Thread: Just got a JNat today - any feedback or info?

It just say Honyama toishi from 330mate

Hello Jorg
You've proved your patience big time in waiting for your answer. The stamp reads from top down and the way the stone is stamped on the side it read from right to left with the 3 small rectangles being at the end. Also the useage is sort of tricky but I will explain that.

Sei- (or Sho) true
Hon- original
Yama- (or Zan) mountain or temple
Hon- original
Kaku- real
Hin- object

Some of these words, according to my wife, have more than one meaning or even pronounciation. For instance the kanji for Yama is common for mountain, but it can also be read as Zan and used to describe a temple. According to her, the term HonYama by itself is not found in the dictionary, the term HonYama is a made up term used in the mine industry, sort of like BestBuy is used to describe the retail chain here in the U.S. We all know what best and buy mean but BestBuy means something more specific. Well the same in Japan with Hon Yama or some people will say Honyama. For instance, house wife in or a full time office worker might not understand the literal reading Hon Yama is referring to a stones used for sharpening things from a little valley near Kyoto, but would most likely think of it in terms of a temple.

Because Nakaoka-san of 330Mate is using this stamp over and over again it appears that he had this stamp made up and he might have even registered it with the Kyoto Toishi Union. The words in this stamp are not unique but because these ink stamps are handmade they retain certain imperfections or stylization like the boarder pattern or size that is unique to it and it alone.
Good luck with your stone, it really lapped up beautifully. What does the back look like, any kawa/skin?

Also I am glad that some fellows have broken out of the gate and are using a diamond plate for raising a slurry. I have always been a proponent. good luck, Alex Gilmore aka. Alx

Thanks Maxim and Alex for your reply and an extra BIG thank you to Alex for taking the time and effort for your extensive and fascinating explanation !

I'm travelling atm so I'll have to wait until Wednesday to load up a picture of the unlapped side.

With regard to using a diamondplate - well, it was more out of a necessety as I don't have a tomo nagura and don't want to cut a piece out of the stone. It does work, though I don't have any comparison.

Best regards
Jörg

I love the way "what does this say?" can turn into a full blown debate and knowledge brawl.

For a moment, I was worried that this thread was about to become toxic.

Originally Posted by jollo74

With regard to using a diamondplate - well, it was more out of a necessety as I don't have a tomo nagura and don't want to cut a piece out of the stone. It does work, though I don't have any comparison.

Diamond plates work great for slurry on Jnats as long as they are 1) high quality (no diamonds getting loose & mucking up your finish) 2) well broken in (so they don't tear out big chunks of stone, but rather rub away gently at the very surface 3) not used w/ too much pressure (or you can get chunky slurry that won't break down).

Especially on the hard ones as those will glaze over readily w/ swarf & broken down grit particles without being cleaned off regularly. This is probably why these hard stones work so well w/ nagura (the abrasive nagura removes the glaze on the surface). If you don't have nagura or find the cost too off-putting, then you really will need a diamond plate IME if you want to still get good results from a very hard stone.

As far as figuring on Jnats, I don't even begin to claim to know all that goes into pricing, but both nashiji & renge are supposed to increase cutting power & cutting power is prized (gets the job done faster).

I find the diamond plats give a to coarse slurry for a finisher, chunky slurry (good word, thanks).
I do however use a diamond plate on other lower grit stones and like it.

Originally Posted by alx

What does the back look like, any kawa/skin?

Here's a quick snapshot:


@PA23-250: I'm using a fine very well broken in diamond plate with very little pressure so i hope it's OK - maybe one day I'll get some naguras, including a hard tomo to try it out.

Cheers
Jörg

Originally Posted by jollo74

Here's a quick snapshot:

@PA23-250: I'm using a fine very well broken in diamond plate with very little pressure so i hope it's OK - maybe one day I'll get some naguras, including a hard tomo to try it out.

Cheers
Jörg

The asano naguras, botan, tenjoyu and mejiro are working incredibly well for me! My tomo nagura is from a lvl 5 wakasa and takes quite some time to build slurry on my lvl 5+ Ozuku mizu asagi nashiji but does a wonderful job as well.

Apparently koma naguras are the finest but the difference between the mejiro and koma is insignificant, from what i've read; they are also quite expensive and nearly impossible to find.

+1 on Asano Naguras, they are a dream to use, keep everything clean and use them in order, it's really easy.
Go for the real deal stamped ones, then you know what you get!
If you later get any mystery white nagura you can always fit it in your system.
I've got a few that I would rather fit in a trashcan.
Koma... Ohh, I wish, but then it's not really necessary, it will fill the gap between Mejiro and Tomo but also give you one more time to clean everything.
Iwasaki recommends Botan Nagura and then either Tenjou or Mejiro, the gap between the two last ones are also quite small.

What Tomo Nagura works best om your stone you have to try out yourself, maybe you have any meetups in Germany that could take care of that.
Any Tomo will do the job but there is differences, it all depends on how it interacts with the base stone and how you want your edge.

Good luck and keep playing around with it, nothing beats hours on the stones!

I too thought that Koma wasn't necessary until I tried it, IMO, it does add a marked level of refinement to the edge. Can you go without it, of course, but if you get the chance to get one, do it.

I read that the old-school Japanese don't use diamond plates and that's enough for me, I don't use them on JNats. I do however like using them on synthetics.