Thread: Hone of the Day

Today's project was a 13/16 Kangetsu SA.1 hollow ground that had a ding near the point that went all the way to the base of the bevel. The repair was done with a King 1k and 2 layers of tape followed by a bevel set at final angle with 1 layer of tape. I have an exceptionally nice uchigumori that I got from Japanese-Whetstones.com (JNATS on this forum) last year that I have often used as an intermediate between the 1k King and one of my finishing toishi. Today, following a suggestion made by Garrett (JNATS) at the time of the sale, I decided to go all the way to finish on the uchigumori. A fairly heavy slurry was made with an uchigumori tomo nagura, and it was worked until it was almost black and fairly well broken down - diluting out to misty thin at the end. This process took about 10 minutes or so, and left the bevel easily performing HHT3 and with a lovely satiny finish. Washing the hone and razor, I then did 10 laps at a time on pure water while watching for auto-slurry, which there was no evidence of. After each 10 laps, a sharpness test and a bit more water and then another 10 (uchigumori are suita with a great number of holes, this is the thirstiest natural stone I have). After 70 laps on water, we were there, so 5 more very careful finishing laps and done. Stropping was 20 on natural linen and 60 on shell cordovan. The test shave was exceptional, very smooth and quite sharp.

The stone is a real stunner, with purple suminagashi (marbled) coloration on the back lacquered side and pink momiji (maple leaf) pattern on the honing side. Although the predominant color is pale blue-gray, the slurry is a light pink with a very gritty feel before it starts to break down.












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I like the emphasis on the stone not the razor.

At least in this thread!

One in today back out tomorrow off to Belgium the edge on this Ali's blade wasn't up to much so right back to ground zero bevel reset, now we are talking finished on the 20K bring those whiskers on.

New maruka was added to the herd. My first Russian razor as well. Not sure what to call this stone?? Kiita? Mizu asagi? Hybrid maybe?

Regardless of what it is called, it is a superb finisher that is in the top tier as far as final polishing goes.

Prodigy,

I really don't like Jnats but that stone looks awesome!

Nice stone and nice that you got a good one.

Looks thick enough to last a long time.

Where does this HAD come from.....

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

Prodigy,

I really don't like Jnats

This seems like crazy talk! How many have you tried?

Originally Posted by 32t

Looks thick enough to last a long time.

Yup! At 40+mm thick this is one of the thickest I own. Should last several lifetimes if taken care of.

Honed up a user grade Tanifuji 40 this morning on a pure, smooth, and fine piece of kiita. I added 25 clear-water strokes after my usual regimen and the edge shaved very well indeed!

Cheers, Steve

A few J-nats tested. Some are stamped and some not. Some are great and some not so great. It helps to get a couple opinions along w. Vodka and pickled eggplant and asparagus. Fun stuff.
Mike