Thread: Natural Japanese hones from eBay seller

There seems to be only one seller on eBay who sells the natural stones.

Does anyone have experience dealing with 330mate_com?



I have been discussing buying one of his natural stones from him. He has all his razor stones (Honyama Yamashiromate Nakayama) boxed up. I think Yamashiromate must be his location or company as all his stones seem to include this. Below is an example of how they would look:





He has 2 sizes but doesn't know what exact size/stone I would get as they are all boxed up to be sent to dealers in the US.

80K=65*180
60K=70*195

he also has Yamashiromeito Uchigumori. Which seem to be more irregular (like cuticle bouts) and softer and it sounds like they are a lower grit (or grit equivalent).




Comments?

I am thinking of going with the Nakayama stone (his first offer) which comes with a Nagura.

Here is his website:http://www.330mate.com/

It's kind of cool to go through and look at the different stones.

Doesn't make my HAD any better, LOL

I remember some rather positive talk about him, regarding this offer:
Narutakimukaida suita

A very timely post.

I have bought two hones from this vendor. One was months ago and it was a gift for my brother to use on his knives (he's a chef). And the other I just ordered last Friday and expect it to arrive this week. He is a very helpful guy and is a one man show. His hones are all labeled 'yamashiromeito' and 'shouhonyama'. From what I understand the 'yamashimeito' hone is a generalized hone that comes from somewhere in the Kyoto area that has produced hone over the past hundreds of years. Many different mines are included and Nakayama is also part of that area.

When I asked him what he thought would be the best hone for a razor he said one of the blue coloured ones. That leaves a lot to look at and decide on. I assume he means an asagi. He ranks all of the hones with an 'HGAL' ranking that he has explanations of. The one I have on the way is a 5+++ 3++++ 3+++ 3+++. So I am hoping it is good for razors. We will see.

Before I bought my nakayama from O_S, I was having a couple back and forths with that guy about his nakayama ad on ebay. He never really answered my questions to my satisfaction, and seemed to be putting his responses (and probably my questions) through a translator, so I'm not sure he even speaks english, at least not very well.

Two things that turned me off was that the pictures in the ad weren't even the same stones he's selling and the fact that all of the known reputable vendors of these stones do some quality checks on them to ensure they are suitable for razors and this guy didn't seem to know 100% whether or not any of the particular nakayamas he had would be good for razors, or at least, he didn't convey it to me with any confidence. He also didn't use any of the buzz words we typically use to describe the nakayamas, such as asagi, kiita, karasu, nashiji, etc. When I'm dishing out a decent chunk of change, it's nice to know it's been tested and verified as suitable for razors by someone who can compare them to other similar stones used for the same purpose.

He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I might have still bought one from him to try if the perfect deal hadn't popped up for me. Heck, I might still give him a shot just for the heck of it... I mean his price is reasonable enough. I just couldn't get over the feeling that I would wind up with a rock not suitable for honing razors, or at least, not what I was hoping for.

He is an alright guy. Not unimpeachable, but you should get what you pay for. Well it should more or less function as he describes....

If you dont mind, what is he charging$$?

Originally Posted by kevint

He is an alright guy. Not unimpeachable, but you should get what you pay for. Well it should more or less function as he describes....

If you dont mind, what is he charging$$?

$140 + $20 shipping for a nakayama from his ebay ad. It's a buy it now with best offer with several available. I think he has accepted $120 in the past, so plus $20 shipping is $140 shipped for a nakayama. But again, unless you go back and forth with him several times and have him send you pictures of your exact stone, etc, etc, you have no idea what size/kind of nakayama you're getting, whether it's good for razors, or I suppose if it's even an authentic nakayama. I'd love to hear from anyone who has purchased one from him, but also has experience with nakayamas from more reuptable/traditional vendors.

Originally Posted by pjrage

$140 + $20 shipping for a nakayama from his ebay ad. It's a buy it now with best offer with several available. I think he has accepted $120 in the past, so plus $20 shipping is $140 shipped for a nakayama. But again, unless you go back and forth with him several times and have him send you pictures of your exact stone, etc, etc, you have no idea what size/kind of nakayama you're getting, whether it's good for razors, or I suppose if it's even an authentic nakayama. I'd love to hear from anyone who has purchased one from him, but also has experience with nakayamas from more reuptable/traditional vendors.

Oh those.
I've bought 4 stones from him I think and maybe 4 or 5 other things. Just not his "nakayama" but I have considered it. From my pov it is not really important if it is a nakayama or not- only that it does what he says.

What is suitable for razors anyway? a 1000 grit shapton is suitable for razors as is 8000 grit King-

So there is really not much good in seeing a picture or knowing what size it will be exactly because these tell you nothing/

As well if one is the sort of person to sit around fretting about whether or not you got the A #1 best stone in the world such things are probably not for you
Better off with synthetics with known standards.

If you can get a very fine grit fast cutting Jnat awase-do for a little over 100 bucks why try to be a nit-picker?

Sometimes we get all fired up about something and blindly charge.

I know nothing about this vendor or his stones however what I will tell all of you that buying Japanese Natural Stones is not for the uninitiated. You have to be familiar with them and know where they came from and when.

All the highly prized stones that made Japanese stones famous were mined out a very long time ago and are highly sought after by collectors in japan and many sell for thousands of dollars if you can source them.

I am not saying modern stones recently mined won't do the job its just that you need to be careful and have much confidence in the vendor and know quite a bit about what he sells otherwise its like buying an Eboy special from someone without really knowing what you are getting.

It just seems to me we have had some of our members here selling stones you know you can rely on.

Originally Posted by kevint

Oh those.
I've bought 4 stones from him I think and maybe 4 or 5 other things. Just not his "nakayama" but I have considered it. From my pov it is not really important if it is a nakayama or not- only that it does what he says.

What is suitable for razors anyway? a 1000 grit shapton is suitable for razors as is 8000 grit King-

So there is really not much good in seeing a picture or knowing what size it will be exactly because these tell you nothing/

As well if one is the sort of person to sit around fretting about whether or not you got the A #1 best stone in the world such things are probably not for you
Better off with synthetics with known standards.

If you can get a very fine grit fast cutting Jnat awase-do for a little over 100 bucks why try to be a nit-picker?

I was under the impression that the stones from the nakayama quarry were the finest finishers of the japanese naturals? Are there others that are just as fine or finer?

Anyway, I really don't know anything about japanese naturals outside of the couple things I've read concerning nakayamas. One of the things I've read is that some are better suited for some tasks than others. Some of the vendors will hand select one for you to do just the task you are looking to do. Apparently, for whatever reason, some are "suited for razors" and some aren't. To be honest, I don't know the exact details of what this means. I kind of assumed it was a general comparison of the hone in question vs other hones like it and which would give a finer edge? I've heard inclusions mentioned here that make it unsuitable for razors, but I don't know exactly what that means either? I'm actually curious to hear any details on what makes one nakayama "suitable for razors" and another not?

One thing that has stuck out that I remember reading was that some (most?) vendors of these stones try them before selling them, and sometimes end up returning or not offering them for sale because they are not well suited for razors or at least not what they are looking for to offer as a product. Since I don't know enough about these stones to make that judgment myself, I rely on the vendor, and this guy, in my personal experience didn't seem to know enough about their use on razors to guide me through the process, or, maybe he knows everything in the world about the stones but because of the language barrier or some other reason, just didn't convey the information he had in such a way as to answer my questions and ease my mind. Or maybe I'm just a PITA to sell natural hones to? Either way, I guess I'm personally willing to wait/pay a little more to have the piece of mind of knowing exactly what I'm buying.

If every single stone mined from the nakayama quarry can be used for razors and is definitely worth at least $140 shipped then I guess there is no issue, but to me, I was looking for something specific - a high grit finisher. If the stone isn't a high grit (16k+ approx.) finisher, I really don't want or need it... especially not at that price. Maybe all japanese naturals from the nakayama quarry finish razors very well and I have/had nothing to worry about? I'm not sure?

But, not knowing, I was/am skeptical to drop that kind of cash, when it would be a significant portion of the way toward getting a japanese natural from a known reputable vendor. Know what I mean?

I guess that's the long winded version of why I was/am skeptical of the seller and of the hones. I really can't wait to hear more about them from ZethLent or anyone else, because if they are the "real deal" then it's a great bargain.

yes this man is alright i bought a nakayama for 120.00 it is 2 7/8 wide and 7 7/8 inches long i have had it about 2 weeks and i am just starting to learn how to ues it i came off a dmt 325 did about 100 laps with water stroped with cro. then leather and it was a smooth shave it suprised me when i get rich selling razors i will get a higer grade stone from him.