- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
- 439
- Reaction score
- 200
I got these stones from this site: https://www.griffithshavinggoods.com/collections/razor-honing-stones
Owners name is Matthew and he is responsive and helpful. Some of the best prices and selections for non-Jnat stones Ive come across. Definitely mainly a shaving site, but hes got a number of stones that fall in that sweet spot where knives and razors overlap, and a variety of sizes. He even seems to mine/condition his own stones from his home state of Rhode Island, called an Anchor stone. Dont have it yet, but likely in the future. Please see New Stones Pt. 2 and Pt. 3 for other reviews and final summary.
EASTERN RED
Site says that this stone is likely from Egypt, at least somewhere in the Middle East. It was cheap is cool to have a stone somewhere not many of us investigate as possibly having usable stones. They were apparently previously unavailable in the US. Matthew, or at least who he bought it from, have it graded at 1-3k. I asked what grit system he grades with eg JIS, etc, and he didnt really answer the question directly, but replied as most experienced user would saying that any grit estimation should be taken with a grain of salt. I, and many of us, would also agree (although they can certainly be helpful as a rough guide). Anyways, I would say that the stone is finer than the estimation, more in the 4-6K range. Scratch pattern and edge result was fine, with little to no teeth.
Weights and Measures: 195x70x20mm; 726g; 2.7g/cm3
Appearance: Dry - a pleasant red with a purple hue. Pretty cool. Wet - turns a dark brick red. Both wet and dry, the stone had really nice metallic glittery bits that shine brightly under the correct light; pretty cool.
Smell and Texture: Smooth texture, again suggesting a finer grit. Its hard stone, probably Lv 4-4.5. Smells just like pottery clay.
Sharpening Experience:
- Overall speed was decently fast. Nothing to write home about. Only the super aogami required a manual slurry. Stone gave off little to no slurry, even with the atoma plate, and metal was very finely removed.
- SS (K Sabatier): Resulted in a highly polished edge bevel. Edge was nearly hair shaving sharp.
- Shiro (Yoshikazu Ikeda shiro 3 Nakiri): Similar results with SS, but an even finer edges. Hair shaving sharp, no teeth.
- Aogami (Ohishi super aogami petty): Required a slurry. Highly polished bevel edge. No teeth, but not scary sharp. Worst ratio of time spent to result so far, but not like bad, just better stones out there for super aogami.
- Kataba (Shimanti aogami 2 deba): I almost didnt try working a single bevel on this stone because its hard and fine; I was worried Id scratch the cladding. But Im glad I tried. You definitely have to force a slurry with a coarse diamond nagura, I used my 140 atoma. But wow, it was crazy easy to get a dense kasumi going. Youve definitely got to be careful not to press too hard as the sumingashi pattern in some parts where I tested pressure became hard to discern, but theyre still there with some buffing. Easier than some jnats Ive used for kasumi finish. Really cool!
Final Thoughts: $30 Egyptian stone that works well with everything but aogami (and super at that). All edges were singular in such that they were refined. It polishes bevels to a mirror finish, and was actually awesome to use on a single bevel cladding. Who wouldve thought?
Pros: Cheap! Good dimensions. Sparkly! Unique. Definitely usable.
Cons: Less than stellar finishes on edges (shiro was the best, as per usual for me), but acceptable enough. Cant really handle abrasion resistant steel very well.
TL;DR Buy One - Yes or No?
Yes - its too cheap to pass up, does offer good results for shirogami, and fine results for SS, and actually delivers a solid kasumi finish. Plus, how many stones from Egypt do you have??
No - youve already got enough stones and dont want to go down a new slippery slope.
BALKAN MIDDLE GRIT GRAY
Also previously unavailable in the US, its from the Balkan mountain ranges of Albania - another cool location. This stone is loooong (250mm - maxes out my stone holder). Great size for knives! Also cheap. He estimated 2-5K, and Id agree with him. This stone kicks butt!
Weights and Measures: 250x80x20mm; 1003g; 2.5g/cm3
Appearance: Honestly a little boring, but you cant win them all. Would probably fall into the colloquial asagi color range. Nothing exciting when wet, either.
Smell and Texture: Smells like an old persons carpet next to their wicker chair, haha. Hard stone, with the slightest bit of texture, speaking to its likely lower grit.
Sharpening Experience:
- Overall sharpening experience was pleasant. Like the Eastern Red, little slurry was given up, but a bit more so than the Red, especially for the single bevel. With a slurry, there was a slight bit of grit with sharpening, but nothing unpleasant. Things were fast!
- SS (K Sabatier): Wow! No slurry needed, although it auto slurry, but the edge was one of the best edges Ive gotten on such soft steel - it was extremely refined with some high-class teeth. Swerves through paper, making curves no problem. Forced slurry just makes things move faster (although already fast), with similar results. Fantastic!
- Shiro (Yoshikazu Ikeda shiro 3 Nakiri): Wow (again)! With no slurry, results were fast ~1-2 minutes) and left a very refined edge. With slurry, things went even faster, and the edge was absurdly sharp. I thought it had some teeth when feel the edge, but it was just so sharp that it was slicing in my callused finger tips and getting wedged in the 1st or so layer of skin, which explains why I was feeling some pull (dont worry, Im totally fine). Hair popping sharp, slides through paper by its own weight. Will actually be a go to stone for shirogami at the least.
- Aogami (Ohishi super aogami petty): Needs a forced slurry. But then things get ripping. Formed a bur in 30 seconds. Done in under 2 minutes (short petty, though). Edge was great. Not the best it's been, but better than the Eastern Red. With more go throughs, Im sure I can fine tune things.
- Kataba (Shimanti aogami 2 deba): Since I had decent luck with the Eastern read on the cadding, I decided to give Balkan a go. Again, you need to force a slurry, more the better. The stone is hard, and you can get some scratching if theres no slurry lubricating the stones surface. BUT, I was again very surprised by the results. The results (see below) are for the whole knife as things seemed to be moving fast enough to try it all out. Obviously speed was a priority, so streaking is there. But with a more careful run through, youd get a solid kasumi finish brought to you by the Balkans - how cool is that!?
Final Thoughts: Ive got 3 more stones to review from Matthew, but this has been the best so far. Its delivered clear results for all steel types, a couple in stellar fashion, and delivers a kasumi finish quickly if youre careful about it. At $36, you have little excuse to not purchase a unique stone that it is huge, and great for knives.
Pros: Cheap, and I guess rare (in relation to our jnat-centered knowledge). Wonderful value. Big! Handles all steel types, including the cladding on katabas.
Cons: Slurry required no aogami super. The differences in edges youll get are minor ie, either very refined teeth, or laser-like edge. Kasumi attempts must be started with a dense forced slurry or you can scratch the cladding. But with some practice, I imagine this wont be an issue.
TL;DR Buy One - Yes or No?
Heck yes! Almost too good a bargain to believe. And how many Balkan stones do you have??
No - doesnt apply here. Get one.
Owners name is Matthew and he is responsive and helpful. Some of the best prices and selections for non-Jnat stones Ive come across. Definitely mainly a shaving site, but hes got a number of stones that fall in that sweet spot where knives and razors overlap, and a variety of sizes. He even seems to mine/condition his own stones from his home state of Rhode Island, called an Anchor stone. Dont have it yet, but likely in the future. Please see New Stones Pt. 2 and Pt. 3 for other reviews and final summary.
EASTERN RED
Site says that this stone is likely from Egypt, at least somewhere in the Middle East. It was cheap is cool to have a stone somewhere not many of us investigate as possibly having usable stones. They were apparently previously unavailable in the US. Matthew, or at least who he bought it from, have it graded at 1-3k. I asked what grit system he grades with eg JIS, etc, and he didnt really answer the question directly, but replied as most experienced user would saying that any grit estimation should be taken with a grain of salt. I, and many of us, would also agree (although they can certainly be helpful as a rough guide). Anyways, I would say that the stone is finer than the estimation, more in the 4-6K range. Scratch pattern and edge result was fine, with little to no teeth.
Weights and Measures: 195x70x20mm; 726g; 2.7g/cm3
Appearance: Dry - a pleasant red with a purple hue. Pretty cool. Wet - turns a dark brick red. Both wet and dry, the stone had really nice metallic glittery bits that shine brightly under the correct light; pretty cool.
Smell and Texture: Smooth texture, again suggesting a finer grit. Its hard stone, probably Lv 4-4.5. Smells just like pottery clay.
Sharpening Experience:
- Overall speed was decently fast. Nothing to write home about. Only the super aogami required a manual slurry. Stone gave off little to no slurry, even with the atoma plate, and metal was very finely removed.
- SS (K Sabatier): Resulted in a highly polished edge bevel. Edge was nearly hair shaving sharp.
- Shiro (Yoshikazu Ikeda shiro 3 Nakiri): Similar results with SS, but an even finer edges. Hair shaving sharp, no teeth.
- Aogami (Ohishi super aogami petty): Required a slurry. Highly polished bevel edge. No teeth, but not scary sharp. Worst ratio of time spent to result so far, but not like bad, just better stones out there for super aogami.
- Kataba (Shimanti aogami 2 deba): I almost didnt try working a single bevel on this stone because its hard and fine; I was worried Id scratch the cladding. But Im glad I tried. You definitely have to force a slurry with a coarse diamond nagura, I used my 140 atoma. But wow, it was crazy easy to get a dense kasumi going. Youve definitely got to be careful not to press too hard as the sumingashi pattern in some parts where I tested pressure became hard to discern, but theyre still there with some buffing. Easier than some jnats Ive used for kasumi finish. Really cool!
Final Thoughts: $30 Egyptian stone that works well with everything but aogami (and super at that). All edges were singular in such that they were refined. It polishes bevels to a mirror finish, and was actually awesome to use on a single bevel cladding. Who wouldve thought?
Pros: Cheap! Good dimensions. Sparkly! Unique. Definitely usable.
Cons: Less than stellar finishes on edges (shiro was the best, as per usual for me), but acceptable enough. Cant really handle abrasion resistant steel very well.
TL;DR Buy One - Yes or No?
Yes - its too cheap to pass up, does offer good results for shirogami, and fine results for SS, and actually delivers a solid kasumi finish. Plus, how many stones from Egypt do you have??
No - youve already got enough stones and dont want to go down a new slippery slope.
BALKAN MIDDLE GRIT GRAY
Also previously unavailable in the US, its from the Balkan mountain ranges of Albania - another cool location. This stone is loooong (250mm - maxes out my stone holder). Great size for knives! Also cheap. He estimated 2-5K, and Id agree with him. This stone kicks butt!
Weights and Measures: 250x80x20mm; 1003g; 2.5g/cm3
Appearance: Honestly a little boring, but you cant win them all. Would probably fall into the colloquial asagi color range. Nothing exciting when wet, either.
Smell and Texture: Smells like an old persons carpet next to their wicker chair, haha. Hard stone, with the slightest bit of texture, speaking to its likely lower grit.
Sharpening Experience:
- Overall sharpening experience was pleasant. Like the Eastern Red, little slurry was given up, but a bit more so than the Red, especially for the single bevel. With a slurry, there was a slight bit of grit with sharpening, but nothing unpleasant. Things were fast!
- SS (K Sabatier): Wow! No slurry needed, although it auto slurry, but the edge was one of the best edges Ive gotten on such soft steel - it was extremely refined with some high-class teeth. Swerves through paper, making curves no problem. Forced slurry just makes things move faster (although already fast), with similar results. Fantastic!
- Shiro (Yoshikazu Ikeda shiro 3 Nakiri): Wow (again)! With no slurry, results were fast ~1-2 minutes) and left a very refined edge. With slurry, things went even faster, and the edge was absurdly sharp. I thought it had some teeth when feel the edge, but it was just so sharp that it was slicing in my callused finger tips and getting wedged in the 1st or so layer of skin, which explains why I was feeling some pull (dont worry, Im totally fine). Hair popping sharp, slides through paper by its own weight. Will actually be a go to stone for shirogami at the least.
- Aogami (Ohishi super aogami petty): Needs a forced slurry. But then things get ripping. Formed a bur in 30 seconds. Done in under 2 minutes (short petty, though). Edge was great. Not the best it's been, but better than the Eastern Red. With more go throughs, Im sure I can fine tune things.
- Kataba (Shimanti aogami 2 deba): Since I had decent luck with the Eastern read on the cadding, I decided to give Balkan a go. Again, you need to force a slurry, more the better. The stone is hard, and you can get some scratching if theres no slurry lubricating the stones surface. BUT, I was again very surprised by the results. The results (see below) are for the whole knife as things seemed to be moving fast enough to try it all out. Obviously speed was a priority, so streaking is there. But with a more careful run through, youd get a solid kasumi finish brought to you by the Balkans - how cool is that!?
Final Thoughts: Ive got 3 more stones to review from Matthew, but this has been the best so far. Its delivered clear results for all steel types, a couple in stellar fashion, and delivers a kasumi finish quickly if youre careful about it. At $36, you have little excuse to not purchase a unique stone that it is huge, and great for knives.
Pros: Cheap, and I guess rare (in relation to our jnat-centered knowledge). Wonderful value. Big! Handles all steel types, including the cladding on katabas.
Cons: Slurry required no aogami super. The differences in edges youll get are minor ie, either very refined teeth, or laser-like edge. Kasumi attempts must be started with a dense forced slurry or you can scratch the cladding. But with some practice, I imagine this wont be an issue.
TL;DR Buy One - Yes or No?
Heck yes! Almost too good a bargain to believe. And how many Balkan stones do you have??
No - doesnt apply here. Get one.
