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  1. #11
    26. Hatter Engaging in Rhetoric Mijbil's Avatar
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    hmm, very helpful what you say jasongreat - i.e. one *can* get a good stone from him (and he is more reliable and hones than others), for (what I consider) a reasonable price, though it is not guaranteed and (of course) wont be as good as the 3-5 c-note ones. but since those are totallly out of my range right now, this does present a reasonable possibility - if I am careful, and if he is willing to take it back if it doesnt work out.

    and thanks for the links, kevins. that japantool site is very interesting. to answer your question I am *very* happy getting a small stone (say 30-40mm wide and only 3-4 inches long) - I would mch rather have to struggle and put more effort into using a small stone than have no stone at all, or a much worse stone.

    why is it only japan that has these natural hones? cant be that they only naturally exist there. must be that they just are the only ones who mine them and use them properly. which means there are beautiful natural hones all over the place, waiting for SRP pioneers to take out their pickaxes and find them! hit the Cascades, Appalachia, the Urals, the Atlas mountains! fine the hones! maybe we can retrain some of the truffle-hunting pigs or dogs to sniff out a super-sweet suita.

  2. #12
    I used Nakayamas for my house mainaman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mijbil View Post
    hmm, very helpful what you say jasongreat - i.e. one *can* get a good stone from him (and he is more reliable and hones than others), for (what I consider) a reasonable price, though it is not guaranteed and (of course) wont be as good as the 3-5 c-note ones. but since those are totallly out of my range right now, this does present a reasonable possibility - if I am careful, and if he is willing to take it back if it doesnt work out.

    and thanks for the links, kevins. that japantool site is very interesting. to answer your question I am *very* happy getting a small stone (say 30-40mm wide and only 3-4 inches long) - I would mch rather have to struggle and put more effort into using a small stone than have no stone at all, or a much worse stone.

    why is it only japan that has these natural hones? cant be that they only naturally exist there. must be that they just are the only ones who mine them and use them properly. which means there are beautiful natural hones all over the place, waiting for SRP pioneers to take out their pickaxes and find them! hit the Cascades, Appalachia, the Urals, the Atlas mountains! fine the hones! maybe we can retrain some of the truffle-hunting pigs or dogs to sniff out a super-sweet suita.
    So has small stones so ask him and he will show you whats in stock.

    There was a thread a few days a o about that, and I think the consensus was that its not profitable to research and mine stones with limited marketability. There is abundance of synthetics out there. The Japanese mines have been in existence for many hundreds of years.
    Stefan

  3. #13
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    I have purchased several stones from 330 mate and from takeshi (metalmaster) and one from japan blade. I must say I paid a whoooooooooole lot more for the stone from japan blade and while all of my jnats are good stones and the japan blade one is just unreal if I die I want to be burried with that stone its that good so clean pure and magical... yes I love that stone. Bottom line if I could I would only purchase from japan blade or other people selling the good stuff. I guess you could say its like buying a mastro livi and a gold dollar or double arrow they will both shave but at the end of the day the mastro livi does something intangible that makes it that much better and worth paying that much more for it, then again not everyone thinks this way.

  4. #14
    26. Hatter Engaging in Rhetoric Mijbil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Memorael View Post
    I have purchased several stones from 330 mate and from takeshi (metalmaster) and one from japan blade
    Do you mind if i ask what the rough prices were of the different stones? Paying 2000 for one from japan blade is real different than 300-400, in my book. Would you say that the stones from 330 mate and takeshi were not worth it, in the end? My thinking is if i cant afford the $400 now, I might still get something great - something which puts my barber hone and maybe even my coti to shame - for $100. But there seems to be very little discussion of the japanaese naturals here other than the *very* expensive ones, the "true" ones, we might say.

  5. #15
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    hmmmm well let me put it this way 330 mate doesn't exactly show you what you are purchasing so I ended up paying around 200 dllrs for 4 different hones and just one is good which is my routine hone from takeshi I only use those on knives because the edge of those hones isn't good for razors either I mean all the stones purchased from these two will give good edges but some are rougher than others ranging from say a norton type edge to better than a coticule (which is that hone out of the 4) so you take your chances I personally think I got lucky and would probably just tell you to save your money and get a quality hone from a dealer around here.

  6. #16
    Senior Member kevint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mijbil View Post
    Do you mind if i ask what the rough prices were of the different stones? Paying 2000 for one from japan blade is real different than 300-400, in my book. Would you say that the stones from 330 mate and takeshi were not worth it, in the end? My thinking is if i cant afford the $400 now, I might still get something great - something which puts my barber hone and maybe even my coti to shame - for $100. But there seems to be very little discussion of the japanaese naturals here other than the *very* expensive ones, the "true" ones, we might say.
    If you can avoid toxic inclusions and softness most jp kyoto stones will improve the coticule. Barber hones I can't say as I dont much care for the ones I have.

    I believe it would be quite difficult to admit the 500 dollar stone was outdone by a 80 dollar one. Anyone who has a less expensive stone obviously has no business saying it is good or great- simply because it is not stamped.

    While it is generally true - you get what you pay for. It is not true that simply paying more gets you more.

    As I sorta mentioned in another thread I got the chance to use one of Alex's luxury stones. It was very, very nice. I did not ask what it cost but the ones it was said to compare to were "expensive" compared to my usual fare. Was it a great razor finish stone- not really.

    There are many qualities beyond grit that make a stone suitable for this thing or that. It could have been with a bit more time and exploration I could make that stone do what I wanted; but I only sharpened a couple razors with it and later saw the edge improved by Escher.
    However when sharpening a plane iron I found that piece to be the best stone I have ever used. None of these choices had anything to do with inclusions, scratchiness, or final actual abrasive size, abrasive power.

    Who has a link to the shop in hawaii? MRL got it handy- let's see what he has

  7. #17
    I used Nakayamas for my house mainaman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevint View Post

    Who has a link to the shop in hawaii? MRL got it handy- let's see what he has
    Are talking about Afrmes Tokyo?
    or Hidatool?
    Stefan

  8. #18
    26. Hatter Engaging in Rhetoric Mijbil's Avatar
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    well - I was very close to trying one of these stones from Metalmaster (Takeshi), but I talked with Alex (thejapanblade.com) and he had one (oh, just the one! ) beautiful suita in a small size, just over 4" (though pretty wide, about a wide as it is long; it's a funny trapezoidal shape: http://www.thejapanblade.com/ebay/nakanishiji.jpg) for $150, which I just had to try.... I was already going to have to sell some pens to fund this damn RAD, but to right the scales of justice I'll have to sell this baby, a (modern) hand-lacquered japanese beauty.....

    but the suita? the honing? the edge? MWAAHA!.

    thanks for your help, all.

  9. #19
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    Alex Gilmore is the best way I found to get a Japanese stone. He is a wealth of knowledge and he will do his best to get you the right stone. I have 2 stones from him and they work amazingly. Remeber, you get what you pay for.

    STONE

  10. #20
    Senior Member kevint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mijbil View Post
    well - I was very close to trying one of these stones from Metalmaster (Takeshi), but I talked with Alex (thejapanblade.com) and he had one (oh, just the one! ) beautiful suita in a small size, just over 4" (though pretty wide, about a wide as it is long; it's a funny trapezoidal shape: http://www.thejapanblade.com/ebay/nakanishiji.jpg) for $150, which I just had to try.... I was already going to have to sell some pens to fund this damn RAD, but to right the scales of justice I'll have to sell this baby, a (modern) hand-lacquered japanese beauty.....

    but the suita? the honing? the edge? MWAAHA!.

    thanks for your help, all.
    well played.

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