Thread: Jnat hone color question

I picked up a really nice Jnat recently and originally thought it was just Asagi and mostly green. As I started honing on it I noticed an almost 3D effect with veins and hues of red and purple when it is wet. There is also a faint stamp on the end that I can't make out but it is there and not covered by lacquer.

In conversation with the previous owner he called it a "Shou Hon Yama Awase -Do" and said the stamp has significance. I am researching but I thought I would ask here.

This stone is a totally different experience than my other Jnats (Okudo Asagi and Shobudani 100) it is hard to describe but the word that comes to mind is "luxury" did I pick up an exceptional stone or am I just in love with it?





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Very nice looking stone.

The terminology that he relayed to you is a statement of "best quality" and "finishing stone".

Can't vouch much for the stamps, etc, but I'm assuming that you have gotten a stone that has a bit "softer" feel than the later ultra hard stones you may be getting as new ones now? Is that correct?

I like a razor finisher that is off of the highest hardness, and it can be off of the highest fineness as long as it still will make a comfortable shave that will wipe the hair off. I have been trying a whole bunch of really cheap stones, and some not so cheap. It is true that some of the really cheap ones will make a razor sharp but uncomfortable, or they will not make a razor sharp at all. But some have been a delight, too. I tried two yesterday - one that had a great feel with tools - yaginoshima (characteristic gray with yellowish slurry) - and another one that I think was sold as yaginoshima, but has a water-like pattern on the surface, feels skippy, and the slurry is just a lighter color of the stone (bluish gray). I thought for sure the second one would be harsh, and the first one too coarse. Both turned out fine.

Last weekend I sealed up a stone that felt really fine and that I got really cheap. It made my razors a super bright polish, and the HHT was passed as easily as any natural stone I've used. I thought for sure I was in for a delightful shave, but the shave turned out to be harsh, and no sharpen than anything else. It's not good for tools, either, because the surface fractures under the back side of a chisel (that will make sense to people who have sharpened japanese chisels - some stones just fracture and get all scratched up with tools, and others don't - don't know why) so it might go in the trash can, or I might give it to a friend to stash in their kitchen to touch up knives.

You just never know about any given stone until you try the shave. When you get a stone that really feels nice when sharpening, is easy to use, and makes a keen and very comfortable shave on everything that passes across it, you really know you've got it then.

the colors that show on your stone are not uncommon, but that doesn't mean they're not pretty.

It maybe a Maruka stamp on the end. Looks like but can't tell for sure. Also not sure on the color thing, but I think some Asagi can have those other colors too.

Originally Posted by rideon66

It maybe a Maruka stamp on the end. Looks like but can't tell for sure. Also not sure on the color thing, but I think some Asagi can have those other colors too.

The Maruka stamp was always applied parallel to the stone surface. That stamp also look longer than a Maruka stamp. Without better pics it is hard to say, but that is more likely the "Shohonzan" stamp than "Maruka" stamp.

If you are in love with it then it is a luxury stone. But I don't know much about jnats, atm I have an awasedo unknown mine and shoubu

Can you tell what color the stamp ink is?

"Shou Hon Yama Awase -Do" is pretty generic but adds some weight to Stefan's idea that the stamp is a 'shohonzan' stamp. Sho Hon Yama just means it's from the Kyoto area, Awase and Awase-Do just means whetstone. Sho Hon Yama in kanji are in almost every description of a finishing stone and appear in many stamps.

If you have some photo editing skills, you can look at the stamp image in the RGB channels, throw out the two most indistinct channels, convert to black and white then tweak the contrast, saturation, etc and the stamp might be readable. Doesn't always work but sometimes it does. I'd do it for you but my main imaging computer has unfortunately decided to die.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

Can you tell what color the stamp ink is?

"Shou Hon Yama Awase -Do" is pretty generic but adds some weight to Stefan's idea that the stamp is a 'shohonzan' stamp. Sho Hon Yama just means it's from the Kyoto area, Awase and Awase-Do just means whetstone. Sho Hon Yama in kanji are in almost every description of a finishing stone and appear in many stamps.

If you have some photo editing skills, you can look at the stamp image in the RGB channels, throw out the two most indistinct channels, convert to black and white then tweak the contrast, saturation, etc and the stamp might be readable. Doesn't always work but sometimes it does. I'd do it for you but my main imaging computer has unfortunately decided to die.

Cheers, Steve

Here's an attempt to edit the image don't know if it's any help.





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