Thread: Naniwa Diamond Hones

I was looking for a good (flat) diamond hone to use as a bevel setter and perhaps a slurry stone for my high grit naturals. As I already have Naniwa Chosera and really like them I decided to try out one of the Naniwa Diamond hones, I chose #1000. They retail at about 15,000 yen or about $165 USD (using recent rates).



It arrived in a typical Naniwa box and came with a 'dressing stone'. This was my first indicator of things to come. The honing surface is a real green colour and the green was 1mm thick. I have read that new diamond hones can be harsh so I used the dressing stone on the honing surface, to what end I don't know.

I also went over the surface a few times with an old Mora Knife that I have been slowly restoring the edge on for quite some time.

So I took the hone for its first ride with a straight and after 10 or 20 laps I found under magnification that I wasn't getting equal scratch over the entire bevel. I should have checked for flatness from the start, and this is what I did next. Sure enough a very slight cupping over the entire honing surface (lengthwise).

Well I didn't want to lap it, as there is only 1mm of abbrasive. So I contacted the seller and sent it back and he confirms the problem and has refunded my money. In conjunction he has pointed me to some higher-end diamnod hones made by another Japanese company that are all in the $500 range (here's a link, scroll down to the very bottom of the page). Each one has 3mm thick of abbrasive on the honing face again a diamond ceramic mixture. Even with that thickness I would be hesitant to lap it as the amount of money going down the drain would always be on my mind.

The Naniwa Diamond hone had a great feel, similar to the Chosera but is no longer an option for straights (for me at least). With its thin layer that will most likely need to be lapped I would go with a cheaper option.