Thread: Japanese whetstone sharpening stone #15000 grit / resinoid metalmaster stone

Looks pretty cool. How hard was it to lap? Does it slurry easily?

I've sharpened off crazier looking stuff. Some successfully, some not.

It was fairly easy to lap, though if you look at the last pic bottom right corner it has that weird black spot it's like nasty oil stain that runs deep? It appears that one of the previous owners tried to lap it out and now that planes of the rest of the stone. Anyhow I couldn't justify lapping all that good stone away for a square inch of space. I have not tested it throughly yet but I am going to be focusing on it for the next few days to see if it's a keeper. As far as slurry, I hit it with a diamond plate and it does seem to have a nice milky white slurry that builds up pretty fast. I hope I can fit this stone in my routine. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

P.s. Sry about all the pics I ain't the greatest on the iPad lol

So it depends on what you are after. What is more, to you?

You have back away from the finishing stone trap, where you are using several finishing stones, with no direction, and no knowledge if you are moving forward or back. Few natural finishers are finer than 8k.

The safe bet, is the Naniwa 12k, bullet proof, dependable edge at a reasonable cost. As said, adding that with the synthetic progression you now have, you are set for life.

From a Naniwa 12k you can easily jump to any Natural finisher, and back if it does not work out.

But you really need to think about, what it is you are after and what you budget is. Unlimited budget, Naturals will easily relieve you of cash and few will best a 12k super stone edge.

Add some paste and you start circling another black hole, though much less costly.

Really, you sound like you already have all you need, except more experience learning what you already have. If you have been woodworking for some time, this advice is not new. You can be a woodworker or a tool collector and some are both.

The Naniwa 12k is the safest bet and will benefit you no matter where you go from there.

It’s not the stone…

Euclid440, you're totally correct I know where I am with the stone chase, so here's my goal I am going to get rid of everything except in my opinion my best coti and the norton set and like you said get the 12 k super? I will be the first to admit I went crazy on stones! I just love getting into checking all the differences I find from stone to stone. I check the scratch patterns and such on my microscope and to me it's exciting testing different methods, hones, materials etc. The reason I'm asking all these questions is I need to be more practical and minimize. After I have my core system complete I'd like to have fun testing different stones just for the enjoyment of mastering them. Like I said I get good shaves but a good shave to me is probably far different from you, I am not afraid to admit my experience in razor honing is far from a master level but I am very mechanically inclined and have a deep thirst for learning. I really want to thank you for your reply's because you give it straight and to the point. So I'm thinking the super and more practice.

Or you could do like I did. Create a natural progression set of hones and also a synthetic progression set of hones. Sometimes I want to kick it old school and sometimes I'm in more of a hurry to get 'er done.

Sorry, can't come up with a really good justification for that right now but that's how I have them separated. Makes sense, right?

This place is not good for suggesting that you NOT try new/different hones LOL.

I wouldn't sell any of the Coticules just yet.

Those particular stones have a learning curve with them. And it's not uncommon to be able to get more from one as you get more experience. Wait until you are certain that the stone you plan on keeping is the best performer. It'll take at least a few months testing edges to get to a stage where you can make an educated choice. I've only recently picked up one (April) and it's taken some learning to get it to the stage where my edges are nice. And I think my stone has more to offer yet. It's certainly not a rock you can just use and master after reading an online how to guide.

The 12K Naniwa is a cracking stone. It leaves a very nice edge, and if you do want to use naturals the 12K leaves a near mirror finish that is truly ready for even the weakest cutting natural stones. If you read the how to guide on one of these from a reputable source then 99% of the time that information can be copied into your honing style.

Also the thuri is probably worth holding onto as well. There will be times when you will want to test what other edges feel like, Or you get a razor that just won't sit right on the hone like a big smiling wedge, In those situations the thinner boxed rocks can be really useful. It also means you won't get the urge to go out and spend money on one again if it's sat there unused! And they make fantastic travel hones.

With the Coti's you don't like as well try using them under running water to finish hone. & I am now not worrying about slurry. Just use a coarser stone & don't wear down your Coti so fast. Check out Dr Matt's Coti videos. I did & my Coti has came to life for me using his methods. I guess that first sentence should read try it on ALL your Coti's.
With the "TURKEY" stone I would soak it in Dawn dish washing soap & some water. It may help get the dark spot out.

Slawman

This thread is all over the place so I'll just address one thing for now. I have a hard time reconciling the concept of "easy to lap" with a Turkish oil stone. They tend to be quite hard. If that is in fact oil deep in the hone surface, that also suggests that it is only an "alleged" Turkish stone but not actually one.

Another issue. I really like the Shapton DGLP lapping plate, but it is not necessary for lapping or refreshing the Shapton 16k. Any diamond plate or even w/d sandpaper can be used in its place.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Did you try to return it since it clearly does not match its description?
First, could you please tell us what else you have or are considering getting? .

I didn't send it back. I figured the hassle of shipping to Japan and trying to get a refund would exceed the dollar amount I'm out. So I'm chalking it up to experience. Besides, I've bought some very good JNats from MetalMaster and don't want to poison the well.

Anyway, my current route is to hit one or more JNats after a synthetic 8K. I've dropped the Naniwa SS 10 & 12 because their random geometry annoys me. My thinking was that the "resinoid 15K" would be a good bridge from 8K to the Gokumyo 20K, but it was not to be. Maybe I'll take another look at the 10K and/or 15K Gokumyo models eventually, but I've been getting some terrific edges lately from the JNats and I'm kind of enjoying the process of getting to know these stones better.

I don't understand what you mean by random geometry of the superstone 10 and 12k, but they are perfectly fine for serving as precursors to the Gok20k. If you mean the odd swelling that can happen with the superstones, this is overcome by handling them the same way each time. I prefer to lap them when I am finished with them so that they are in there wet state. That way the next time I use them they will be closest to flat at time of use.

I also have the Gok10 and 15k and they work quite well. None of them require many laps to get the job done and if you overdo it you may end up with a chipped edge.