Thread: New Nakayama

Just picked up this new Nakayama Maruichi Asagi Kan. There is kawa on the back and most of the sides. Do I still need to seal it with the kawa covering most of the non-working surfaces?

Very nice stone.....

If it were mine, I would seal the sides and bottom with several thin coats of cashew urushi. I generally use 3 or 4 coats.

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

If it were mine, I would seal the sides and bottom with several thin coats of cashew urushi. I generally use 3 or 4 coats.

Ok. Should I go right over the kawa or lap it off first? This is the first JNat I've gotten without the sides sealed. Also, I need to find a Tomo for it. Any ideas on what to look for when matching a Tomo to a stone?

Originally Posted by Jnatcat

Very nice stone.....

Thanks! I'm excited to get honing with it. Need to find a Tomo for it first though

I always leave the kawa intact and lacquer directly over it. If you thin your first coat sufficiently, you'll have no problems at all. I prefer a tomo of similar hardness to the honzan. If they are both fairly hard and difficult to slurry, roughing the bottom of the tomo on a diamond plate will solve that. I generally seal my nagura as well, leaving just a working face exposed.

I would make certain the stone was very clean and dry, then take a series of pic's for my files. I always include at least one series of pic's of the stone wet usually done while cleaning in preparation for sealing.
When completely dry seal right over the skin bottom and sides. I find a few light coats are superior to one heavy coat, once dry lap flat and hone on it.
I think most of the usual stone sellers have a few tomo for sale, ping them and ask.
If your stone is soft then tell them you want a fine soft tomo if you have a hard stone then you could use either, describe the stone to the seller and see what they have. Experimentation is good!
You could also test the stone using a well worn diamond plate to raise a slurry and see what the base stone has for abrasiveness and speed, I test most all of my stones this way even though I usually hone on nagura slurry of some sort.

That should be a hard 5+ stone. That seller has sold me a few very nice stones. If there are no cracks or crevices for water to get into you don't have to seal it, but I usually do. You just don't want water getting into cracks and causing them to grow over time. You can check with Alex at the Japan stone he sells tomo by the gram and takes returns if you find it no good.

Very nice stone I thought about that one. I ended up buying a nice suita karasu renge that should show up next week. I found his hardness rating to be pretty close if not more on the conservative side so I feel my stones may be actually a bit harder than he rated them, but each person has their own idea of what hard is.

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

If it were mine, I would seal the sides and bottom with several thin coats of cashew urushi. I generally use 3 or 4 coats.

Is Urushi the same as cashew lacquer? If not, are there significant differences. It seems easier for me to find lacquer.

Originally Posted by rideon66

That should be a hard 5+ stone. That seller has sold me a few very nice stones. If there are no cracks or crevices for water to get into you don't have to seal it, but I usually do. You just don't want water getting into cracks and causing them to grow over time. You can check with Alex at the Japan stone he sells tomo by the gram and takes returns if you find it no good.

Very nice stone I thought about that one. I ended up buying a nice suita karasu renge that should show up next week. I found his hardness rating to be pretty close if not more on the conservative side so I feel my stones may be actually a bit harder than he rated them, but each person has their own idea of what hard is.

I've been in touch with Alex regarding the Tomo. He is doing a bit of experimentation with a similar stone of his and going to find a good match for me.

This is my first stone from the seller I got it from. It would be awesome if he underestimated the hardness as most tend to over estimate it. Also the shipping was fast considering it was from Russia to the US. Got it in about a week. If it turns out to be a good one I have some others I am eyeing on their site. I was also thinking about getting another Nagura set so I have some mix and match options. That's one of my favorite parts about JNat honing.