Thread: Removed the Stamps and still I Made it through the Night

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Lovely stone, enjoy it. My suggestion comes from a friend thirty years ago, "If you can't be satisfied with what you have, you'll never be satisfied with what you get." Unfortunately I haven't been able to follow his suggestion.

Hmmm, that almost has the makings of a fine signature line. Sorry, couldn't pass on that opportunity.

Originally Posted by jleeg

So, how can we leave the stamps on for so long? I'll offer some answers.

I bought my stone from Old_School who said that the stone did not need to be lapped and something to the effect that the stamps held value for authentication purposes (not a direct quote and based on a failing memory). I did pay a substantial sum and, looking back, I think I was not committed to the stone's intrinsic value as a sharpener, albeit one with great provenance. This seems contradictory to my reason for purchasing it, and was not intentional. We mortals, exploited by Madison Avenue, are impressed with tags, hood ornaments and logos, even those of us who claim to be impervious. Over time and despite the allure of these mystical markings, I came to see the stone more as what it was intended for. Reading here that flattening and polishing the stone would bring out its best...the conversion came over me. I held off a little longer because I wanted to do it right....didn't want to open a small crack (I didn't)...and simply out of an unfounded fear that I'd screw it up. So, up off the psychiatrist's couch and back to work I go!

You're right about the stamp and the value. Without a traceable history back to a seller who can vouch for it, it becomes a slippery slope buying stones.

I have bought and sold a few, in the end, I wish I would've just bought fewer initially and sold none. I don't have any that still have a stamp, but I get a big thrill out of a fresh surface after the stamp has been run off (this is easier to do initially using them to sharpen tools where they get more wear), and seeing what that surface is like after the stone has some use and it has had a chance to settle.

I did get a "bargain" stone from one of the reputable sellers because the stamp was partially worn off, thus my comment about value. It is the one stone that gives me great pleasure to use every time I use it and I think 10 times of it what I did when I first got it because "we know each other" now. Hopefully you get that sort of relationship over time with that one, and the stamp will become a distant memory. If you feel like you like it now, just in one use, just wait...it gets better.

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My Stone is also from Old_School and it didn't take me very long to lap the ID off the surface. It was not perfectly flat so I am glad I lapped it as soon as I did.....

And by raising a slurry, aren't we changing the surface of the stone anyway?

JERRY
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My Nakayama Maurichi was fortunate to have a back side that was partialy lapped. still has stamps and it will stay that way. Stone is too narrow for my taste, otherwise it would have been lapped.

Anyway, the favorites i have never had stamps. One Asagi from So, one Nakayama from Alex and my precious Ki-itta from Disburden that continues to blow my mind. If I was A Pharoh the Ki-itta that never had stamps would have to come with me in the next world..

You don't need these stamps for honing. They are good for selling. You write how good is your stone, do you plan to sell it? If so, you made a mistake to remove stamps. Otherwise you made a good thing. You have one life only, enjoy, use best razors and stones.

I did not even make a photo of my old stone before lapping.

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

You don't need these stamps for honing. They are good for selling. You write how good is your stone, do you plan to sell it? If so, you made a mistake to remove stamps. Otherwise you made a good thing. You have one life only, enjoy, use best razors and stones.

I did not even make a photo of my old stone before lapping.

he has pics of the stone with the stamps on, that should be enough to prove it is authentic.

Yes, I agree, It's enough for good memory. It's better to drink Scotch to something else.

Originally Posted by mrsell63

And by raising a slurry, aren't we changing the surface of the stone anyway?

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Yes, and even if you wash the slurry off and wear the stones in, my experience is that the stone under the skin is softer than the skin of the stone, and more coarse (at least the scratch pattern is deeper, even if not more coarse).

But the razor stones are so fine that it might be a matter of going from much much finer than most syntetics to just much finer, and maybe some of the razor hones are so hard that it's not quite so easy to notice. On the stones suitable for woodworking finishers, especially a good suita, it's very noticeable that they're a bit softer, faster cutting and less fine under the skin. Rewarding enough with technique, though that you can usually figure out a way to make them cut finer or coarser depending on what you want.

Originally Posted by Disburden

I have a Nakayama Maruichi too and it's an amazing stone, it is my favorite finisher so far, I like it more than my YG Escher! I lapped the stamps off mine too, you can see the thread on here, and the stone preformed a lot better. My stone had the same exact stamps as yours, including the Kamisori stamp. After the fine sandpaper I did lap the Maruichi with another Jnat to make it smoother, you can use a coticule or something too.

It's a beautiful stone, Makism is probably the best place to go Jnat right now as far as final polish and price is concerned.

Any chance you'd let me play with your Y/G Escher?

Even though I have photos of my Asagi, I still can't bring myself to lap it. I don't even use slurry on it, because I don't want to wear them away. It's a good thing I was never worried about the flatness, because the hone came from O_S, and I'm pretty positive he tested each hone with razors before describing them.

The one Jnat I had from a different source I did lap, but only because the stamps came right off with water.