Thread: Got my japanese stone

As promised I will post the pictures
of the natural and the diamond stone
I ordered from 330mate.







The stone is quite hard. I used the diamond stone
to generate slurry. By itself very little slurry is made
while honing. The stone feels smoother than my 8000 SS Naniwa. It feels like my planes blades are gliding over
the stone.

I am not sure how fine it is for one I am not yet
really good at using this natural stone and I read
that natural stones will not give the mirror finish, but
produce a mist and haze. This is exactly what happened
when I honed my plane blades.

The stone is 19cm long, 1.5 cm thick en 6.5 cm wide. At one side there seems to be a lot of a certain metal which I think is ferric oxide(iron). I looked carefully and it is really a thin layer that I could easily remove with some sanding, but I will not bother as it does not interfere with sharpening(no particles).

The plane blades and a chisel I sharpened all became very sharp, but how sharp I don't know. My highest grit waterstone is a 8000 Naniwa SS. I do think this natural stone is finer than the Naniwa.

Unfortunaly I did not clean the diamond stone(2sided, coarse and medium I believe). Now the course side has little pieces of rust. Does anybody know how to remove the rust without damaging the diamond stone?

Feel free to ask any question(s).

Regards,

Sharpman

Nice looking stone. Regarding the rust on your lapping plate. I'd say just lap another stone then dry the plate well and quickly.

Chris L

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Nice looking stone. Regarding the rust on your lapping plate. I'd say just lap another stone then dry the plate well and quickly.

Chris L

Hi Chris,

I had already tried what you just wrote and it did
not remove the rust. I think the rust is in the narrow
''lines'' of the diamond plate where the metal particles
will flush away with water.

If I placed the lapping plate in a bucket with oil, would that work for removing the rust? Or is that plain stupid?

I clean my diamond stones with a small, stiff, potato scrubber brush. I also use Bar Keepers Friend on it to clean out clogged swarf. Very pretty stone by the way. I have much to learn with natural stones. I think comparing them to sythetics and their resective grits is almost a "disrespect" to the versitilty of the JNats in general. If you got one that cuts the particular steel and gives you a sharp edge, you can push the finess potential by gradually adding water and breaking down the slurry and it will in effect polish your steel after sharpening.
Getting the most out of these stones is a journey in and of itself. Have fun with it
Mike

Originally Posted by Kingfish

I clean my diamond stones with a small, stiff, potato scrubber brush. I also use Bar Keepers Friend on it to clean out clogged swarf. Very pretty stone by the way. I have much to learn with natural stones. I think comparing them to sythetics and their resective grits is almost a "disrespect" to the versitilty of the JNats in general. If you got one that cuts the particular steel and gives you a sharp edge, you can push the finess potential by gradually adding water and breaking down the slurry and it will in effect polish your steel after sharpening.
Getting the most out of these stones is a journey in and of itself. Have fun with it
Mike

I tried removing the rust with a tooth brush, but it will not go away.

I definitely enjoy sharpening with this, I believe nakayama stone. The stone has character whereas man made stone are so uniform, boring.

330mate was nice to send for free a piece of I believe anagura stone which you can see in the first picture. I did not use it as I know that the nagura stone is too coarse and creating a slurry with it would defeat the purpose of using the finer stone.

As the stone is not perfect rectangular I could cut a piece of the stone and use that piece as a slurry stone. What do you guys think?

I do not think your blue stone is a Nakayama, they look entirely different and are much finer than the 8K Naniwa.

Does the rust really matter? It's a tool, not a jewel! Tools get dirty when you use them. My mother always says: "if you want to keep something mint put it in a velvet box and never use it."

Originally Posted by Kees

I do not think your blue stone is a Nakayama, they look entirely different and are much finer than the 8K Naniwa.

Does the rust really matter? It's a tool, not a jewel! Tools get dirty when you use them. My mother always says: "if you want to keep something mint put it in a velvet box and never use it."

I really don't know how nakayama stones look, but I have seen them in different colours(yellow,blueish, greenish) with spots and without spots.

How can you see that the stone is not much finer than a 8k naniwa?

I thought the rust might be bad. If it doesn't have an effect then I don't really care, but I did not know that.

Groetjes from Den Haag

Originally Posted by Kees

I do not think your blue stone is a Nakayama, they look entirely different and are much finer than the 8K Naniwa.

Does the rust really matter? It's a tool, not a jewel! Tools get dirty when you use them. My mother always says: "if you want to keep something mint put it in a velvet box and never use it."

This stone is Karasu. The black spots are mica. They increase the abrasive power. From what I have read, the darker they are, the more abrasive. They can be too scratchy for finishing razors when they are very dark.

The way to tell if a stone is Nakayama is to see the skin.

the first pic shows 2 stones. The smaller is a Nakayama I purchased from Old School. It had all of the right stamps and is a Nkayama Maruka with asagi and kiita. The lower and larger is a kiita I purchased from 330mate. I think it is also from Nakayama. The skin on the back of both have the same orange coloration.

The next 2 pics show a karasu which was supposed to be from Ozuku. I have found it seems to cut well but doesn't seem to be as fine a stone as either the true Nakayama or the presumed Nakayama.

you can clean the rust using BKF (bar keepers friend) found @ Walmart and any other general store, grab a nylon or bristle brush and scrub with it. Rinse very well because its acid based, then dry well.

The stone is Karasu, and they are supposed to be the finest for finishing blades. Karasu are very hard therefore scratchy, when you practice on it you will discover the right amount of pressure and slurry for best results.

Originally Posted by Kees

I do not think your blue stone is a Nakayama, they look entirely different and are much finer than the 8K Naniwa.

Does the rust really matter? It's a tool, not a jewel! Tools get dirty when you use them. My mother always says: "if you want to keep something mint put it in a velvet box and never use it."

Please do not take offense, but rust on a tool? How can anyone tolerate that? Tools are not jewels, that I aggree, they are way more valuable. All joking aside Sharpman, try the BKF, it revitalizes the diamond stone which ted to get clogged, especially when "sticky" metals are sharpened. Rust and black iron will come easily with stiff brush and BKF.

Mike