Thread: Improving the lower end

As far as coarser naturals is concerned...

*NOTE* Grit ratings for these are only approximations, natural stones are not usually rated because the grit most likely is not consistent throughout the stone, like it is in a synthetic hone.

Amakusa Red - rated ~800 in JIS, so it should be very close to 1k Norton waterstone.



Amakusa White - rated ~1k in JIS which puts it closer to about a 1200 grit waterstone.



Natural Aoto Mountain Blue - Rated ~2000-3000 in JIS, which puts it in the area around a 4k Norton. Possibly a little lower or higher depending on the stone obviously.



And as far as after that, I would say go for a Coticule with water, and then follow up with your polisher (C12k, Nakayama, etc.) and then pasted strop if you like.

You can find the 3 Japanese natural stones at Welcome to Hida Tool's Web Site if you're interested.

There are other natural stones out there as well like the Dragon Tongue, Escher, Thuringian, etc. but might cost ya a little bit more, and are harder to find.

*NOTE* I don't have any idea the grit approximation for these hones, but others might be able to chime in.

The Dragon Tongue can be found at http://www.inigojones.co.uk/giftresults.php?giftcat=11

and Escher and Thuringian can be found at http://www.timbertools.com/Products/...ng-stones.html