Thread: Akatsuki hone

Question for all those more experienced and knowledgable. This link shows a Akatsuki sold in Germany http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/prod...9C2649?lang=en . While doing a search at Woodcraft I came across this Japanese 8000 grit hone:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/202...aterstone.aspx A King Ice Bear hone. Are they similar? Are they actually the same hone, but a name change sold in the U.S.?

Does anyone actually sell the Akatsuki here in the U.S.?

As afar as I know no one sells it.
It is possible they are OEM but you can tell for sure only if you try both side by side.

Those are completely different stones. I know both.

Can I ask why you are looking for an Akatsuki 8.000?
Because I had two of those and was a little disappointed

I had read, elsewhere, that the Akatsuki was a very nice hone for any razor that might tend to be a bit "chippy", and was suggested to be more desirable, by a long time razor honer, over the Chosera 10K, and that being from someone with more experience in years than I have with high end, or finer grit, hones. Probably the best, and that too is very subjective, for some smooth and sharp edges is the TOS, or Tam O'Shanter white hone. The TOS are not something one stumbles across at any Woodcraft or even at some of the Vendors one finds out on the internet. However, the Akatsuki is one that is found on the web, and apparently still considered worthy to have.

IMHO chipping an edge at 8k level means there is flaw in the honing technique.
I am sure there is no one stone for all razors , but 8k notron and super stone will probably cover the spectrum pretty well.

What mainman said is definitely right.
I have a a little bit of experience with finishers and high grit stones myself,
and would not necessarily recommend the Akatsuki to you.
I bought it because it was recommended to me, as well.
I found it to be highly agressive and fast cutting. Acceptable for kitchen knives,
not good for razors. Just yesterday I had a conversation with a german fellow who bought the Akatsuki
and made the same experience I did. If you are a fan of the Chosera series,
you might find the Akatsuki good. It fits in between the Chosera 5k and the 10k.
It does not give a mirror polish, but a whitish bevel with very fine lines and scratches.
The edge for me is too agressive, for an 8k stone
(on the other hand, you can use the Akatsuki right after the 1.000 it´s just ridicoulusly agressive)

You will not get a benefit from the Akatsuki, you would not get from any other considerably cheaper 8.000 stone.
I recommend the Naniwa Super 8.000. It is soft and velvety, polishes more than it cuts, but does it fast.
Is capable of soothening an edge and much more available than the akatsuki

But of course, this is just my opinion. I´m not trying to spoil anything for you

gssixgun (Glen) and a couple of others have suggeted that the Revisors and Wackers are a little harder to hone, having a tendency to be "chippy". I have read that some of this is because of the way the hardness factor is on these and a few others. These would be like "microchipping", barely seen at 20X power.

Sometimes when you hone harder steels on hard stones you can get microchipping, the solution is to use softer stone.
Super stones are soft stones really and IME they work fine for Wackers and Revisors.

For those of you who have/use this hone, could you post some better pics? It's hard to make out, but I can't see anything even remotely like "Akatsuki" in the German picture.

On an amusing side note, the woodcraft picture is of the back of the hone, and it clearly says "This side is not prepared, please do not use this side."

That is funny, Jim. Only someone that reads Japanese would catch that.