Amakusa + Misu Asagi Namazu

[Uncle Danny]

Hi… I need a bit of help.

I’ve been reading… a lot. And I kind of think I know in some sort of way, what I’m getting in to, when I’m now trying to dip my toes in the giant pool of JNATS.

I just bought an Nakayama Misu Asagi Namazu and in addition to that, I have a feeling that my course synths leaves to deep scratches when polishing.

For now, as a start and to get some kind of baseline, I’ve been looking at Amakusas (coarse and medium) from Cleancut
https://www.cleancut.eu/series/ryus...ption=com_virtuemart&view=category&Itemid=875
I know, I know… it’s a buy and find out thing, but any additional information would help me a lot.

Stones in questioning

 

[gentiscid]

Amakusa usually are cheap stones. They’re in the low 500 grit. $30-$50 probably won’t hurt the bank but I would suggest that for low grits u practice on synthetic stones first to get on the groove. Once u start managing different pressures on different stones and u are a bit more consistent, then go on Amakusa... I do have one but I use more my synthetics. I use it sometimes (but not necessarily) between my Naniwa 400 & 800 in a polishing progression.

 

[Uncle Danny]

Thanks a lot.

I’ve been on synths for a while now.
So it’s more in the line of, are they worth it or are they just too darn cheap.
Does it actual make sense to start progression, when polishing, on Amakusa?

 

[gentiscid]

It's not a necessary stone to have, I can say that. You be fine without it too... I bought mine out of curiosity and to practice with damaged knives... It cost me not even $20. If u find one close to that price, grab it.

 

[refcast]

A medium synth is better than a medium jnat is scratch evenness. I say this as someone who's owned 20 or so medium grit jnats. I would rather use a shapton 1000 or king 1200 or cerax 1000 or diamond resin or vitrified stone if I wanted even scratches for the next grit. Especially with regard to shallow scratches on iron, aoto tend to leave deeper scratches. Sometimes there are stones that leave consistently shallow scratches but those are the minority of medium grit synths, and those that are shallower can be slower. Ikarashi is one of the best shallow even scratch medium grit jnats I've used, but still slower than a synth 1k, which I would prefer for functional use

Sometimes I use my synths and am like, damn this is a perfect jnat! And then oh, it's a synth and cheaper and readily available me and I tell myself "nice", since I don't have to hunt for them.

But yeah, synth 1k, 3k, then jnat finisher. Jnat medium grits are good edges still though.

 

[dragjp]

+1 prefer synth on the lower grits as it's more consistent and faster, personal sweet spot for jnats is >1500/2k

 

[Uncle Danny]

Thanks for your weigh in refcast

 

[user 16756]

it's true though that not all synths are particularly well suited for polishing.

can you post your entire progression? I have some suspicions about what you might want to do but I think we could all make better commentary if we knew what you were working with currently.

 

[Uncle Danny]

Sure!

Debado 600, Imanashi 1000, Nakagawa Misu Asagi Namazu, Imanashi 6000

I'm thinking the line-up could be

Debado, Amakusa, Misu, and then a harder jnat as finish, but I need to figure out the lower half first. This is for polish, recon I can stop at the Misu when it comes to sharpening, but that’s for me to find out.

 

[user 16756]

Sure!

Debado 600, Imanashi 1000, Nakagawa Misu Asagi Namazu, Imanashi 6000

I'm thinking the line-up could be

Debado, Amakusa, Misu, and then a harder jnat as finish, but I need to figure out the lower half first. This is for polish, recon I can stop at the Misu when it comes to sharpening, but that’s for me to find out.

Mizu Asagis from that mine are usually mega hard/fine. After 1k you need something like a 3K synth or a coarser nakato like a really good Natsuya (and even then you will probably struggle to adequately clean the core steel).

600 -> 1000 is fine, but there is no point for bevels jumping to such a fine stone after 1k. You probably need 2 or even 3 more steps in there.

I like the Chosera 3K. There are other options. Usually for me any progression will go through Cho 1K, Cho 3K, back down to Natsuya, Aizu/Aoto/the coarser Maru Ao suita I have. From there it depends you can either go pre-finisher -> finisher or a coarser finisher.

You probably need a 3K and then something to get you to that Nakayama. And even then, your bevels will need to be really perfect I bet.

Unless the particular stone you have is a LOT softer/coarser than you would typical think of a Nakayama Mizu Asagi being.

 

[ethompson]

I’ve never met an Amakusa I liked. Coarse JNats are usually pretty crap. Synthetics all the way IMO below 2k grit or so.

 

[Uncle Danny]

Mizu Asagis from that mine are usually mega hard/fine. After 1k you need something like a 3K synth or a coarser nakato like a really good Natsuya (and even then you will probably struggle to adequately clean the core steel).

600 -> 1000 is fine, but there is no point for bevels jumping to such a fine stone after 1k. You probably need 2 or even 3 more steps in there.

I like the Chosera 3K. There are other options. Usually for me any progression will go through Cho 1K, Cho 3K, back down to Natsuya, Aizu/Aoto/the coarser Maru Ao suita I have. From there it depends you can either go pre-finisher -> finisher or a coarser finisher.

You probably need a 3K and then something to get you to that Nakayama. And even then, your bevels will need to be really perfect I bet.

Unless the particular stone you have is a LOT softer/coarser than you would typical think of a Nakayama Mizu Asagi being.

I had an JNS blue aoto synth - but in the end, it didn’t sit well with me.

But I hear you. More and softer steps before Nakayama Mizu Asagi. Maybe a Binsui type 30?

I need to visit the local stone pusher to see what’s in store or maybe browse through 1Stone

Thanks so much for the advice and for sharing