Thread: Nakayama Maruka

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Here is a small Nakayama Maruka Asagi with all stamps.

I am probably going to insult someone here, or there but stones like this one, a small plain gray koppa with all those stamps reminds me of an under powered small engine early 1970s yellow or orange Ford Mustang driving around town with a bunch of racing stripes and race day numbers on the side, and having to stop at the same stop signs the the station wagons have to. Way, way over done in the stamp catagory. I suspect that these stones are coming from the nephew of Kato-san, the last owner and the one who closed the Nakayama mine. His nephew owns the rights to the Oozuku mine and I might be wrong but I think it is him who has been stamping all of these stones for the past 5 years.

Alex

So you say Nakayama trumps all other mines then you say its like a 1970's Ford Mustang ? Wakarimasen.

Actually, as an ex mechanic I'd say it's more like Datsun 1600 rally car with 200hp at the rear wheels

Been there, seen it and done it myself. I got this one from So Yamashita many years ago, IIRC I paid 150 USD for it.



It is a great stone. After a Y/G it takes about 50 round trips on it to get the smooth velvety feel that tells you you're there. It gives me killer edges but I no longer use it. Nowadays I finish on the Y/G and take the razor to a flax linen strop that does the same as the Nakayama much more quickly.

My 2cts.

I'm sure these are great stones, but based on what Alex has to say and my reading I do not think that they are Grade A Nakayama Kiitas. Atleast in my limited experience they do not fit those criterias listed. I'm sure they may produce the same results as a old Maruka though. After some googling I beleive I found what I was looking for, again I'm no expert.

I am not putting down the Mustang and I'd like one of those Datsun 1200's, or knocking the Maruka stamped stone as a good stone, I was referring to all those stamps almost crowding out the stone itself. Kees, now that is my favorite color of stone, a dull green and those super straight namazu mineral filled lines are indicative of stones from Nakayama.

Alex

Here's some eye candy for the kiita lovers. Left to right, vintage Nakayama Maruka kiita from Alex bought several years ago, 1960's (I think) piece of kiita on a fitted dais, also from Alex, a narrow hard kiita on a dais, piece of very hard and very fine kiita, and one that isn't but is, a vintage Nakayama Hatanaka Hatahoshi from Takeshi-San, although green it's a classic kiita in performance and feel, and very fine. The small stone between the boxes is a mixed Hatanaka Nakayama kiita/iro with blue, green, rose, and yellow.

The Maruka on the left is an excellent razor hone and will cut very hard SLD stainless knife steel (and I assume ZDP) along with the one just to the right which isn't quite as fine and fast but still superb. Both are blazing fast, they can both erase Chosera 600 marks on one slurry and go to HHT 4 on razors.

The narrow one, the small Hatanaka and the next one are very hard and fine, superb razor hones. The small one is likely the fastest stone I own. The green Hatahoshi is just a very mellow stone to hone on and imparts a superb edge to a razor.

Cheers, Steve

My goodness. You need to part with some

Originally Posted by sstomcat

My goodness. You need to part with some

They're out there and can be had, but Nakayama, kiita, and "reasonably priced" don't go together. Smaller piece of superb Nakayama kiita from Takeshi-San.

Cheers, Steve

Awesome, pictures, thanks for posting.

Maruka's are the best stones on Earth...

(because I own one)