valgard
Stones Addict (terminal case)
Need to clear some room and cash for trying new knives and stones. All prices are including PayPal and excluding shipping, I would make a discount if theres no PayPal fees. Most pictures are in the form of links.
1-Hideriyama Ikimurasaki Tomae
195x70x20mm
Sealed with marine lacquer. Beautiful red and green colours with some namazu too. Soft but not too soft, maybe Lvl 3, fast, mud is slick as snot giving one of the best feedbacks of the whole bunch of stones. Finish is very even with good contrast and a bit hazy not ultra fine, no scratches whatsoever as you can see in the video (excuse the poor cleaning of the bevel with the towel).
Price $230 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/21/ce/f821ce2b8e56a7455651793724c33264.jpg
[video]https://youtu.be/uoUues554Lg[/video]
2-Hideriyama Asagi
210x79x17mm
Tan coloured when dry, when wet it has a subtle pattern that interlaces a clear tan almost yellowish with light green is revealed when wet but is very hard to photograph (you can see some of it if you pay attention in the picture below). Softer than No 1 (think 2.5), finishes on the low end of the finisher spectrum at around 6K, very hazy finish as it is a bit muddy but not messy. Fast stone that is good at hiding some scratches from previous stones etc. Gives aggressive edges.
Price $190 +shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ae/a4/67/aea4671f532346bc4f96cc1d9c3e8014.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e5/fa/0e/e5fa0e28cf5511dec0f33270baa2b997.jpg
3-Aiiwatani Orange
190×78×25mm
This stone is gorgeous, also very pleasant to sharpen with and on the softer side. Id say the overall grit is on the limit between a finisher and a mid grit, very bites edge. Easy to get very uniform finish on it and can be left as final finish or used as a base for the next stone. The stone gives very uniform wider scratches that are orderly and the finish is still very good and you dont notice it at a distance but I included a close up for full disclosure. In my opinion this does not make this stone bad by any means but definitely a small kink. Lacquered sides and bottom.
Price $180 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ba/5c/97/ba5c977f8287a7ff31bbfc943e7d4de5.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/0e/44/4b/0e444b22471b58a01ca3d984c8fc00c8.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/68/77/ad/6877ad77b9c8e5e5db59e5458102222e.jpg
4-Aizu
214x63x20mm
Beautiful light blue with white dots and some black range sprinkled all over. Medium hard, benefits from some slurry for easy finishing if polishing something that is not too flat but otherwise good to use without slurry, I especially like to use it with just water for a finer result and for the edge work. Typical around 4 to 5K finish from Aizu, very consistent and no stray scratches, moderate contrast that can be enhanced with some extra slurry but makes the finish more hazy (can be a good thing). Edge is the typically superb edge off aizu, very good bite and enough refinement for most kitchen tasks, my absolute favourite edge for AEBL to give the steels some aggressiveness and longer lasting bite.
Price $100 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/67/11/9d/67119d3d7491d6313ff05fc75a763cb0.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e5/e0/b1/e5e0b1c9090ede0f3d18f76930d03ebe.jpg
5-Narutaki Tomae Red
198x70x25mm
This stone from Badgertooth http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/33330-Heirlooms?p=497913&viewfull=1#post497913
Came to me via a trade for a Massive Shinden suita but it turns out it overlaps a bit with another stone I have so she has to go as much as it is a gorgeous one. Red, gorgeous, fast, not a muddy one but smooth sharpening and polishing. Lacquered sides and bottom. Fine finish and great relatively refined edge.
Heres a video I made for fun where I only did a quick clean up of one of the bevels and left the patina on the other one, should give a rough idea of the finish.
Price $400 + shipping
[video=youtube;KsTms6fBS0g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsTms6fBS0g[/video]
6-Red Aoto
180X65X32mm
Beautiful colours on this one, lots of red and green intertwining. Very muddy and fast stone. Very consistent and finishes at around 3K I would say but so uniform it looks quite good. Super easy to hide lows and scratches with this one and very good for edge sharpening too. Im moving towards all hard mid grits line up so this one is not getting used but it is a pleasure to use especially if you like muddy stones. This one is muddy to the point of getting a bit messy so you have to be a bit on top of your water management but thats it. Mounted in a beautiful wood base and sealed.
Price $200 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c2/23/25/c22325c1308d6e02b8e3c51dffc2bf23.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/49/a9/29/49a929c30e31d6e137b4020eade2ab88.jpg
7-Ohira Uchigumori Aka renge
184x65x20mm
Beautiful pink range all over and very clean stone, only a fine line that cant be felt near the top. Very fast like most Uchigumoris, very good feedback, a bit hard but as you can see still makes some inky slurry and it gets very smooth from there. Finish is quite fine and nice deep contrast.
Price $190 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/49/d2/dd/49d2dd15a923951319053043f7eeafe9.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fb/64/fd/fb64fdf147502d17891610605dad7cb1.jpg
8-Okudo Shiro Suita
204x82x17mm
Hard, around Level 4.25. Smooth, fast, fast as hell. Inky slurry immediately. Very fine. 10k plus. Fantastic contrast. Amazing edge. Bright core. Minimal haze. Ideal suita. I want this stone in brick form. Benefits from working slurry and can feel grabby when slightly drying out but no noticeable streaking. Some surface damage in a couple of spots that could potentially cause an issue for polishing on top of them but can be avoided easily. Wish I could have this in a thick rectangular stone.
Price $240 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/88/35/f6/8835f6913b8464de319143cef132d104.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/98/72/17/98721715f8310dc0c60935f385151a79.jpg
9-Okudo Renge Suita
175x76x27mm
A 3.5/4 (probably closer to 4), amazingly fast and slurry is dark. Absolute stunner of a stone. Feedback is a bit waxy until you kick some slurry. Not as fine as the previous Okudo but still quite fine say 8K. Dark beautiful contrast and core steel hazy but brighter than softer stones. Full disclosure, the current layer is behaving very nicely and I have had three straight polishing sessions without any issues but I should mention that before lapping it off there were some bunches of su that would shed some larger particles occasionally and cause some random scratches (see picture of example). This issue seems the have gone away but theres no telling for a fact if the rest of the stone is good for polishing too. Edge has always been fantastic even despite random larger/scratchy particles. Sealed with marine grade lacquer.
Price $290 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/07/74/cb/0774cb9deda2f35dd6e6d6c050fc7400.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/16/b1/99/16b199ab27c9f11a3e7af13f83143cbf.jpg
Example of large scratch that was an issue before
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/24/2b/67/242b678dfe3072d6c2cd2f16188600f2.jpg
10-Narutaki Chocolate/Iromono
215x78x29mm
Colour is predominantly chocolate with slight iromono (some purple and green hues), has namazu on the back. Super fine, very hard (level 4.5 or higher). Need to use slurry for knives, otherwise hardness scratches cladding. Must be very careful to avoid this but if you are it reveals amazing details in cladding and produces near mirror core. Very nice to shine the core steel. Very refined edge. Fresh surface very fast for hardness. Speed dies quickly if rinsed and reused. Amazing as a tool stone for finishing chisels and kanna. Sealed with marine grade lacquer.
Price $340 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f4/25/be/f425be90e4678fa70e98c93f380e2c22.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/9a/02/f89a026b05390befa232ff65b6f65bdf.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a2/8d/3d/a28d3d5008e09d7f6435dc809ee35654.jpg
1-Hideriyama Ikimurasaki Tomae
195x70x20mm
Sealed with marine lacquer. Beautiful red and green colours with some namazu too. Soft but not too soft, maybe Lvl 3, fast, mud is slick as snot giving one of the best feedbacks of the whole bunch of stones. Finish is very even with good contrast and a bit hazy not ultra fine, no scratches whatsoever as you can see in the video (excuse the poor cleaning of the bevel with the towel).
Price $230 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/21/ce/f821ce2b8e56a7455651793724c33264.jpg
[video]https://youtu.be/uoUues554Lg[/video]
2-Hideriyama Asagi
210x79x17mm
Tan coloured when dry, when wet it has a subtle pattern that interlaces a clear tan almost yellowish with light green is revealed when wet but is very hard to photograph (you can see some of it if you pay attention in the picture below). Softer than No 1 (think 2.5), finishes on the low end of the finisher spectrum at around 6K, very hazy finish as it is a bit muddy but not messy. Fast stone that is good at hiding some scratches from previous stones etc. Gives aggressive edges.
Price $190 +shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ae/a4/67/aea4671f532346bc4f96cc1d9c3e8014.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e5/fa/0e/e5fa0e28cf5511dec0f33270baa2b997.jpg
3-Aiiwatani Orange
190×78×25mm
This stone is gorgeous, also very pleasant to sharpen with and on the softer side. Id say the overall grit is on the limit between a finisher and a mid grit, very bites edge. Easy to get very uniform finish on it and can be left as final finish or used as a base for the next stone. The stone gives very uniform wider scratches that are orderly and the finish is still very good and you dont notice it at a distance but I included a close up for full disclosure. In my opinion this does not make this stone bad by any means but definitely a small kink. Lacquered sides and bottom.
Price $180 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ba/5c/97/ba5c977f8287a7ff31bbfc943e7d4de5.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/0e/44/4b/0e444b22471b58a01ca3d984c8fc00c8.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/68/77/ad/6877ad77b9c8e5e5db59e5458102222e.jpg
4-Aizu
214x63x20mm
Beautiful light blue with white dots and some black range sprinkled all over. Medium hard, benefits from some slurry for easy finishing if polishing something that is not too flat but otherwise good to use without slurry, I especially like to use it with just water for a finer result and for the edge work. Typical around 4 to 5K finish from Aizu, very consistent and no stray scratches, moderate contrast that can be enhanced with some extra slurry but makes the finish more hazy (can be a good thing). Edge is the typically superb edge off aizu, very good bite and enough refinement for most kitchen tasks, my absolute favourite edge for AEBL to give the steels some aggressiveness and longer lasting bite.
Price $100 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/67/11/9d/67119d3d7491d6313ff05fc75a763cb0.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e5/e0/b1/e5e0b1c9090ede0f3d18f76930d03ebe.jpg
5-Narutaki Tomae Red
198x70x25mm
This stone from Badgertooth http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/33330-Heirlooms?p=497913&viewfull=1#post497913
Came to me via a trade for a Massive Shinden suita but it turns out it overlaps a bit with another stone I have so she has to go as much as it is a gorgeous one. Red, gorgeous, fast, not a muddy one but smooth sharpening and polishing. Lacquered sides and bottom. Fine finish and great relatively refined edge.
Heres a video I made for fun where I only did a quick clean up of one of the bevels and left the patina on the other one, should give a rough idea of the finish.
Price $400 + shipping
[video=youtube;KsTms6fBS0g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsTms6fBS0g[/video]
6-Red Aoto
180X65X32mm
Beautiful colours on this one, lots of red and green intertwining. Very muddy and fast stone. Very consistent and finishes at around 3K I would say but so uniform it looks quite good. Super easy to hide lows and scratches with this one and very good for edge sharpening too. Im moving towards all hard mid grits line up so this one is not getting used but it is a pleasure to use especially if you like muddy stones. This one is muddy to the point of getting a bit messy so you have to be a bit on top of your water management but thats it. Mounted in a beautiful wood base and sealed.
Price $200 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c2/23/25/c22325c1308d6e02b8e3c51dffc2bf23.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/49/a9/29/49a929c30e31d6e137b4020eade2ab88.jpg
7-Ohira Uchigumori Aka renge
184x65x20mm
Beautiful pink range all over and very clean stone, only a fine line that cant be felt near the top. Very fast like most Uchigumoris, very good feedback, a bit hard but as you can see still makes some inky slurry and it gets very smooth from there. Finish is quite fine and nice deep contrast.
Price $190 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/49/d2/dd/49d2dd15a923951319053043f7eeafe9.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fb/64/fd/fb64fdf147502d17891610605dad7cb1.jpg
8-Okudo Shiro Suita
204x82x17mm
Hard, around Level 4.25. Smooth, fast, fast as hell. Inky slurry immediately. Very fine. 10k plus. Fantastic contrast. Amazing edge. Bright core. Minimal haze. Ideal suita. I want this stone in brick form. Benefits from working slurry and can feel grabby when slightly drying out but no noticeable streaking. Some surface damage in a couple of spots that could potentially cause an issue for polishing on top of them but can be avoided easily. Wish I could have this in a thick rectangular stone.
Price $240 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/88/35/f6/8835f6913b8464de319143cef132d104.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/98/72/17/98721715f8310dc0c60935f385151a79.jpg
9-Okudo Renge Suita
175x76x27mm
A 3.5/4 (probably closer to 4), amazingly fast and slurry is dark. Absolute stunner of a stone. Feedback is a bit waxy until you kick some slurry. Not as fine as the previous Okudo but still quite fine say 8K. Dark beautiful contrast and core steel hazy but brighter than softer stones. Full disclosure, the current layer is behaving very nicely and I have had three straight polishing sessions without any issues but I should mention that before lapping it off there were some bunches of su that would shed some larger particles occasionally and cause some random scratches (see picture of example). This issue seems the have gone away but theres no telling for a fact if the rest of the stone is good for polishing too. Edge has always been fantastic even despite random larger/scratchy particles. Sealed with marine grade lacquer.
Price $290 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/07/74/cb/0774cb9deda2f35dd6e6d6c050fc7400.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/16/b1/99/16b199ab27c9f11a3e7af13f83143cbf.jpg
Example of large scratch that was an issue before
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/24/2b/67/242b678dfe3072d6c2cd2f16188600f2.jpg
10-Narutaki Chocolate/Iromono
215x78x29mm
Colour is predominantly chocolate with slight iromono (some purple and green hues), has namazu on the back. Super fine, very hard (level 4.5 or higher). Need to use slurry for knives, otherwise hardness scratches cladding. Must be very careful to avoid this but if you are it reveals amazing details in cladding and produces near mirror core. Very nice to shine the core steel. Very refined edge. Fresh surface very fast for hardness. Speed dies quickly if rinsed and reused. Amazing as a tool stone for finishing chisels and kanna. Sealed with marine grade lacquer.
Price $340 + shipping
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f4/25/be/f425be90e4678fa70e98c93f380e2c22.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/9a/02/f89a026b05390befa232ff65b6f65bdf.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a2/8d/3d/a28d3d5008e09d7f6435dc809ee35654.jpg
