Just used two jnats in a series and I couldn't have more mixed feelings about them both but my feelings about using the two of them together as a progression are clear: joy.
They're complete opposites. The first is a natsuya from JNS. Big jnat, 225mm long. Beautiful, even, no lines or inconsistencies. Visually very similar to the newer JNS 1k. I used it once very briefly with minimal water before sealing because I was considering using the wider side instead of the narrow side that came pre-flattened. Mistake, got a nice crack on the bottom. Sealed it up. This stone cuts FAST, I'd say not much slower than my 600 chosera synthetic! Feels like sharpening on small pieces of glass at first but feels better as slurry breaks down. Hardness feels like a medium stone when sharpening but it dishes and gives out slurry incredibly fast. I have to use an atoma 140 after every use and sometimes during because the dishing is so bad. It's really tall though (80mm new), so it should last a long time despite this. Also thirsty as all heck, constantly drying up/clogging. Grit starts maybe 600 and maybe breaks down to 1500 ish. I like to carry the slurry over to my meara though to finish, where it breaks down much more.
The meara is from Ken S (stay calm) and is short and wide, 100x158mm. I had reservations about the shape when purchasing and still do. obviously I have to pay attention to dial the length of my strokes way back when transitioning from the natsuya. grit estimate is 4-7k. Hard as heck, used lots and 0 dishing, it's a b*tch to get the stone to give up slurry and even the tomo nagura takes a long time to generate any slurry so I usually use other naguras, my favorite being to just use some of the TONS of slurry generated from the natsuya. It feels pretty lifeless & glassy until you get a lot of slurry on it and then it's heaven.
These two stones end up leaving me with a nice kasumi finish on wide bevels and an edge that lasts forever that is refined more than enough for most tasks but with a lot of bite. Occasionally I'll use a finisher after the meara but almost always regret it. These two stones both have serious drawbacks but they might be my favorite two stones, especially when used together. I'd be just fine getting rid of all my synthetics and other jnats and just keeping these two stones and an atoma 140.
They're complete opposites. The first is a natsuya from JNS. Big jnat, 225mm long. Beautiful, even, no lines or inconsistencies. Visually very similar to the newer JNS 1k. I used it once very briefly with minimal water before sealing because I was considering using the wider side instead of the narrow side that came pre-flattened. Mistake, got a nice crack on the bottom. Sealed it up. This stone cuts FAST, I'd say not much slower than my 600 chosera synthetic! Feels like sharpening on small pieces of glass at first but feels better as slurry breaks down. Hardness feels like a medium stone when sharpening but it dishes and gives out slurry incredibly fast. I have to use an atoma 140 after every use and sometimes during because the dishing is so bad. It's really tall though (80mm new), so it should last a long time despite this. Also thirsty as all heck, constantly drying up/clogging. Grit starts maybe 600 and maybe breaks down to 1500 ish. I like to carry the slurry over to my meara though to finish, where it breaks down much more.
The meara is from Ken S (stay calm) and is short and wide, 100x158mm. I had reservations about the shape when purchasing and still do. obviously I have to pay attention to dial the length of my strokes way back when transitioning from the natsuya. grit estimate is 4-7k. Hard as heck, used lots and 0 dishing, it's a b*tch to get the stone to give up slurry and even the tomo nagura takes a long time to generate any slurry so I usually use other naguras, my favorite being to just use some of the TONS of slurry generated from the natsuya. It feels pretty lifeless & glassy until you get a lot of slurry on it and then it's heaven.
These two stones end up leaving me with a nice kasumi finish on wide bevels and an edge that lasts forever that is refined more than enough for most tasks but with a lot of bite. Occasionally I'll use a finisher after the meara but almost always regret it. These two stones both have serious drawbacks but they might be my favorite two stones, especially when used together. I'd be just fine getting rid of all my synthetics and other jnats and just keeping these two stones and an atoma 140.
