Thread: Jnat I have on the way

I have the Aiwadani the stone one the left and the nagura set on the way from Japan. They are in NY on the way to SD. Anyone know anything about those stones. Per the vendor it is a stone suitable for a razor. I'm just antsy to get it and try it. should be here soon.

Jim

Aiiwatani/Aiwadani is a mine north of Kyoto like the Takashima mine and reportedly produced smooth stones that are similar to Nakayama stones. As far as any individual characteristics of the stone, you just have to see when it arrives.

The small stones are Asano stamped Mikawa naguras used to create grit on your hone ranging from coarse to fine and are used before final finishing usually with a tomo nagura, which is a piece of stone similar to or the same as the hone. You can also use a mellowed diamond plate for the final slurry, or finish with just water depending on the hone.

The nagura on the left is a teniyou, the middle is a botan, and the one on the right is a mejiro. The botan is the coarsest and you'll probably need to test the other two to see for sure which is finer. You can find lots of info on Mikawa naguras at Jnats, Tomo & Mikawa Nagura & Straight Razor Hones | TomoNagura.Com.

Good honing and welcome!

Cheers, Steve

Thanks Steve,

I'll post pics and more impressions when I have the stones in hand. In all my reading I had not heard of that mine. I admit to knowing almost nothing about Japanese hones, so that is not unusual. Glad to hear that the mine has a good reputation. The vendor seems good to deal with, and I have hopes that this stone will be better than my fleabay gamble that did not turn out to be a decent hone.

Jim

Also from the same site here is a list of more Japanese mines. Yours is listed there but spelled "Iwatani."

Japanese Whetstone Quarries | TomoNagura.Com

If it's a hard stone with fine grain and no scratchiness, you should like it. A reliable dealer will sell you a stone you can use and you don't have to worry too much about the details unless you have specific requests. It's more important just to get the stone and learn it by use.

I've got stones from Shoubudani, Oozuko and Nakayama. They all deliver great edges once their idiocyncracies are learned.

I consider the site linked above to be a bit suspect in it's information. Alex Gilmore and Jim Rion I find to be better for info on JNats.

TheJapanStone Nakayama mine Okudo mine Ohira mine Ozuku kamisori

+1 for Alex. Extremely knowledgeable. You might want to send him an email asking about the mine, but he left for Japan on the 29th so he may be slow replying.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Druid

I've got stones from Shoubudani, Oozuko and Nakayama. They all deliver great edges once their idiocyncracies are learned.

I've found the difference between edges on stones that are truly fine to be fairly minimal. Those being ozaki, nakayama, shoubu, ozuku, narutaki...and probably a couple of others from unmarked stones. The feel of the individual stones might be different, but as long as the stones have uniform particles and don't release grit, the result is similar and all of the stones are fairly easy to use.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I've found the difference between edges on stones that are truly fine to be fairly minimal. Those being ozaki, nakayama, shoubu, ozuku, narutaki...and probably a couple of others from unmarked stones. The feel of the individual stones might be different, but as long as the stones have uniform particles and don't release grit, the result is similar and all of the stones are fairly easy to use.

This has been my experience as well...

Thanks Guys,
great info. Who would have thought there were 3 or more spellings of the mine name. Per tracking the package is now in Sioux falls SD, at least in the same state. Should be here tomorrow.

Jim