Thread: J-Nat club

So-San's father in Japan is a respected stone dealer and expert in Japanese stones. It may well be that Max buys stones from him.

Yes this is for shure that JNS stones are hight quality and they are very good I think that the miners stamp them with certain stamps especialy for hight end respected dealers like Maxim and Alex
I think so as i was seing pics how the Ohira owner stamp stones as certificat for Alex , and i think that those stamps are especialy for JNS , as origin and certificate
Whatever i dontunderstand Kanji so the stamped stones arent for me ha ha a ah
Whatever

Originally Posted by Nikolay

Attachment 167749

Tell me where to buy a stone "Kyoto Natural Hone Sales Association" ?

Dosn't the Maruka stamp mean that the stone is a Nakayama of the highest quality?
I have a JNS top stamped one . I paid a small fortune for it, but I swear by it.
I now do all my honing on it bar the 1k.

I would lay money on the fact that there are side stamped Marukas out there that don't match up to mine. (Ok I would need to test that theory to prove it)
Also I don't see many of these top stamped Marukas out there. Unless they been all bought up?
Cheers.

Originally Posted by JOB15

Dosn't the Maruka stamp mean that the stone is a Nakayama of the highest quality?
I have a JNS top stamped one . I paid a small fortune for it, but I swear by it.
I now do all my honing on it bar the 1k.

I would lay money on the fact that there are side stamped Marukas out there that don't match up to mine. (Ok I would need to test that theory to prove it)
Also I don't see many of these top stamped Marukas out there. Unless they been all bought up?
Cheers.

I have seen only a few stones with top Maruka stamp, traditionally the stamp was applied on one of the narrow sides of the stone.
I would not make conclusions about quality based on where the stamp was placed, as long as the stone is genuine it should work well.
My top performers are all Maruka stamped Nakayama, ultra fine and one of them is as hard as I have seen.

Kato San mined natural stones from Nakayama for all purposes, from knife sharpening to razor honing. There will always be variations in hardness and fineness, but what is undisputed is that the stones from Nakayama are top performers and that is why they are considered to be the best out there. Stamped Maruka and Hatanaka stones sell for tons of money in Japan, because people know the quality will be there.

My experience has been a little bit different from Stefan's, but with a lot of similarities. My very best razor finishers have not been stamped with the exception of three, two with generic Nakayama stamps and one Hatahoshi. But many more have been unstamped and much cheaper.

The Maruka/Hatanaka stamps will usually guarantee you a fine quality stone as far as physical defects go. The best ones are usually free of problematic lines, cracks, and other defects. I suspect that Kato-San also understood when he was in a good layer and the stamps indicate that. However, buying a stamped stone expecting it to be superlative for your particular needs without trying it first is a bad strategy. Your super-expensive Maruka may be the king of tool hones but maybe not what you wanted for razors. Or visa versa.

The best and really only viable strategy for someone looking for a single stone for razors (or knives and tools for that matter) is to buy from a reputable person who can describe what the stone is like and answer your questions about what you should buy. And offer to take the stone back after a reasonable trial period.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

My experience has been a little bit different from Stefan's, but with a lot of similarities. My very best razor finishers have not been stamped with the exception of three, two with generic Nakayama stamps and one Hatahoshi. But many more have been unstamped and much cheaper.

The Maruka/Hatanaka stamps will usually guarantee you a fine quality stone as far as physical defects go. The best ones are usually free of problematic lines, cracks, and other defects. I suspect that Kato-San also understood when he was in a good layer and the stamps indicate that. However, buying a stamped stone expecting it to be superlative for your particular needs without trying it first is a bad strategy. Your super-expensive Maruka may be the king of tool hones but maybe not what you wanted for razors. Or visa versa.

The best and really only viable strategy for someone looking for a single stone for razors (or knives and tools for that matter) is to buy from a reputable person who can describe what the stone is like and answer your questions about what you should buy. And offer to take the stone back after a reasonable trial period.

Cheers, Steve

I totally agree. Mine was bought from JNS on the understanding that it was his best finisher regardless of stamps.
It is a big clean stone which is why it was so expensive , real estate .
I can only compare it to my first Jnat a Shobudani and the Shobu is now redundant .

job15,

when you write about a stone with a maruka stamp on top, are you referring to the one pictured above? i am asking because i can't see a maruka stamp, but a maruichi stamp. whatever, performance counts, not a stamp!

regards, hans

Originally Posted by brightred

job15,

when you write about a stone with a maruka stamp on top, are you referring to the one pictured above? i am asking because i can't see a maruka stamp, but a maruichi stamp. whatever, performance counts, not a stamp!

regards, hans

Isnt the Maruka stamp the sign above the EP mark?

Originally Posted by JOB15

Isnt the Maruka stamp the sign above the EP mark?

No, maruka means circle (maru) 'ka', the kanji that Kato-San's name begins with. Look at Stefan's post 530. The Maruka stamp is the kanji in a circle on the right hand side of the stamp on the end of the stone.

That cluster of 4 kanji just means 'copyright' for the graphics or something very similar according to Alex IIRC. I've had an akepin with that cluster of 4 stamps on it.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by JOB15

Isnt the Maruka stamp the sign above the EP mark?

i am quite sure that this a maruichi stamp. maybe the experts can chime in...