Originally Posted by
DaveW
Of the two guys above, if you're new to this, I would go to alex and tell him that you want performance over looks (you can buy looks later) and give him your budget (Somewhere around $200 is what it's going to take to get a good older stone, perhaps less if he has something that's a bit oddball looking and thin). He'll max out what you can get with dealer support. If you get the disease, then you can start looking around and trying to maximize your dollar without a dealer, but it's good to start off with a capable stone - an indian can't blame the arrow if the arrow is straight, if you know what I mean. Reasonable width (65mm+, closer to 70) before thickness. If you get a good stone 9/16ths of an inch thick and mount it, its under threat of being dropped or bumped more than it is being worn through.
My opinion, but I see a lot of stuff that keith sells that's commodity but for a high price (things that wouldn't sell for anything in the japanese market - narrow stone, small tsushima for more than the price of large tsushima, etc), and over selling and overnaming of things (e.g., if a stone has a spot, then it's karasu). I would go to alex first - stuff that he has that's high is more consistent with what brings money in japan. He's been in this game a lot longer and is more of a student of the stones.
Not to say you couldn't get a good stone from anyone. As we said in another thread, once you know what you're buying, you'll be able to stab out good chances at palm sized stones for $30-$60, or really get a good chance at a valuable stone for a few multiples of that. Or you can do the wise thing and buy one reasonable width stone from alex and ask for performance over looks and really able able to hone everything you ever get for the rest of your life. That's how I started, and I had a budget as mentioned above and stayed away from more expensive stones at first. I got prettier stones later, but never got another stone that outperformed the first one I got from alex.
Learning the stone is important, by the way. It will work differently for you after 6 months than it does right away, and better. Stones are often like tools, someone who is good with them will be able to use any of them. The person who is really good with just one or a few good ones will reap rewards and efficiency from familiarity.