This isn't much of a review but I felt that I needed to mention how pleased I am with the red aoto that Maksim sent me awhile (almost a year?) back.
Looking back on what my experiences have been with this stone I realize that I haven't tried it on a double bevel knife yet which seems crazy for how many knives have been sharpened in this time. I have, however, used it on a whole hell of a lot of single bevel knives (yanagiba, usuba, etc) and I've been very pleased with it's performance.
I've found that it's unique in that it cuts fast for a natural yet it's not coarse at all. This means that I can use it to cross over from coarser stones to polishing stones easily which is exactly what an aoto is supposed to do.
I would imagine that this stone would be great for the person who uses single bevels professionally who wants/needs a touch up stone that's slightly more aggressive than a polishing stone. It can create a burr, albeit a very fine burr, if required.
The finish I get from this stone is almost even on most knives and near perfect on others. I have been wondering if it's my technique causing issues but I think it's just the stone liking certain steels more than others and that's not un-normal so no biggie there.
Conclusion - I would recommend to others and buy this stone again if I needed to. Now I have to test it on double bevels and straight razors too.
Looking back on what my experiences have been with this stone I realize that I haven't tried it on a double bevel knife yet which seems crazy for how many knives have been sharpened in this time. I have, however, used it on a whole hell of a lot of single bevel knives (yanagiba, usuba, etc) and I've been very pleased with it's performance.
I've found that it's unique in that it cuts fast for a natural yet it's not coarse at all. This means that I can use it to cross over from coarser stones to polishing stones easily which is exactly what an aoto is supposed to do.
I would imagine that this stone would be great for the person who uses single bevels professionally who wants/needs a touch up stone that's slightly more aggressive than a polishing stone. It can create a burr, albeit a very fine burr, if required.
The finish I get from this stone is almost even on most knives and near perfect on others. I have been wondering if it's my technique causing issues but I think it's just the stone liking certain steels more than others and that's not un-normal so no biggie there.
Conclusion - I would recommend to others and buy this stone again if I needed to. Now I have to test it on double bevels and straight razors too.