Thread: Naniwa ‘Nagura’

“The good folks on the German forums seem to like the 10k Naniwa better than the 12k. I have both. The 10k is softer, it does not seem to be the same base as the 12, and the edge is not that much different. Maybe smoother, maybe not. Anyone else have/use both?”

I have a couple 12k Naniwas an old pink one and a new white one, they are not the same. The old pink one seems softer and capable of a higher, near mirror finish than the new white one.

I don’t have a Naniwa 10k but do have an old King Ice Bear 10k. The King 10 k can produce a near mirror, similar to the Pink, Naniwa 12k.

Now the 8k Snow White Junpaku is a Magnesium stone, also capable of producing a near mirror, even finer and higher polish than the new Nanawia 12k.

I am on my third 8k Snow White, the first one crazed after a couple years, but still produced great edges for a few years more. The edge began to micro chip, but still produced a mirror bevel. I still use it for honing plane blades, that I strop on CBN and or Chrome Oxide to remove micro chipping and am not as concerned with micro chipping on thick carbon steel plane blades. The range of the 8k is pretty broad, I have gone from 1k to near mirror, though a 4k cuts the time on the stone.

The new 8k produces an almost mirror finish with just a few random stria on the bevel but a super straight edge.

My go to progression for razors is a King 1k, 4k Nubatama and 8k Naniwa Snow White. From the 8k I go to a natural finisher, usually a Jnat.

So, unless you are using either one as a finisher, both will finish well, with paste, very well. If you are jumping off to a natural, it does not matter.

I doubt the 10k Chosera is $275 better. I would buy the 8kJunpaku and put the $175 savings towards a SG20.

Here’s an update, the finer grit nagura are smaller than the ‘brown biscuit’ and appear to be sections of Super Stones. They seemed to have ripped a bench stone up the middle and then cut sections to a length that’s a little shorter than width of the stone. I would have thought that they’d just have sliced off full width sections, but maybe this scheme minimizes saw waste? IDK, When I’ve had a chance to try them out I’ll update the thread. Probably tomorrow.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Euclid440

“The good folks on the German forums seem to like the 10k Naniwa better than the 12k. I have both. The 10k is softer, it does not seem to be the same base as the 12, and the edge is not that much different. Maybe smoother, maybe not. Anyone else have/use both?”

I have a couple 12k Naniwas an old pink one and a new white one, they are not the same. The old pink one seems softer and capable of a higher, near mirror finish than the new white one.

I don’t have a Naniwa 10k but do have an old King Ice Bear 10k. The King 10 k can produce a near mirror, similar to the Pink, Naniwa 12k.

Now the 8k Snow White Junpaku is a Magnesium stone, also capable of producing a near mirror, even finer and higher polish than the new Nanawia 12k.
...
My go to progression for razors is a King 1k, 4k Nubatama and 8k Naniwa Snow White. From the 8k I go to a natural finisher, usually a Jnat.

So, unless you are using either one as a finisher, both will finish well, with paste, very well. If you are jumping off to a natural, it does not matter.

I doubt the 10k Chosera is $275 better. I would buy the 8kJunpaku and put the $175 savings towards a SG20.

Getting off topic... but those are interesting insights. After many years of getting on with an 8K / PHIG as my finishers, I bought the "new" 12K and was not impressed by it at all. Didn't understand what the fuss was about. Maybe it's because it's not the same stone as what was hyped.

I've since got a nice JNat (Shobu...) with a Nagura progression. Now I'm a happy man.

Cheers, HJ

Try lapping some of the new 12k surface off. I lapped mine several times with a 140 diamond plate and it improved it. It still does not polish like the old pink one, but better near mirror.

Swarf loading is still an issue, so make sure to do a quick lap for your final finish laps. A scotch brite will remove lite swarf load up.

Today I used the 10k ‘nagura’ to clean up Shapton 2k and 4k Glass stones. It worked well and the surface is smoother than when using the old King 8k. Of course, I could have used the 5k ‘nagura’, but wanted to compare the 10k to the 8k King. I like the 10k better I think, based on one use.