Thread: Nakayama Umegahata

HI Guys,
I received my latest stone in the mail today. It's a Nakayama Umegahata from Takeshi. I'm wondering if someone could translate this kanji at all:



Here are some other pics...

Dry


Wet


Underside


cheers

Nice looking stone, just the size I like

Can't wait to hear how it does

The kanji means "Iwasaki Select", Iwasaki-sen in Japanese.

It may or may not mean that it was once part of the stock sold by Kousuke Iwasaki/Shigeyoshi Iwasaki back when they were supplying barber shops with razors, strops and stones. This would have been 30-40 years ago, I reckon.

May I ask: how was the stone described to you and what's your impression of it? It seems like recently I'm thinking more and more of JNats

those are soft stones, most suitable for prepolisher, IME the edge is good but not the best you can get.
I think it is a very good beginner stone easy to use .

Originally Posted by MarkinLondon

May I ask: how was the stone described to you and what's your impression of it? It seems like recently I'm thinking more and more of JNats

I was emailling Takeshi for several weeks discussing the stones and requested "a hard, fast and fine stone specifically for honing straight razors" and this is what he recommended.

I gave it a test run last night with an ebay rescue.
Now in terms of hard/soft and slow/fast I can only compare to my other finishers and I would say this stone is harder than my Shapton 16k and my Coticule and slower than the Shapton 16k but faster than the Coticule.

Originally Posted by mainaman

I think it is a very good beginner stone easy to use .

Good to hear

those are soft stones, most suitable for prepolisher, IME the edge is good but not the best you can get.

How about an Ozuku Asagi? I have one on the way from Maksim?

Or are these beginners stones only and again won't give the best edge? What would be your ideal stone for finishing razors?

I was too thinking about getting one of these since Takeshi seems to get them pretty often, somehow. I was also thinking about holding out for an Oozuku so any more info would be appreciated!

Originally Posted by Disburden

I was too thinking about getting one of these since Takeshi seems to get them pretty often, somehow. I was also thinking about holding out for an Oozuku so any more info would be appreciated!

I have finished a few razors on each of my JNAT's but am far from deciding on my preference - it is going to take me a long time to experiment and learn how to get the most out of each stone. With my limited honing experience and limited time on each stone I have been trying to rank my finishers first for sharpness, then smoothness then for cutting speed.

YYMV and I do have limited honing experience (we all have to start somewhere right?) so take this as my opinion and only my opinion.

So far I would rank the finishes from my stones like this:

For Sharpness

1. Oozuku
2. Naniwa 12k or Shapton 16k
3. Umegahata or Tomae Honyama
4. Coticule

For Smoothness

1. Coticule or Umegahata
2. Oozuku or Tomae Honyama
3. Naniwa 12k
4. Shapton 16k

For Speed

1. Naniwa 12k
2. Shapton 16k
3. Oozuku
4. Coticule
5. Umegahata
6. Tomae Honyama

I have lent my Coticule to another member so I will focus just on my JNAT's for a while and see if my opinion of them changes.

I have an oozuku asagi and this is no beginner Stone at all. It needs some Experience in honing imho.