Thread: J-Nat evaluation by KC Crew

I have heard that the Amakusa Red's can have inclusions that can damage the edge, but they tend to be big and thick like the one shown, so if you lap enough you can usually find a clean area. I've heard other guys have had success with them too, but I've never tried one myself. Tempting..... But I'm lucky enough not to have HAD.

+1 on the Tsushima stone. Undersea mine closed in 1982, so these are getting rarer. An under-appreciated stone IMO.

[QUOTE=Evritt;747947]Nice rocks Mike. They look like pavers on steroids.

That Tsushima looks very tempting. It reminds me of an Escher. Can you say if the consistency of the rock is similar to an Escher? Maybe a similar geology.

Hi Evritt;
No the Tsushima is nothing like an Escher. It is a rare natural stone that feels and behaves like a synthetic. I really like this stone, very nice. I have to work with them more.

Dylan;
Regarding inclusions in Amakusa, like any natural stone you can get a bad one. I heard the same thing while investigated different sources. The Amakusa surface is pock marked with craters, some fairly large. By proper lapping and surface prep these should not cause a problem. It's a fun stone but it aint no Shapton 1000 when setting bevels. That's the point.

OZ;
Thanks, your input and guidance helped me to decide on what direction to move in with the naturals.
Have fun
MIke

Originally Posted by wsfarrell

+1 on the Tsushima stone. Undersea mine closed in 1982, so these are getting rarer. An under-appreciated stone IMO.

Funny, I keep hearing about how rare all these Japanese hones are because the mines closed in the 80s, but they certainly aren't difficult to find...

Originally Posted by MODINE

The search continues for an even finer faster stone. And the means to afford them
That's the problem, you don't know unless you test them side by side.

Grass is always greener etc... Been looking for a slow fine one for the last 2 years. Arriving this weekend... Fingers X'd

Mike I'm guessing that Tsushima is a softish stone like Aoto which it resembles. Fast cutter ?

"Rare" is a relative word.

For someone its rare for someone its not.
I do not think that the Tsushima sea stone is rare. It can be found it on web for sale in Japan.
On the other side I think the stone from the mountain is rare because you cannot find it on the web for sale (At least I cannot find it now).

I uploaded picture of my stone from the mountain because I think many did never see it in picture.

The first picture is the stone lapped with diamond #200 and after that lapped with Aizu stone. (I stopped lapping at half on that stone to show that the slurry is milky white. You can see it where it is only lapped with diamond.)

The other shot is the "mirror shot" to Japanese TV. I think you can estimate the grit.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Grass is always greener etc... Been looking for a slow fine one for the last 2 years. Arriving this weekend... Fingers X'd

Mike I'm guessing that Tsushima is a softish stone like Aoto which it resembles. Fast cutter ?

Oz;

Yes the Tsushima is a fast cutter and somewhat soft. Without getting into descriptive semantics, very silky feedback. I'll be testing more stones today over at Shams. I am no where near his skill level, or yours, but I'm a good listener and a quick study.
MIke