First JNat has a crack?

I posted this on another site but would appreciate your opinions

I've been using a SR for over a month now and have been honing my vintage blades on a 1K, 4K, 8k, and 10K with shave-able success, lately (Thank You all for your advise)

So after reading many threads I decided to try a JNat whetstone for finishing, I purchased a Ozuku from Fendrihan and when it arrived yesterday I was excited to try it so I sealed the edges with nail polish but noticed a 30mm crack, I emailed Fendrihan right away and told them about the crack and that I can feel it with my fingernail, they replied that this is not only okay but normal

Opinions please

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I don't have any Jnat's but they say the same things about cracks in coticule,... I don't know, I wouldn't be happy about it, I'm also suspicious about a crackline in my coticule.

the fact that you feel it with your nail can mean two things, your nail is either moving down or up when you move across it, if it's moving down you won't notice it while honing which is usually the case with a small crackline. but as I said I don't know anything about Jnats or wheter or not this is an acceptable flaw in the hone or if it should be replaced

Welcome to the world of natural stones.

"Normal" implies that most have cracks, which I don't believe, but it's certainly not uncommon, nor necessarily a bad thing. CA glue works it's way into small cracks like this. Then a good lapping of the surface.

But, only you can decide if it is an issue you can deal with.

Thank you for the pic. That is one beautiful stone. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, so I offer a compliment

If you smears with your fingers over, you feel a step? or a bit step? because a step may scratch(or chip) the edge of razor.
If this particular was not speified in the ad they MUST change the stone

I would retun that stone.

I just looked at that website and the pictures used to advertise this type of hone also show some stones with cracklines in them ...

I have to agree. if you can feel it with your fingernail and you can feel it as the razor glides over it it will not be good for the razor. Many coticules have veins in them which people mistake for cracks. All rock have internal flaws, that's normal but some you can live with and some you can't.

As above,inclusions are one thing,cracks are something else.
Note in the OPs pic the crack starts from a large chip in the side of the stone,the crack may have been caused by trauma to the stone,or it's just a defect that will never go away and maybe get worse.Let us know how it shakes out.

No offence but I really wouldn't expect perfection in an inexpensive Jnat.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

No offence but I really wouldn't expect perfection in an inexpensive Jnat.

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Do you know what the cost was??

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Do you know what the cost was??

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Yes , by looking at Fendrihan's website.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

No offence but I really wouldn't expect perfection in an inexpensive Jnat.

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I respectfully disagree, cost should have nothing to do with it, if the ad said, "cost was adjusted because it may have cracks or be defective", then, I would make a decision on whether I want to gamble on getting a usable stone or not

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Originally Posted by Mark1065

I respectfully disagree, cost should have nothing to do with it, if the ad said, "cost was adjusted because it may have cracks or be defective", then, I would make a decision on whether I want to gamble on getting a usable stone or not

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I'd like to point out again that the pictures shown on their website to advertise these hones do show hones wíth cracks in them.

If the crack is felt by your fingernail, it will be "felt" by the blade. Send it back and get another one. Tell them you want them to check the next one. A stress crack isnt normal. Ive bought many stones inexpensively and they didnt have these cracks. These can be considered "toxic". Unless you want to lap that stone for a few hours and see if you can get past it. I would just send it back. These stones are relatively low prices because of the size and they are usually not the greatest stones as they are probably very very hard and slow to hone with. They can definitely get you a good shaving edge though. If I bought a glass for $1 and it was cracked, I wouldnt expect it to be just because it was a dollar.

bill3152, I like your analogy

I was going to return it but decided it was good learning tool on how to repair hones (and to be honest I didn't want to deal with the hassle), I CA glued the crack and lapped it and so far so good, I'll keep you all informed of it's progress or demise lol

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Originally Posted by Mark1065

I respectfully disagree, cost should have nothing to do with it, if the ad said, "cost was adjusted because it may have cracks or be defective", then, I would make a decision on whether I want to gamble on getting a usable stone or not

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Fair enough but the price is kinda too good to be true. However, hairline cracks, Su or toxic lines are acceptable if it's a good stone.
Of course Su would be less than ideal for razors but the Japanese often work around these imperfections as you have seemed to also.

Worse case scenario you could cut the stone up into Nagura size pieces & turn a profit selling them on eBay.
If you feel comfortable with the same dealer you could then buy another stone & request it be checked.