Thread: J-Nat club

On closer inspection of my stone it does have those wing like markings only they are white and not black.
The stones with the black Karasu like in your pictures are the most attractive stones,imo.

I questioned Mr Maksim about my Maruka that had no Maruka markings.

He informed me that my stone was a Maruka and this picture shows the remnants of a Maruka stamp..

There is but a tiny part of that stamp left now since all my lapping n washing..

Thank God . The Maruka spirit flows through me once again Life is good..

Not trying to burst your bubble, but I don't think that is, or ever was, a maruka stamp. If the stone is good, then it's good. Fretting over the stamp is going to drive you crazy lol.

Originally Posted by prodigy

Not trying to burst your bubble, but I don't think that is, or ever was, a maruka stamp. If the stone is good, then it's good. Fretting over the stamp is going to drive you crazy lol.

hmmm..
can I get more opinions guys plz

I was told that there was a faint Maruka stamp on the side but from the pictures I cant see anything apart from this mark on the end..
Cheers ..Joe

A Larger Picture

Nothing can be determined from those pics. Either you trust the seller or you don't.

Originally Posted by JOB15

hmmm..
can I get more opinions guys plz

I was told that there was a faint Maruka stamp on the side but from the pictures I cant see anything apart from this mark on the end..
Cheers ..Joe

You said the stone was performing for you right? That is what matters, stamps do not hone razors, hones do. Enjoy it.

I do trust the seller. He has proven to be honest and very knowledgeable .

What I was thinking and maybe im way off the mark here.

This looks to me to be an old stone because of the way it was cut on the underside.
Yet the top stamps looked so fresh. Maybe the original stamps were worn away mostly and then the new owners of the mine re stamped the top at a latter date.

The thing that puzzles me about the stamp or ink on the front is that how could that be a Maruka stamp when the Maruka sign is like 4 symbols long and my ink is on a part of the stone only capable of holding one symbol, size wise?

At the end of the day, if we didn't question things then we wouldn't be human and we would never have gone to the moon , allegedly

It is not as complicated as it seems. There's generic Thuringians and Eschers. If you have an Escher you know you have a good Thuringian. If you have a generic one you may have a very good one but you may have a bad one.
When it comes to stamps etc. on Japanese naturals: a stamp means it is an approved quality stone (unless it is a forged stamp), but not necessarily a razor hone. Japanese naturals were used for sharpening all sorts of tools. Someone knowledgeable will be able to tell you whether a certain stone you are eyeing is suitable for what you want to use it for. Or you have to find out yourself. Stones with all the right stamps cost more than ones without.

Originally Posted by JOB15

This looks to me to be an old stone because of the way it was cut on the underside.
Yet the top stamps looked so fresh. Maybe the original stamps were worn away mostly and then the new owners of the mine re stamped the top at a latter date.

Kato-San sold out in the mid-1960s and Nakayama also closed in the late 1960s IIRC. There are no new owners of the mine. It was mined to the water level and below according to Alex. If a stone has fresh stamps, I doubt it is an original maruka. There's no reason someone would obliterate an original maruka stamp and re-stamp it. No stamp is worth more.

However, a stone can indeed be old mined stock and have fresh stamps. There's a lot of material still in storage in 'storage lockers' which are essentially pole barns as far as I can tell. There is still material coming out of the pole barns of all different ages. Hatanaka-San also had access to a lot of good 'ore' which I believe, is not used up though the mines are long closed.

Cheers, Steve