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- Jun 23, 2016
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So here's a fun one most probably haven't heard about. This is another gem from my recent razor kick. I waited patiently on the waitlist for this one. The black gila (BG) is from Terry over at Natural Hones. He's got some other more regularly in stock stones that I actually don't have (yet), because I was too drawn to the ominous shade of trance-inducing blackness the BG exudes that I blew my cash on it instead. I'll keep this in the knife world, but it does give a killer edge on a razor - it's a whisker whisperer (sorry, I had to).
The reason these are wait listed is because they're straight up just found in passing on his walks to harvest his other stones in Arizona. Occasionally he'll glance a rock in the corner of his eye, give it a smack with his hammer, and way more often than not, the rock isn't up to snuff, so he moves on. Tack on the fact that this thing is so friggin hard it could stop Superman's laser eye attack, and Terry has to spend a good deal of time cutting (and not trying to shatter) the very small amount of adequate specimens he finds. Lots of labor. But I'm glad he does it, because this thing is pure sex. Given that this is for razors, mainly for finishing, it's usually a tell-tale sign that only HC knives are going to be able to keep up with it. That being said, I always through in a K Sab for reference.
Apache Black Gila
Weights and Measures: 147x70x12.5mm; 473g
Appearance: Shades of deep vanta black, with lighter gray splotches, speckled with white snowflakes.
Texture and Smell: Essentially glassy smooth; smells of flint and metal - body armor.
Sharpening Experience:
SS (K Sab classic chef knife):
- The glassy hardness of the stone made for great audible feedback, telling me when I had ironed out any dings on the edge and flipped the burr. It was a little bit of a slow going process, and the edge didn't 'engage' like some HCs on most hyper hard stones do, but the tactile feedback was still good enough to tell me what was up with things. I went pretty steep on the angle since it's SS, but I've got to say that the edge is wicked sharp. As to be expected, it's as toothless as my great-grandfather, but with his screaming sharp wit. While this is for reference only as I wouldn't actually use an edge from this, it could actually work for a high angle microbevel on most decent SS if your into hyper keen edges.
Shirogami (Wakui shiro 2 gyuto):
- Dang, I do love me some Wakui. I could shave off this. Always such an interesting juxtaposition jumping from SS to shiro on super hard stones - that edge just yells at you when it's hit it's goldilocks spot when it engages with the stone. This was much quicker than the K sab, but with better tactile feedback, and the same great audible feedback, maybe even better since I could hear the burr come off (in a rather unpleasant grittiness in the water). Also toothless, with paper and hairs runing in fear at the sight of this edge. If I hadn't already used a razor with this, I could tell that it would be great for them.
Aogami (Tanaka ao 2 nakiri):
- Pretty similar to the shiro, but waaay slower. I've neglected to mention that this stone kicks up no slurry whatsoever, and doesn't absorb water in the slightest - it's hard. I'll say that the edge on this Tanaka was a bit abused as I got it back from a friend who had it on loan, and well, her knife skills don't seem to be so great, so there was work to be done with it in the first place. The edge is much like the others, but a little bit more muffled on the screaming sharpness.
Kataba (Shimanti ao 2 yanagi):
- No, I'm not going to do the bevel on this thing as I would like to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I hit up the edge only and it's pretty friggin mean and keen. Want a razor for your sashimi? Here you go.
Pros:
-Sexy; stupid, stupid sharpness coming off this thing; rare and awesome.
Cons:
-I mean it's a razor stone and for finishing so you're looking at either just microbevels on most knives, or laser edges for yanagis or perfected shirogamis; singular results; rare (ie waitlist); expensive.
Snag this Stone?:
- If you're into razors, yes, hands down. If you're a natty addict like me, yes, hands down. For knives? You'll need a collection or at least be one that primarily uses high quality shirogami or for microbevels on your katabas. Results were fine for aogami and SS, but more academic than what's useful. If you use both razors and primarily sit with shiros, then the expense starts turning into some value if you want a versatile finisher. But for the majority of people, this will be one that's purely intriguing to read about.
Final Thoughts:
- Props to Terry for finding these things. I mean, how do you even find this in the first place? Due to it's hardness, I'd be interested to see what happens when you throw in some different naguras, as they'll become very pronounced as they ride on the hard canvas of the stone, but that's a investigation for another session. Thanks for reading!
The reason these are wait listed is because they're straight up just found in passing on his walks to harvest his other stones in Arizona. Occasionally he'll glance a rock in the corner of his eye, give it a smack with his hammer, and way more often than not, the rock isn't up to snuff, so he moves on. Tack on the fact that this thing is so friggin hard it could stop Superman's laser eye attack, and Terry has to spend a good deal of time cutting (and not trying to shatter) the very small amount of adequate specimens he finds. Lots of labor. But I'm glad he does it, because this thing is pure sex. Given that this is for razors, mainly for finishing, it's usually a tell-tale sign that only HC knives are going to be able to keep up with it. That being said, I always through in a K Sab for reference.
Apache Black Gila
Weights and Measures: 147x70x12.5mm; 473g
Appearance: Shades of deep vanta black, with lighter gray splotches, speckled with white snowflakes.
Texture and Smell: Essentially glassy smooth; smells of flint and metal - body armor.
Sharpening Experience:
SS (K Sab classic chef knife):
- The glassy hardness of the stone made for great audible feedback, telling me when I had ironed out any dings on the edge and flipped the burr. It was a little bit of a slow going process, and the edge didn't 'engage' like some HCs on most hyper hard stones do, but the tactile feedback was still good enough to tell me what was up with things. I went pretty steep on the angle since it's SS, but I've got to say that the edge is wicked sharp. As to be expected, it's as toothless as my great-grandfather, but with his screaming sharp wit. While this is for reference only as I wouldn't actually use an edge from this, it could actually work for a high angle microbevel on most decent SS if your into hyper keen edges.
Shirogami (Wakui shiro 2 gyuto):
- Dang, I do love me some Wakui. I could shave off this. Always such an interesting juxtaposition jumping from SS to shiro on super hard stones - that edge just yells at you when it's hit it's goldilocks spot when it engages with the stone. This was much quicker than the K sab, but with better tactile feedback, and the same great audible feedback, maybe even better since I could hear the burr come off (in a rather unpleasant grittiness in the water). Also toothless, with paper and hairs runing in fear at the sight of this edge. If I hadn't already used a razor with this, I could tell that it would be great for them.
Aogami (Tanaka ao 2 nakiri):
- Pretty similar to the shiro, but waaay slower. I've neglected to mention that this stone kicks up no slurry whatsoever, and doesn't absorb water in the slightest - it's hard. I'll say that the edge on this Tanaka was a bit abused as I got it back from a friend who had it on loan, and well, her knife skills don't seem to be so great, so there was work to be done with it in the first place. The edge is much like the others, but a little bit more muffled on the screaming sharpness.
Kataba (Shimanti ao 2 yanagi):
- No, I'm not going to do the bevel on this thing as I would like to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I hit up the edge only and it's pretty friggin mean and keen. Want a razor for your sashimi? Here you go.
Pros:
-Sexy; stupid, stupid sharpness coming off this thing; rare and awesome.
Cons:
-I mean it's a razor stone and for finishing so you're looking at either just microbevels on most knives, or laser edges for yanagis or perfected shirogamis; singular results; rare (ie waitlist); expensive.
Snag this Stone?:
- If you're into razors, yes, hands down. If you're a natty addict like me, yes, hands down. For knives? You'll need a collection or at least be one that primarily uses high quality shirogami or for microbevels on your katabas. Results were fine for aogami and SS, but more academic than what's useful. If you use both razors and primarily sit with shiros, then the expense starts turning into some value if you want a versatile finisher. But for the majority of people, this will be one that's purely intriguing to read about.
Final Thoughts:
- Props to Terry for finding these things. I mean, how do you even find this in the first place? Due to it's hardness, I'd be interested to see what happens when you throw in some different naguras, as they'll become very pronounced as they ride on the hard canvas of the stone, but that's a investigation for another session. Thanks for reading!
