Thread: J-Nat club

A good evening.

A good evening indeed.

Was watching that little Naky nagura @rideon66, hope it's a good one!

I got something similar around the same time, a great little hone and stamped Maruka. I can tell it's awesome, regardless of the stamp, did a quick test last night. Packed with power, and super fine. I was thinking to cut it into nagura, but now I'm not so sure anymore! My kamis were begging for this.

I agree on the stamp, I doubt it's real, but my view of them is that so few are real (unless they're full hatanaka with box and the piece of rock has aspects that you rarely see - in a good way) that I don't even care if they're fake if the stone is good. As long as I don't have to pay real stamp price for a fake one.

I'd bet every stone that I have with a maruka stamp is fake, and I have several with an old faded looking stamp like that. Some of them are really good, though!

Originally Posted by Srdjan

A good evening indeed.

Was watching that little Naky nagura @rideon66, hope it's a good one!

I got something similar around the same time, a great little hone and stamped Maruka. I can tell it's awesome, regardless of the stamp, did a quick test last night. Packed with power, and super fine. I was thinking to cut it into nagura, but now I'm not so sure anymore! My kamis were begging for this.

Trade ya. Yeah it really is a super nice extremely hard tomo. Very fine and works very nicely with the Ozuku next to it. All the stones in the pic are really hard nice stones giving a cautious yet very nice shave.

I am not opposed to trades. Beats selling on eBay by a large margin, and this is a hobby, not a source of income Enjoy your new toys!

Originally Posted by DaveW

I agree on the stamp, I doubt it's real, but my view of them is that so few are real (unless they're full hatanaka with box and the piece of rock has aspects that you rarely see - in a good way) that I don't even care if they're fake if the stone is good. As long as I don't have to pay real stamp price for a fake one.

I'd bet every stone that I have with a maruka stamp is fake, and I have several with an old faded looking stamp like that. Some of them are really good, though!

I paid for the stamp to a certain extent, but I sure like the stone. And it's quite a pure Kiita, with the added Nashiji bonus.. anyway, as you say, none of that matters. Shape, stamps, colors, patterns - they don't hone.

The thing about this stone and the likes of it (I have a few others, same feel) is that it isn't super hard. It's hard alright, but there's that velvety feel to it, like an Escher. At the same time, there's no auto-slurry and it's really tight, you feel the cutting action even on straight water, it doesn't glaze or get sticky at all, and of course, there's zero scratchiness. A tad harder might be a little easier, but I'm not complaining at all. My kind of rock definitely, I don't like the ones that feel hard as glass or marble. Like, when I see an ad for the stone stating 5+++, I turn away immediately. This is probably an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Originally Posted by Srdjan

I paid for the stamp to a certain extent, but I sure like the stone. And it's quite a pure Kiita, with the added Nashiji bonus.. anyway, as you say, none of that matters. Shape, stamps, colors, patterns - they don't hone.

The thing about this stone and the likes of it (I have a few others, same feel) is that it isn't super hard. It's hard alright, but there's that velvety feel to it, like an Escher. At the same time, there's no auto-slurry and it's really tight, you feel the cutting action even on straight water, it doesn't glaze or get sticky at all, and of course, there's zero scratchiness. A tad harder might be a little easier, but I'm not complaining at all. My kind of rock definitely, I don't like the ones that feel hard as glass or marble. Like, when I see an ad for the stone stating 5+++, I turn away immediately. This is probably an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Yes that kind of stone is typical of some kiita and Iromono. I love the edges from those types of stone. I have a few just like that only my guess at an 8 seems a little softer, but that is subjective and I would call that a 4.5-5 or a 4+ on a 1-5 scale. I generally don't go for the really hard stones, but that ozuku with the Nakayama is a really nice combo. Usually the edges from that level of stone feel harsh to my skin, but not this one.

Okudo shiro suita, at least that's what the seller had it labeled as. Hard stone. Shave was so so. It will probably become a midrange stone but I need more play time with it. The slurry, Atoma 1200, is a lot finer than my Ohira suita that I use for midrange right now.
Nice size for hand honing and a small patch of renge in the middle. The stone was wet and it's drying, the white gets really pronounced when dry.

These are my finishing stones all under $100.00 each. I'm trying to figure out the best finishing stone for a beginner under $100 The one JNAT I have is an Ozuku Asagi (koppa) I picked up for $69.00 The others are an Arki Trans, Arki Surgical Black, Welsh Slate 12-15K, C12K, Rozutec, and lastly the famous coticule. Any info on this particular JNAT will be welcome.

Lots of beautiful stones! I'm intrigued with the Jnats, but how do you buy one or know what to buy and what it should be worth to keep from getting ripped off? Its very confusing. Any trustworthy sources that you deal with out there?