Nakayama-Initial Impression
Firstly, I would like to thank O_S for his patience and skills in helping me pick a fantastic Nakayama Kita Asagi that went way beyond my expectations. My brain over time has become wired to follow various progressions\combinations of Shaptons, Nortons, and DMTs depending on how much heavier work needs to be done.
One of the feeble questions I asked O_S was to help me pick out a hard fine grit stone. He in turn responded by telling me that this was not normally the kind of thing that could be quantified so easily with these stones. Again, I am hard wired synthetic, not natural. When I got the stone yesterday, I put it at the end of my normal progression by adding a piece of tape and went on to finsh my bevel a la Nakayama freshly lapped(I was fortunate to have a large part of the back that I lapped keeping the kangi). The shave was good but it did not have the keen edge that I am now use to getting from my 30k. Today, I decided to try again, but this time I did something I would never ask of ONE synthetic stone. I raised a light slurry on the Nakayama.The bevel was made completly from DMTs up to 8000grit with no other synthetic. So from 8000 DMT to Nakayama with slurry. I was amazed by the quickness that the deep scratches of the DMTs faded into a Nakayama haze. In short order I cleaned of the slurry wiped the stone down with a paper towel and spritzed a little water and began finishing the blade with one piece of tape added. I honed for a couple a few minutes with lighter and lighter pressure. The bevel looked uniformly hazy but the scratch pattern is unlike anything I have seen and the edge was as straight and clean as I had ever made with not chips or irregularities at 100x to speak of. The test shave was absolutly glorious.
I think the biggest suprise for me even thoug O_S clearly has stated this before, this stone is capable of a wide range of honing and for me it was a wonderful introduction into Japanese hones and a huge learning experience. SRP is very fortunate to have someone like O_S, as has been stated already by many before me guiding members into what could be a very tricky end of the sport of honing. Obviously, naturals require much more knowlege and one can end up wasting lots of Razor Related Funds tying to get the right one.(or two:))
Michael
