Sniffing J-Nats

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everything will kill you in the long run.

just a question of how long is the long run.
 
Thank you for your bravery ❤️ I've been meaning to start a thread like this for a while now. I have an ikarashi that cuts like poop but smells like warm rain and fresh laundry. I seriously considered turning it into a whiskey stone (for vodka) but worried about the potential health effects.

Unless you're inhaling the dry dust, I think smelling it is totally fine. Unless your friends catch you and place you under an involuntary psych hold... that could affect your wellbeing. Stay safe out there
 
spaceconvoy said:
Thank you for your bravery ❤ I've been meaning to start a thread like this for a while now. I have an ikarashi that cuts like poop but smells like warm rain and fresh laundry. I seriously considered turning it into a whiskey stone (for vodka) but worried about the potential health effects.

Unless you're inhaling the dry dust, I think smelling it is totally fine. Unless your friends catch you and place you under an involuntary psych hold... that could affect your wellbeing. Stay safe out there
Click to expand...

if you're on this forum, your friends have 10/10 tried to get you placed on one already but failed.
 
I have noticed a slightly "sulfurous" smell from the synthetic aotos I keep in a Tupperware of water.

The actual natural rocks, (mostly not from Japan in my case- Some from the North 40) on wetting may smell a little bit like the beginning of a rainstorm on dry dirt & rocks. Pleasant...

I recall reading that the "smell of rain" is really the smell of organisms that go into a higher metabolic state when storms wets them?

(Edit)

Yep. "Petrichor"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor
"geosmin"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin
Screenshot_20210724-082846_Samsung Internet.jpg


(2nd edit)

Ooh! Learned some new food chemistry!

"Geosmin is responsible for the muddy smell in many commercially important freshwater fish such as carp and catfish.[13][14] Geosmin combines with 2-methylisoborneol, which concentrates in the fatty skin and dark muscle tissues. It breaks down in acid conditions; hence, vinegar and other acidic ingredients are used in fish recipes to reduce the muddy flavor.[15]"
 
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Most of my natural rocks smell like wet concrete / rain / earthy / muddy pleasant. I do have a few oddballs though. I have a suita koppa that smells pretty strongly of ammonia. Almost like Comet toilet bowl cleaner. I have washed and scrubbed and lapped it but the smell seems to permeate the stone. Not unpleasant, but definitely strange.

I also have a piece of jasper that I use as a razor finisher with a pretty distinctive smell when in use. Smokey and roasty. Like a campfire when some of the wood is just a little too green.
 
I might smell every jnat I have multiple times during the sharpening process. The sea spray smell of Tsushima on suita is glorious.

my amakusa was kind of wet rag ish for the first few uses, now it’a more a thick earthy sweetness.
 
I just received via Etsy a stone described as “Japanese Natural Sharpening Stone (whetstone) 1120 g Kyoto or Shiga / Light Karasu / a bit Hard”

It smells like an ashtray. I mean, intriguing notes of tobacco, quality hardwood lump charcoal, and single-malt-worthy peat.

Is the smokiness intrinsic to the stone or will it air out with time? I’ll give it a scrub and a flatten.

IMG_3699.png
 
mengwong said:
I just received via Etsy a stone described as “Japanese Natural Sharpening Stone (whetstone) 1120 g Kyoto or Shiga / Light Karasu / a bit Hard”

It smells like an ashtray. I mean, intriguing notes of tobacco, quality hardwood lump charcoal, and single-malt-worthy peat.

Is the smokiness intrinsic to the stone or will it air out with time? I’ll give it a scrub and a flatten.

View attachment 238431
Click to expand...
I have an old razor stone that smells like tobacco and leather. I’m under the impression it’s an acquired smell vs intrinsic as sealing and lapping have diminished the scent.
 
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mengwong said:
I just received via Etsy a stone described as “Japanese Natural Sharpening Stone (whetstone) 1120 g Kyoto or Shiga / Light Karasu / a bit Hard”

It smells like an ashtray. I mean, intriguing notes of tobacco, quality hardwood lump charcoal, and single-malt-worthy peat.

Is the smokiness intrinsic to the stone or will it air out with time? I’ll give it a scrub and a flatten.

View attachment 238431
Click to expand...
sounds like Maksim created a trend...
 
I'm not dead yet. As long as you aren't sniffing slurry dust I think you will be Ok. Not fine as any of us sniffing stones most people would probably tell you that you are not fine, but in this safe space I will say OK.
 
mengwong said:
I just received via Etsy a stone described as “Japanese Natural Sharpening Stone (whetstone) 1120 g Kyoto or Shiga / Light Karasu / a bit Hard”

It smells like an ashtray. I mean, intriguing notes of tobacco, quality hardwood lump charcoal, and single-malt-worthy peat.

Is the smokiness intrinsic to the stone or will it air out with time? I’ll give it a scrub and a flatten.

View attachment 238431
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that any stone sitting in my shed when doing that coffee carbonization experiment will smell like that description forever...
 
If sniffing rocks is wrong I don't want to be right. I only have one really cheap natural stone but it's smell alone has made me think about getting more into naturals
 
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