I always follow along with great interest anytime there is a discussion on stones and their merits. I've been on the verge several times know of buying a Belgium yellow but have gotten cold feet. The main problem is I see from other members posts that the current batch of yellow stones may not be as good as the older stones that occasionally pop up for sale on e-bay. Well what about natural Japanese stones? Any of you guys try them out? Are they not acceptable for what we do? I was at the japanwoodworker website and was looking at these stones
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?dept_id=13119 and was wondering if they were not in the same league as the Belgium? Pricing is similar if not more and the stone's honing suface appears larger. I realize they are not composed of garnet like the Belgium Stone but could they not get the job done just as well? I would really appreciate feedback on this.