Thread: Nakayamaaaaaaah.....

I picked up 2 Nakayama stones from Metal Master in Japan a few weeks ago. One was a long skinny 4.5 and the other was a rectangular one approx 6x4" or so (can't remember exact size off the top of my head!) and rated as level 5. I have a Nakayama koppa from another source and it was so so, never really blew me away with how it performed. I used it as a slurry stone for my Ozuka Asagi because I never liked the edge off of it. My go to stone was an Ozuka Asagi that was probably a 5+ and needed a good slurry to really do much of anything.

I had a Gottleib Hammesfahr 6/8 round point and my Ralf Aust 5/8 Round point to touch up, so I decided to use the Nakayama stones on them, one on each blade. RA got the skinny one, GH got the harder, more rectangular one. I worked up a quick slurry and then went to town. Beautiful feeling when sharpening, nice and creamy feeling. I worked each one a bit on the stone and washed off/wiped down the blade and then pulled out the 20X loupe. Nice, clean edge, no white line at the edge like I usually get with synthetic stones (J Nats seem to knock off any wire edge for me with the slurry I think? Synthetic stones, I get a white line at the very edge at certain angles, J nats with slurry, white line goes away). Pulled out the 60X lighted loupe and checked the edges. Very nice scratch pattern to the bevel (that matte bead blast look from J Nats I love!) and the edge looked dead straight..much straighter than my previous attempts. Stropped them up, looked great under magnification! Tree Top arm hair test was next. They were able to top arm hairs with much less tug and ping than I usually experience! Shaving was nice and smooth, too! I even nicked my ear lobe and felt the blade brush against it, but didn't feel the pinch of a cut. Still cut myself, but didn't even realize it until the blood was dripping! Time to try them out on more blades!

Just goes to show you that each stone is different and may perform completely differently than another one, even though they share the same names!! These edges were by far the best and most comfortable edges I have gotten on any blades yet!

Originally Posted by taz575

Just goes to show you that each stone is different and may perform completely differently than another one, even though they share the same names!! These edges were by far the best and most comfortable edges I have gotten on any blades yet!

Gratz on your results & yes "the names of stones aren't worth a penny"

Good work, keep experimenting, edges will only get better, how about some pics?

Originally Posted by taz575

I picked up 2 Nakayama stones from Metal Master in Japan a few weeks ago. One was a long skinny 4.5 and the other was a rectangular one approx 6x4" or so (can't remember exact size off the top of my head!) and rated as level 5. I have a Nakayama koppa from another source and it was so so, never really blew me away with how it performed. I used it as a slurry stone for my Ozuka Asagi because I never liked the edge off of it. My go to stone was an Ozuka Asagi that was probably a 5+ and needed a good slurry to really do much of anything.

Just goes to show you that each stone is different and may perform completely differently than another one, even though they share the same names!! These edges were by far the best and most comfortable edges I have gotten on any blades yet!

Taz

Sounds like you are on the right track. I noticed that the stone you like now is a slightly softer level 5 stone, and that you began using it with a decent slurry. These are 2 themes that I follow myself. The really hard level 5++ or 5+ stones can be excellent if you know how to use them, and if you pretty much have an already near to fully honed razor to begin with. A slurry can be a great factor in edge development, a slightly softer or medium hard stone can contribute to this method. Maybe a slurry made from your 5+ Ozuku asagi is one of the keys.

Matching up a slurry stone with a base stone should also take into account the nature of the slurry stone, its fineness and hardness. Silly to have a $1 per gram base stone and a #0.25 per gram slurry stone. Lots of tomonagura slurry stones are made up of these cheaper grade stones and the slurry is of less quality if the slurry stone is of less quality.

You might try using a worn out diamond plate to raise a slurry from your level 5+ Ozuku, or use your new Nakayama as a slurry stone for the Ozuku base stone. Use the same technique you did with your last attempt that you got the good shave from. There might be a place still for the level 5+ stone in your quiver.

good luck,
Alex

Yeah, I have some experimenting to do! I will try to get pics, but I gotta find the piece that I screw the magnifier on to to mount onto my cell phone to get photo's. Not sure how well they will come out, but I will try!

Yes, it took this long to find the cell phone attachment piece! LOL. 60X magnifier pics after the Nakayama, they may be pre strop?