I just received one in the mail. I've read more than once that they are prone to cracking. I've also read to seal them with clear nail polish. I need to know for certain how to handle it. Help me please.
Sealing a Snow White 8k
- Thread starter Miguelito's Blade
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100% seal the 8k naniwa jyunpaku. i had a set of naniwa professional series(baseless choseras) 400, 3k, 5k, and a snow white 8k. all but the 400 have some really bad cracking, with the 5k being the worst by far, completely unusable with deep cracks penetrating the entire stone. i sealed the 400 w/ minwax polycrylic, but clear lacquers should work fine. i've heard good stuff about bondall monocel, and bullseye shellac as well.
i now own the chosera 800/1k/3k(series with bases) and have never had an issue with them even though they are unsealed, and the 1k has seen tons of wet/dry cycles throughout the years with no issues. with that being said, you are still much better off sealing all splash and go stones imo.
ive used cashew/urushi lacquer to seal quite a few jnats and ive NEVER had a problem with cracking on any of them.
i now own the chosera 800/1k/3k(series with bases) and have never had an issue with them even though they are unsealed, and the 1k has seen tons of wet/dry cycles throughout the years with no issues. with that being said, you are still much better off sealing all splash and go stones imo.
ive used cashew/urushi lacquer to seal quite a few jnats and ive NEVER had a problem with cracking on any of them.
After actually getting the package in my hands and opening the box, I discovered that, contrary to what I had expected, the stone was glued to a plastic base. Should I still seal all of the exposed sides of the stone, except, of course, the top surface? I am assuming "yes."
With the Snow White, I would for sure seal the sides even though it’s attached to a base it certainly won’t hurt.
mpier
Senior Member
Ya mine came with a base and it still cracked, and I didn’t seal it. So from what I’ve heard if it has a base make sure seal where the base and the stone connect so water can’t penetrate between the base and the bottom of the stone
Well dadgummit. I sealed the stone one all four sides and then used it briefly to see what it would do to an edge. The problem is that some water might have already gotten under the stone, although I did not use a great deal of water to work on one knife and possibly got no water under the stone. I will certainly seal between the base and the edge of the stone, but other than letting it sit and dry as much as it will, is there anything to hasten the drying process before I complete the seal? My thanks for the information you guys provided me about this temperamental stone.
jjlotti
Well-Known Member
I've had the snow white(glued to base) for a bit over a year now and zero problems... The ink is long gone from use. I have soaked the stone, splashed, and used dry. Light spray seems best for my style. Back to the question I always use the Naniwa cleaning stone after use and set it out in sunny room for a couple days. Good luck
One interesting thing regarding the stone I have the 12k Shapton pro yellowish color and not getting scientific here but the snow feels smoother to the touch.
One interesting thing regarding the stone I have the 12k Shapton pro yellowish color and not getting scientific here but the snow feels smoother to the touch.
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Not sure a base or sealing are such a good idea, as they hinder even drying.
I'm not saying that you are mistaken, but I have to say that I hope you are since I have already sealed mine.
if you feel you made the wrong choice, just wait til it dries and sand it off, no harm no foul
i have no clue what the "right" way is to handle this, im only speaking from my personal experiences thus far with multiples of the chosera series(both baseless and w/ base) all of my baseless stones that i never sealed have had some form of cracking issues, 3k/5k/8k snow white.
i was HEAVY into honing straight razors for a few years, 15+ razors a week(almost every razor with no existing bevel) these stones saw a TON of wet/dry cycles chosera 3k/5k/8k snow white, all cracked.
a very close friend of mine who restores+hones razors professionally for a living, 75+ razors a week minimum, every week for multiple years now, bought an 8k snow white on my recommendation(before i had cracking issues). when the cracking got bad enough to where it was unusable on his first one, since he loved it so much and thought it might have been a fluke, he bought a second one and experienced the exact same thing. both of his snow whites were never sealed. he switched back to the 8k naniwa super stone series for his progressions.
here is an album of my experience so far w/ the chosera series:
the 400 is sealed w/ minwax polycrylic and has no issues, the 3k is harder to see the spiderwebbing so i splashed a bit of water on it so it shows up. the 5k is the worst of the bunch which is funny because it was also the most expensive and by far and away my least favorite of the series.
