seem that a lot of the experimenting may result in the same edge. Its hard to differentiate a very smooth sharp edge from another very smooth sharp edge.