Khao men

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Doug said:
Benny, I got one when I visited Morihei in March. Mr Akirahikari recommended the stone so I was happy to give it a try. He said it was 9k grit.

I haven't tried the Takenoko to compare, but the descriptions sound similar. It feels softer and more coarse then my 8k Naniwa Junpaku (Snow White}but that might be because of the greater feedback this stone has. It does feel more like a natural then my synthetic stones. It gives a polished edge with some bite. Useful to refine a toothy edge coming off a mid grit stone.

It would be fun to compare the Hishiboshi Karasu to the Takenoko. They seem to fill a similar niche.
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What's it like at Morihei?
 
Badgertooth said:
What's it like at Morihei?
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It's like Heaven Otto. Pure fricken Tennin Toishi Heaven. They have more stones then even you. :biggrin:
They speak very little English and my Japanese is equally deficient so communications were somewhat challenging.
Did manage to get the Aizu that I was looking for. I think you would love it there.
I'll post a thread soon with pictures of the shop.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again: y'all are bad influences and enablers. After a couple of emails with Miles (he's super helpful as stated before), he sold me a slightly wider and shallower (than normal) Khao Men and a wide and shallow white Binsui for a great price last night. These are my first naturals, though I still want to get a Hideriyama from Jon when he gets back from Japan.
 
Ok you naturL guys... can you tell me if you think any of these stones (khao men or white binsu) would be a good finisher for a razor? Or are they not fine enough?
 
malexthekid said:
Ok you naturL guys... can you tell me if you think any of these stones (khao men or white binsu) would be a good finisher for a razor? Or are they not fine enough?
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I don't think they are. I think you could finish a kitchen knife on the Khao men, but most would use one more stone after it even for knives
 
alterwisser said:
I don't think they are. I think you could finish a kitchen knife on the Khao men, but most would use one more stone after it even for knives
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This.

Ample for knives.

That said, I've seen Miles sharpen razors on them but I think it's as as prefinisher.
 
8vyct1.jpg


Here are the stones

2q88yer.jpg



Here are the first knives I hand sharpened. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. This is the first time I ever used a natural stone and I let my german knives get dull on purposes since I wanted to practice on them before moving on the hand sharpening my better Japanese and custom knives.

The paring knife was so dull I couldn't get it to take an edge on the white binsui or kao men stone. I had to use the orange binsui to rough up the blade a bit before getting it to a sharper edge. The santoku took an edge a bit quicker and after a few minutes on each stone was able to slice through paper. DH was able to shave some of his forearm hair without slicing his skin so I guess I did ok?

I'm hooked. If a rank beginner can get decent results on the first try, just imaging what someone with experience can do. I have some jnats and synthetic stones coming and can't wait to see how they compare.
 
nice work,

the khao men is on the fine side (maybe 2-3k) so you wont want to use it to set a new bevel with it on a dull blade

TheCaptain said:
8vyct1.jpg


Here are the stones

2q88yer.jpg



Here are the first knives I hand sharpened. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. This is the first time I ever used a natural stone and I let my german knives get dull on purposes since I wanted to practice on them before moving on the hand sharpening my better Japanese and custom knives.

The paring knife was so dull I couldn't get it to take an edge on the white binsui or kao men stone. I had to use the orange binsui to rough up the blade a bit before getting it to a sharper edge. The santoku took an edge a bit quicker and after a few minutes on each stone was able to slice through paper. DH was able to shave some of his forearm hair without slicing his skin so I guess I did ok?

I'm hooked. If a rank beginner can get decent results on the first try, just imaging what someone with experience can do. I have some jnats and synthetic stones coming and can't wait to see how they compare.
Click to expand...
 
Just got this stone acouple of days ago wow. This stone is massive. By far the largest stone by weight and size I got. It muds super fast! Definately worth the buy
 
I am Thailand for some time , somebody know where the stones come from or where I can get them in Thailand?
 
I find that the khao men (& white binsui for that matter) does not give a kasumi finish. First jnat I've used that polishes soft cladding to look pretty much identical to core (both shiny). Anyone else have different experience or thoughts why this would be?

Like others here, highly recommend the stone, just not for those chasing after traditional cloudy kasumi finishes.

finally like others I wanna say: holy f**k these stones are huge!
 
Yeah, khao men likes a heavy hand in general.
 
i'm sorry if this is a noob-ish question, but are these slate type stones? looks very interresting as an alternative finisher to my Dragons tongue stone
 
mikaelsan said:
i'm sorry if this is a noob-ish question, but are these slate type stones? looks very interresting as an alternative finisher to my Dragons tongue stone
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They are much better than slate stones. Much softer and easier to use than my Charney slate stone.

Khao Men works best with water also, whereas the Charney stone suits oil better.
 
If you mean the Charnley forest hone AFAIK it is a novaculite type like Arkansas hones. Not slate. I have one and also slate stones and my Charnley is definitely not slate.
 
Olsen said:
If you mean the Charnley forest hone AFAIK it is a novaculite type like Arkansas hones. Not slate. I have one and also slate stones and my Charnley is definitely not slate.
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Thank you for the correction! Apologies, I thought they were a slate type.
 
jaknil said:
No, absolutely not slate-type.
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The Khao Men (rated at 2-3k) is the polar opposite of a slate type stone!
Faster cutting, muddy, requiring or rewarding a good deal of pressure.

The slate type of stones (at least the ones I have tried) are usually finishing stones or much higher grit "rating", usually 8k or higher.
The are very hard and precise stones, able to polish to grey silver or almost mirror like on the core, hardened steel. Due to their hardness they can be pretty detrimental to the quality of your edge or cause deep scratches on the cladding if careless...
The slates when used as a coticule can also provide great edges to straight razors, actually I prefer them on a carbon steel razor than for use on kitchen knives
 
Did anyone smell the gunpowder smell the stone makes while sharpening with it?
 
I can't recall but I have smelt that prominently on some Suita.
 
It’s been two years. Any updates of usage & rotations of Khao Men over time? Any one changes their mind?
 
Khao men is finer than tsushima but softer, so the edge is less crisp but finer I guess. A good stone, but I still finish on Jnats. Its kinda nice as a prefinisher or coarser natural, but I like the edges from japanese stones better. Tsushima is kinda too hard for me to like much, but it has its purposes. More of a niche stone than a main stone though, unlike aoto.
 
Thank you so much! Do you still have a Heiji? Does it like Khao Men?


May I ask what J-Nat finisher that you have gives you the best Heiji edge? Would you mind to share your sharpening progression for your Heiji?
 
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