The Aoto Thread

[manah]

I use Aoto stone more than one year, as the first stone in honing (including knives).
Here description:

Japanese Natural Waterstone Aoto
Fine-grit, grey sedimentary stone from the famous Honyama quarry. Very uniform structure for fine sharpening purposes.

Japanese NaturalWaterstones (Tennen Toishi)
“A blade and sharpening stone must beas perfect a match as bride and groom”according to legendary BlacksmithShigeoshi Iwasaki. Finding the idealpairing is no easy task in either case.Despite the excellent performance ofman-made stones, many experiencedsharpeners still rely on natural stonesfor sharpening their finest blades.Japanese Tennen Toishi are particularlyrenowned for their ability to harmoniouslysharpen hand-forged carbonsteels. They are able bring a blade’s fullpotential to the fore and allow thesharpening process itself to become apleasant ritual. The finest stones fromthe Honyama quarries are becomingincreasingly difficult to acquire - wetake great pleasure in still being able tooffer these rare treasures.
Natural Japanese stones may be usedwith water only and must be kept protectedfrom frost. Please note that thestones may have slight natural imperfectionsand may vary somewhat in size.

Grit 1000-2000, 185 x 58 x 38 mm.