Quote Originally Posted by holli4pirating View Post
I'm guessing it appears finer than the rated 1-2k because it's a rating is probably in JIS, which is finer than Norton's rating system, and because it's a natural so the grit breaks down and moves around.

I'm glad to hear yours is wearing evenly, Joke; gives me hope that mine will too when I back off with the firmness and use some slurry instead.
I haven't used one of these stones, so this is pure speculation, but since the Naniwas and Kings (and Shaptons, though I've never used one of them, either) are also JIS, and the 1K stones they make don't have that fine a scratch pattern, could it be that these stones, like other naturals, release a slurry that breaks down and starts to get finer as you use it?

I mean, the Aoto is a silica based stone, like a lot of other natural stones (Thuringian, Nakayamas, etc.), and if they are soft then the binding agent must be pretty weak as well. So the released silica will be fracturing and getting finer, won't t?

This might explain the results of a "finer" edge, as well as the hazy finish.

But again, this is pure speculation...I'm waiting till next year, and my next trip to The Big City, to get mine. (I went to Fukuoka and found a knife shop that had a big old Aoto for about $60...it had been sitting there for at least 10 years, the guy said, and so I reckon it can wait a wee bit longer...)