Thread: Morihei – Japanese Hones In Tokyo

Yes, thank you very much, this is a wonderful thread, my interest is just beginning to turn to Japanese hones so it is timely. I have to say though that you have a natural talent for the cliffhanger, the pearls of wisdom were just about to pass Mr. Morihei's lips a name or two, of hones he feels rival or exceed the Nakayama more obvious choices that he feels lend themselves well to a razor, and then... nada
So perhaps in the futue, or if you remember ,it went like this;
"He was also perplexed as to why people only consider Nakayama to be the best when there was so many better options..." it might be "for instance" or "such as" Mr. Morihei's humble and eager pupils' ears are wide open please
the phrase "so many better options" just keeps ringing in my head, I'll have to have this looked at .

Originally Posted by ZethLent

One thing I didn't mention was, when I asked what was the best hone for razors he said that all of the barbers used to use an Ozuku Karasu. That is was better than any of the others. $$$￥￥￥Cha-Ching... Talk about your high price tag. Nonetheless I will be trying one on a razor sometime soon.

Curse you Seth.

Wow... Jim, thats a real stunner of a hone.

Originally Posted by JimR

Curse you Seth.

(Jabba the Hut laugh) Hooo Hooo Hooo.

I asked Morihei San about Mr Rusty

Here is a reply I've got from them

In regard to the phenomenon with Jim’s stone, yes, we have seen this.
As you probably know Japanese razor is made of steels which contain a lot of carbon. Therefore, Japanese razors rust fast. When you hone Japanese razor, particle grinded down from its blade becomes small. The particle of the steel becomes so small that the particle get rust quickly and the slurry becomes red brownish colour.

So, the phenomenon will not probably happen when you hone razors made of stainless steel with the stone. This effect can be seen clearly when the stone is whitish color because colour of rust stands out in whitish slurry. When you hone Japanese razor on stones with darker colour or brownish colour, you might not notice that the phenomenon is actually happening with the stones too.

You could try adding Sodium Carbonate to your honing water. It is commonly used in sword polishing & helps keep the rust down.

Onimaru
Do you have any preference for your source of water to use on your best stones? Distilled, tap water, rain water,etc? Or do you think it is not really an issue with chlorinated water or whatever. alx

Alex,
from my experience the water does not matter.

Ditto . I just use tap water but have always used sodium carbonate or even bicarb to get the ph a little less acidic. Not to be used with some synthetics tho my Kings never complained. I wouldn't try it with my Shaptons tho

Guys, thanks for the advice. alx