Nice pictures, the first brought back memories of Point Lobos and the sensation on walking in the footsteps of Edward Weston. Cheers.
Yes, I thought the same thing, Weston country.
Nice pictures, the first brought back memories of Point Lobos and the sensation on walking in the footsteps of Edward Weston. Cheers.
I know of people who have churned through full size type 30 stones like bench nagura and suita in about a year - so your datapoint seems quite accurate there. The carpentry folks not only buy most of the really high end suita but are more than capable of using them up in relatively short order as well.
For a hobbyist, a harder stone at 40mm is almost certainly a lifetime investment, even doing many projects a year. On my harder stuff I haven't detected any noticeable change in weight or height and I do a fair amount of polishing. The soft stuff is a different story. In aggregate, I've shaved through at least 30mm of soft stuff like Akapin, soft uchi, tenjou suita, maruo shiro, etc in the last 2-3 years. Besides coarse synths these are the place I'm spending the most time working though. I also do a decent amount of polishing, at least an hour a day on average, probably a good bit more. Add in loss for removing layers of su, etc.
All that said, if you're using your stones enough to wear through them you're almost certainly not going to be bothered buying another at the end. Stones / polishing on an $ / hour basis is certainly cheaper than a lot of hobbies, just with a high initial cost.
Should’ve thought to ask you about your experience! You’d know a lot better than me.This has me thinking about my setup. I'm a woodworker by trade and I use some really nice stones in my workshop. Maybe I should invest in some less stellar jnats if these beauts are going to be worn out in short order. They are harder stones, especially the Iromono, but I do use a diamond plate every time to generate a slurry.
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Still drooling over that Shiro Suita Iro Renge. Doesn't look like it's lost more than a mm or two since you posted it (and withdrew it ) a year and a half ago.This has me thinking about my setup. I'm a woodworker by trade and I use some really nice stones in my workshop. Maybe I should invest in some less stellar jnats if these beauts are going to be worn out in short order. They are harder stones, especially the Iromono, but I do use a diamond plate every time to generate a slurry.
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Work has been slowly picking up, so these haven't been going through the paces like a Miyadaiku carpenter would put them through, so I haven't really noticed a big change yet. I have been trying to narrow down the progression if I can just to save time and stone, for example if I'm using a western plane iron I'll generate a burr with a JNS 300 and then put a microbevel on with the suita which doesn't take much time at all. I haven't timed myself, but I think I can take out minor chips and completely reset an edge in 2 minutes.Should’ve thought to ask you about your experience! You’d know a lot better than me.
Doubt you could ever use up the Aizu monolith haha. I do wonder about the iromono and suita though… have you noticed any change in size over months / years?
Some days you eat the bear ….
Got this one this morning for $36, near 60-cut and a fitted stand. I was the only bidder. Most Japanese auctions close early Saturday or Sunday morning on the east coast US, so maybe people weren’t watching?
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This should be fixable! I've mended a stone or two using super glue and clamps. Then I'd wrap the whole stone densely in twine and cure with many layers of lacquerWell... how can I say that polite...sh**!?... farewell my good old friend, farewell
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https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/reinforcing-jnats.32466/Thank you so much for your Pro tipp
Well... how can I say that polite...sh**!?... farewell my good old friend, farewell
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Yep, Buyee/Yahoo are pretty popular. Years ago fewer people knew how to buy from Japanese auctions.View attachment 251756View attachment 251757
There are also other countries in the world than US where people watch Buyee and at least I was watching as well...But as I have a pretty similar stone from the same seller already (even with a bonus of hand-sawn sides),i didn't bid on this one,but if it was larger,I would definitely do that...Mine is great btw.,super pretty,at a sweetspot as regardshardness,brutally fast and non-scratching...Wish I had a fullsize benchstone like this one day...
Good for you! I was looking at it and thinking it would go for a lot more - nice stone.Some days you eat the bear ….
Got this one this morning for $36, near 60-cut and a fitted stand. I was the only bidder. Most Japanese auctions close early Saturday or Sunday morning on the east coast US, so maybe people weren’t watching?
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Some days you eat the bear ….
Got this one this morning for $36, near 60-cut and a fitted stand. I was the only bidder. Most Japanese auctions close early Saturday or Sunday morning on the east coast US, so maybe people weren’t watching?
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"It is a nest board of the cloudy layer.
It will be soft enough to contain the catfish.
There was no feeling that the knife was on the streak.
Ideal for finishing kitchen knives, etc."
No, it's not a haiku - too many syllables - but it is quite poetic.
It is, of course, an auto-translate from an online auction.
So, stone heads, what is the hidden message?
Cheers.
Tenkafu?Could be Maruoyama suita that gives a very strong kasumi and easily, could be ao suita with Tenkafu, leaves a very even finish consistently
He has a lot of nice stones passing through his hands - old barber shop stock a lot of the time, so probably much cherished and well looked after considering where the edges made by those stones would do their work.So far I picked 6 stones from that seller and on all of them I was the only bidder. I was honestly surprised because he has some nice inventory at very friendly prices.
Thank you!Nest board means suita, if it’s a nestles board it is sunashi.
The white stuff is the “catfish” it’s much softer and allows for a lot more particles to be released increasing the speed of the ao suita substantially
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Sometimes the auction gods smile and sometimes they do not. Bought one a few weeks ago from a seller I've had spectacular stones from. Turned out terribly scratchy, just awful. I'm hoping if I lap off enough surface and keep reconditioning the surface I'll get a nice stone eventually. But I'm not confident. Sad because it was fairly expensive too.
I’ve definitely had more wins than losses. I’ve also gotten better at picking winners. I’ve also bought hundreds so me having 20 or so I would call pure duds isnt that crazy I think.I’ve been lucky on Yahoo I guess, in about 10 years I’ve gotten two duds. One just had no grit in it, and the other was probably exposed to freeze/thaw cycles and was oiled with the Duraron stuff. It fell apart in my hands, and you could pull the stone apart along the layers. Neither one was expensive, fortunately.
I’ve had one other that I cut up for tomo nagura, it had small circular bias cracks all through the stone. I’d hesitate to use it on a razor, or to polish metal, plus it was hard.
There are a number of JNats that are in what I call no man’s land, they’re too hard for knife folks and not quite fine enough for razor folks. But there’s nothing really wrong with the stones themselves. You can usually make them work for knife sharpening with diamond plate slurry, but this is not what knife folks want, and rightly so. If it isn’t fine enough to make a smooth shaving edge, you’re at the end of the road as far as razors go.
Yes sir, my skills at picking winners has certainly increased. I also have bought hundreds, so I share your pleasure and pain. It’s the same with coticules.I’ve definitely had more wins than losses. I’ve also gotten better at picking winners. I’ve also bought hundreds so me having 20 or so I would call pure duds isnt that crazy I think.
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