Japanese Naturals - Which one?

I found the following two waterstones at our local woodworking shop here in Auckland and want to know if any of you can help. Both are supposed to be very fine (i.e. 10k+ range).

Cheers
Scott

do you know what they are?any kanji on them?
Are they finishing stones?
Nakayama Asagi can be gray, but so can other stones.
If they allow you to test both choose the one you like better.

allowing me to guess? the left one. Flip it over and lets see that side

Surely they will let you try them.

if these stones aren´t extremely cheap, I would not buy any of them.
You don´t know the origin, you don´t know the grit (how is he supposed to know?!)
and both require a lot of work to get them going.
You can´t have any gaps in your stone if you try to sharpen a razor.

I would consider buying something more soffisticated.
To buy j-nats is a gamble (with very bad odds) if you do not buy from an experienced guy

Thanks for the feedback guys,I greatly appreciate it.
I will steer clear of the "J-nats" and go with the Naniwa or Norton.


Cheers
Scott

looks like a coticule bout down in the cabinet at the right.

Scott
Looks like a shop that is selling other sharpening medium, If you buy a synthetic and like it, why not ask the ower if you can try out one of the stones on a trial basis with a deposit. If he/she will, test it out after your synthetic and see if it will improve the edge at all. Personally I sort of like the looks of the stone on the right. If it was under $100 I would really try to test it somehow, if less than $200 maybe still try to test. It looks like a professional size stone 205mm x 75mm x 35mm. A stone like this could be used for all sorts of tools, and last a lifetime. If it is the topside of the stone we are looking at, tough to test but should be a discount to buy because of the cost of lapping.

Good eye Kevin

best of luck, Alx

Is that from Carba-Tec in Auckland? I've been tempted by the J-Nats there myself - if you do try one, please let me know how it goes, I need to get myself a progression going.

Sometimes people that love J-Nats will try to impress you with the "skin" side and actually show you that first. It shows that it is a real natural from one of the high class naori. Some real stone guys can tell which mine a stone comes from based on the skin. The one below is a stone I am looking at from one of the more famous mines.http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...e5185-26-2.jpg

Wait, there are two stones and you show us ONE side and didn't say a price?

With YOUR money I'd buy both of them and review them but with my money I'd want the review first.. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pyment

Sometimes people that love J-Nats will try to impress you with the "skin" side and actually show you that first. It shows that it is a real natural from one of the high class naori. Some real stone guys can tell which mine a stone comes from based on the skin. The one below is a stone I am looking at from one of the more famous mines.

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here is the other side:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...e5396-26-1.jpg

This is a Nakayama Tomae Semi Asagi. I think the very orange skin is supposed to be typical of Nakayama.

Next is a Shiro Suita that is supposed to be an Okudo Shiro Suita:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...-09apr-4-c.jpg

Note the skin is thick brown and shaggy like tree bark. This is supposed to be typical of Okudo skin.

Here is the front:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...-09apr-4-b.jpg

The front is also like many of the Okudo Shiro suita I have seen on the net.