Thread: My Japanese Natural (pic heavy)

Very nice pictures, thank you for sharing!

I only have a few natural stones so far, but a nice japanese natural definetly looks like a great addition to anyone's honing collection. Those pictures just made me want one even more!

excellent hone thank you for pictures.

Before I forget, this hone had every stamp on it but the Maruka "trademark" until I lapped them off.

Info from this post (http://straightrazorpalace.com/185523-post19.html).

Big thanks again to OLD_SCHOOL for posting all this stuff a while ago.

your pics made me think of a couple of things. one was edited so i'm left with one thought.

you have more than one face lapped so it's not completely sealed. It may be something of a gamble, but i have rocks that are unsealed as well.

I reason that our use is a little different. In a shop, traditional use setting sharpening stones saw much more water, continual use without environmental control. Our work is much more gentle, and we can easily prevent extreme changes. So barring any superlative self cleaving skills i worry less than I used to about perfect sealing.

I sealed mine (all sides except honing surface) with the ultra-thick
lacquer that O_S has available. It took ages to dry, and probably
wasn't necessary. I can't imagine regular honing circumstances that
would benefit from this kind of sealing, but it can't hurt.

- Scott

Thanks for the photos! That looks like a lovely hone indeed.

James.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

The Japanese recommend lacquering the sides and base of Japanese naturals, but for folks that only use the hone once in the blue moon, it may not be as necessary as it would be for someone who hones on a daily basis.

I advocate lacquering because the Japanese do, and also because its better to be safe than sorry.

As far as sealing, and usage goes:
on average I only use it 1-2 times per week. I DO keep a very close eye on it though, before and and after use, and still may lacquer it if it starts to show any signs of degradation.

Originally Posted by kevint

your pics made me think of a couple of things. one was edited so i'm left with one thought.

you have more than one face lapped so it's not completely sealed. It may be something of a gamble, but i have rocks that are unsealed as well.

I reason that our use is a little different. In a shop, traditional use setting sharpening stones saw much more water, continual use without environmental control. Our work is much more gentle, and we can easily prevent extreme changes. So barring any superlative self cleaving skills i worry less than I used to about perfect sealing.

I have 2 sides lapped, and was going to lap the side with the sawcut visible (pic 3), so I could have a THIRD lapped side, but it's dished out by about 1/32" or greater, and I left it alone.

The dark area visible in the third pic (top Right corner of hone) does absorb water faster than other surfaces of the hone, but I'm not worried about sealing it yet.

If it does cleave somewhere in the middle, I could potentially have 2 separate hones of useable thickness!


There are 3 darkened areas visible on the first pic:

The large triangular area in the first pic is from swarf, the little eyebrow shaped mark seen in the middle of the hone is in the stone itself, as is the darkened areas on the top edge.