What kind of japaneese stone is this? Any good?

Anyone know what kind of stone this is?

Is it any good for straight razor honing?
My girlfriend stumbled upon this in a second-hand store, cheap, maybe $12.
I am fairly new to straight razors in general, just bought my first straight razor
(Dovo "Astrale" Ebony), don't own any other stones yet.
Do I need a diamond stone to straight this one out first maybe?

Is it enough with just this stone and a diamond stone? =)


Attachment 195703
photo: top side
Attachment 195704
photo: bottom side

The stone is smooth to the touch, I was fairly surprised of this when I first saw it.

Any response is welcome

Not sure if that is a hone. If Japanese it would be stamped not gouged/chiseled with Kanji. If someone can translate it might solve the mystery.

Lap what you call the bottom and try honing.

For a real setup you need at least a bevel setter, a middle stone to refine the bevel, and a finisher to put the final shaving edge. Of course you can get a coti and make it a 2 stone process but I love my super finishers.

I can give a try with kanji, but I need a more detailed pic.

Haven't seen a good hone that looks like that, it may be decorative. The patterns that are desirable are pretty well known (renge in suita, karasu on finishers, etc), but that's no guarantee that might not make a usable or even decent hone.

I like the recommendation to lap the back and try it (presuming it doesn't have a coating of lacquer on it anywhere.

I have honed with stones that weren't otherwise well known as honing stones and gotten away with it just fine, though.

Stamps can mean nothing. Sometimes the stamps are fake and the stone is real! Or vice versa.

The problem is they are not even stamps. Has anyone seen a Jnat with Kanji gouged/engraved in it? I have not and I am very obsessed with Jnats.

Never seen them like that. I have seen them engraved/gouged into stones by most likely the owner though.