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I think I only ever got one stone that was completely unusable for knives. iirc I gave that one to try out on razors, no idea if it was good for that.

but in terms of polishing, well there are definitely some that havent been so great. Im planing down some mm off of one atm that probably had real stamps. old box, old sticker, stamps didnt look too crisp. reasonable edge stone, very fast and on the coarser side of suita, but polishing? it appears to be pretty impure. at least it was small and not too pricey.
 
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.
Absolutely. Even the ones that are on the softer side are still very fine and capable razor finishers. I am currently using one of his full size stones as a huge tomo to raise slurry and the results are pretty good. I don't sharpen knives, just razors.
 
I think I only ever got one stone that was completely unusable for knives. iirc I gave that one to try out on razors, no idea if it was good for that.

but in terms of polishing, well there are definitely some that havent been so great. Im planing down some mm off of one atm that probably had real stamps. old box, old sticker, stamps didnt look too crisp. reasonable edge stone, very fast and on the coarser side of suita, but polishing? it appears to be pretty impure. at least it was small and not too pricey.
This is a great point - fewer are the stones I have that serve no use. Many can be decent at sharpening but **** for polishing. But honestly jnats are best for polishing vs sharpening mostly so if they can’t polish…
 
This is a great point - fewer are the stones I have that serve no use. Many can be decent at sharpening but **** for polishing. But honestly jnats are best for polishing vs sharpening mostly so if they can’t polish…

eh, I suppose.

Ive been finishing edges exclusively on JNats for almost as long as I've had genuinely good knives. I certainly prefer them to synths, arkansas, or some of the odd stuff like Spyderco rods.

Ive been looking at coticules, maybe that's something I need to acquire. But is that really better than a suita? I would guess it's more of a wash so since I already have so many JNats, it's put me off spending the cash on a stone that is really only for edges.
 
well, I suppose I will have to grab one then.

oh, woe is me, buying another rock.

One? That’s like buying one potato chip or one French fry … 😂

Good hunting sir!

IMG_6426.jpeg
 
"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.
soft uchi with lighter colored spots on it, not scratchy.

内曇=cloudy=uchi
 
220x80x60 suita for scale. Gotta buy myself a big ol saw to carve it up but im lazy lol. These things arent typically that clean anyways so im being lazy.
 

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220x80x60 suita for scale. Gotta buy myself a big ol saw to carve it up but im lazy lol. These things arent typically that clean anyways so im being lazy.
A large wet tile saw is the way to go. Super easy, you probably rent one from a big hardware store for fairly cheap.
 
Yep, a wet tile saw. Go slow, to not stress the stone. A smaller saw will probably do if you remove the guard, but you’ll take a mud bath- wear eye protection of course. That’s what I did on my Harbor Freight cheapo. I have a 12” lapidary saw but the deck is too small for big stones like that one of yours.
 
My humble collection of rocks. I had a thought today while I was playing around with my kiridashi and my stones. Do you guys have a preferred stone or method to sort of "reset" your kiri before testing a new stone? I was only thinking of this because with experience I know the top finish is heavily influenced by your base, so wouldn't you be getting some of the characteristics of the stone you use before testing on occasion? Might be a non issue but just something I thought of.

rocks.jpg
 
chosera 3K.

Never had a Chosera 3k, I have a 600 and a 1k Chosera. What characteristic do you like about the edges from it that are different from ‘close by’ grit stones? I ask because 3k is kind of a gap in my synths except for the Shapton Glass HR 3k. One of my favorite knife finishing synths is the Shapton Pro 5k, just an all round nicely performing edge.
 
Never had a Chosera 3k, I have a 600 and a 1k Chosera. What characteristic do you like about the edges from it that are different from ‘close by’ grit stones? I ask because 3k is kind of a gap in my synths except for the Shapton Glass HR 3k. One of my favorite knife finishing synths is the Shapton Pro 5k, just an all round nicely performing edge.

I dont. I was referring to resetting the finish on a kiri.

I will use a Cho 3K occasionally if I want a new edge and I think it's enough to cut one, but then at a minimum Id be on an Aizu, Maruo Ao Suita, that sort of thing. I stopped using synth edges years and years ago because I simply found JNats to produce better results, more easily for me.

I have a bazillion natural stones these days, and a ton of them are suitas. I almost always use one of those, usually a harder/finer Ohira or an Okudo, or an Aiiwatani asagi that I'm quite fond of.
 
Dumb question gang but I’ve recently been buying some jnats, listed below.

I’m having trouble finding some general guidance on what order to use stones for in polishing and sharpening.

At this point, I’m just trying them out after each other to compare scratch patterns and finishes for polishing. I feel like I’m getting some mid-grit overlap…

Aizu(3k)
Tajima (3-4k)
Natsuya (2k-3k)
Asagi Ao Renge (4k-6k)
Shoubudabi Tomae Kiita Koppa (final sharpening / polishing)
Numata (1-2k equivalent)

I feel like I’m a bit blind but trying different recommended beginner stones and practicing polishing
 
Dumb question gang but I’ve recently been buying some jnats, listed below.

I’m having trouble finding some general guidance on what order to use stones for in polishing and sharpening.

At this point, I’m just trying them out after each other to compare scratch patterns and finishes for polishing. I feel like I’m getting some mid-grit overlap…

Aizu(3k)
Tajima (3-4k)
Natsuya (2k-3k)
Asagi Ao Renge (4k-6k)
Shoubudabi Tomae Kiita Koppa (final sharpening / polishing)
Numata (1-2k equivalent)

I feel like I’m a bit blind but trying different recommended beginner stones and practicing polishing
Aizu, tajima, numata and natsuya will roughly do the same thing; erasing synthetic scratches to facilitate a transition to natural stones. You need to think less in terms of grit numbers with jnats and more in terms of what will erase scratches from the previous stone while allowing you to effectively progress to finer ones. No point using 4 stones that do roughly the same thing in a progression when you can just use the best of the bunch before jumping to kyoto stones.
 
Also, I usually do my JNS red Aoto as my last synthetic before going to Natsuya. Sound about right?
Of your 4 midgrits, sell the 3 you like the least and buy a maruoyama shiro suita. Perfect for erasing midgrit scratches and fine enough to jump right to a finisher. You'll save both time and money this way.

People way overestimate how many stones they need for decent work on clad knives. You can go from aizu to fine nakayama asagi with nothing but a maruo shiro suita in between if you're not hyperfocused on an immaculate edge steel finish and even then, it will look all the same to 99% of people.
 
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