JNat Stones

[CulinaryCellist]

I feel like falling down the rabbit hole and purchasing one.. Wondering the specific qualities you look for when going to purchase a JNat?

-Josh

 

[Elliot]

There's a lot to know here. I will first preface with the fact that I am a newbie (relative) to this particular rabbit hole and many others may come along who know more. I have a ton of naturals (too many, definitely need to downsize) and for me, this is what it has come to:

1. Edge - Eh. I have some nats that put a lovely edge on a knife, but I don't know that it's any better than a well-made synthetic from Chosera, JKI or other top manufacturers.

2. Polishing - Let the nuance begin. Should you be interested in making kasumi finishes on your knife, I would suggest starting with something softer, as it will help you get acquainted and manage the mud to explore different finishes.

I've got several I could be willing to sell, but don't want to take over the thread so I will leave you with this last piece that directly answers your question:

First thing I look for is who the seller is. If you want retail, I think Jon at JKI is, of course, solid and Maksim at JNS. Those are the only two places I have ever purchased natural stones retail. The rest are from reputable people I know in our little sub-culture.

Good luck!

 

[Marcelo Amaral]

Hi there, Josh.

It depends on the goal you are hopping to achieve. First of all, are you planning to use it for sharpening or polishing? Do you intend to sharpen double bevel or single bevel blades? Which kind of blades? Are you sharpening for fun or time is key in your sharpening? Finally, how much money are you prepared to spend on this stone?

I feel like jnats shine when you have a thin-behind-the-edge blade with a good heat treat. My crappy knives usually get a coarse synth sharpening (usually a 300 stone).

 

[CulinaryCellist]

Hi there, Josh.

It depends on the goal you are hopping to achieve. First of all, are you planning to use it for sharpening or polishing? Do you intend to sharpen double bevel or single bevel blades? Which kind of blades? Are you sharpening for fun or time is key in your sharpening? Finally, how much money are you prepared to spend on this stone?

I feel like jnats shine when you have a thin-behind-the-edge blade with a good heat treat. My crappy knives usually get a coarse synth sharpening (usually a 300 stone).

I'm sharpening single and double bevel knives, I take my cheaper knives to a shepton pro 1500.
As for sharpening/polishing, I am looking for both and my max budget atm is 300ish

 

[Marcelo Amaral]

There's a shinden suita on BST: https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/shinden-suita.41649/

Not sure if it's good for polishing, you'll need to ask the seller.


Another option is this one: http://www.thejapanstone.com/124-Ozaki-akapin-TheJapanStone.html

 

[Xenif]

So you have decided to take the red pill and want to follow the white rabbit to see how deep the hole gets?

First off, what stones do you have right now? And what knives will you be sharpening/polishing? Jnats arent cheap, so I feel resources are better spent on a set of capable synthetics to start, hone your skills on them, push them to the limits of what you can do.
Now if you are already set, then let the Jnat hunt begin!
Just know that JNats hold no supernatural power (mostly), in fact, it is quite the opposite, they will quickly reflect your skill level (especially the harder, less forgiving, less user friendly ones).

 

[CulinaryCellist]

So you have decided to take the red pill and want to follow the white rabbit to see how deep the hole gets?

First off, what stones do you have right now? And what knives will you be sharpening/polishing? Jnats arent cheap, so I feel resources are better spent on a set of capable synthetics to start, hone your skills on them, push them to the limits of what you can do.
Now if you are already set, then let the Jnat hunt begin!
Just know that JNats hold no supernatural power (mostly), in fact, it is quite the opposite, they will quickly reflect your skill level (especially the harder, less forgiving, less user friendly ones).

The knives I want to sharpen currently are my KamaUsuba and a 210 Yoshikane I picked up recently

 

[childermass]

Lots of good points are made here, there is hardly anything to add to the advice than to take your time and choose carefully.

I too have way more stones than my level of skill can justify, but I really enjoy using naturals and working with them in general.

That said, if you happen to have the opportunity to borrow a few stones from people you know you would be able to gain some experience and find out what you are looking for without spending a lot of money.

Regarding that Shinden on BST, it’s a very nice stone (I tried it myself and actually it’s in my stone drawer right now as I borrowed it from Krakorak [emoji4]). It is capable to put a very keen edge on a knife, but if you are looking for super deep contrast, it is not the stone you should grab. Don’t get me wrong, the finish is very nice and clean but not super contrasty, this stone really shines for sharpening though.

 

[CulinaryCellist]

Lots of good points are made here, there is hardly anything to add to the advice than to take your time and choose carefully.

I too have way more stones than my level of skill can justify, but I really enjoy using naturals and working with them in general.

That said, if you happen to have the opportunity to borrow a few stones from people you know you would be able to gain some experience and find out what you are looking for without spending a lot of money.

Regarding that Shinden on BST, it’s a very nice stone (I tried it myself and actually it’s in my stone drawer right now as I borrowed it from Krakorak [emoji4]). It is capable to put a very keen edge on a knife, but if you are looking for super deep contrast, it is not the stone you should grab. Don’t get me wrong, the finish is very nice and clean but not super contrasty, this stone really shines for sharpening though.

Thank you for the advice regarding the Shinden, hearing this it's a contender

 

[lemeneid]

For jnats, start off with a medium finisher like an Aizu or Aoto. Those produce nice sharp aggressive edges, and will suffice for most kitchen work.

If you want to go finer, try out a soft takashima, hideriyama or suita. They can also be used for polishing single bevels.

I always recommend beginners take softer stones first, they are more forgiving on technique. Those super hard razor stones while super fine, require a bit more skill and finesse on your part, and a lot more stones in your progression if you want to achieve great results.

 

[refcast]

I have soaking and diamond synthetics from JKI, and I prefer jnats to them. . . I'm purely about the edge though. One of my favorite edges is from an Ikarashi . . . kinda slow though. It's supposed to be like a finer aizu. Anyway, what's special is its somehow hard, but porous and really fine. Because of the porousness and how the grit breaks down disintegration-like (as opposed to fracturing, which is what my other stones do) it just devours burrs. But it's not exactly pleasant to use and I rarely use it. . . I like your regular generic honyama better. For a first jnat, I would recommend a moderately fine honyama stone, or a stone from any mine in that area. As long as its not stubbornly hard or chalky soft. Everything in between should be fine and actually make a user's edge. I'd say one fine and eventually one medium like aoto/aizu/ etc and you're good.

 

[metamorpheus]

As Marcelo has said, I find naturals to have the most effect on thin behind the edge knives. I find synth finishers raise a burr too easily on my thinned AS knife and don't provide the same polished toothy edge I like. Much easier to fully deburr and refine the edge with my suita or softer Narutaki vs synth for me.