Thread: Asano ban and atsu naguras

I would like to know whether asano ban and atsu are useful to remove chips from a razor. Has anyone tried? Are they worth the money?

It's hard to try it when you've never heard of it. I only know of the four standard Asano nagura stones. Could you please provide a source of information for these?

Ban & Atsu Nagura | TomoNagura.Com | Keith V. Johnson

@Kees: I use Yae Botan for very small chips. It is selected nagura. Many Yae Botan contains impurities (bigger particles). Good Yae Botan is faster than Botan, but not much coarser.

I think for bigger chips is better DMT or 1k synt. stone.

I have two Ban naguras and one Atsu. But I have not tested these naguras on straight razors.

@Utopian: Main nagura name and asano stamp is name of layer of stone from Mikawa. There are 10 usable layers:

Mejiro
Tenjou
Buchikou
Koma
Botan　
Yae Botan
Mushi
Atsu
Ban
Shikiban

Source (JAP): http://nagura.t.mepage.jp/togiya/newpage20.html

All you need is a fast cutting Tennen Toishi. Scrape a little slurry off it w/dmt and your golden. It just takes time. I do it all the time when I want to get into a deep satisfying honing session.