Uchigumori, what do you expect from a good one?

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Doffen

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I have two small uchigumoris, which I find difficult to get good results with. Therefore considering getting one of high quality to test.
I have four "regular" suita's that I use, which are different. One of unknown origin, which is relatively coarse (maybe behave more like an uchi?). Two white Ohira's that are stated to be 3.5 from JNS, and one Okudo that is very fine-grained.

How do the uchigumoris you have/use work, compared to "regular" suitas, from different mines, for edge and polishing?
 
Honestly not sure how to answer the question. what sort of things are you looking for aside from “they work fine, every stone is a little different”
 
TRPV4 said:
Honestly not sure how to answer the question. what sort of things are you looking for aside from “they work fine, every stone is a little different”
Click to expand...

I understand this is very difficult to answer. :rolleyes:

What I ask for information about is more like what type uchi you use on different types of steel, about the soft or hard one works best for edge work on the different types of steel (or maybe none work really well on edge), and use of soft/hard one for polishing.
I have 3 mazaki iron clad white 2 double edges knives, 3 Toyama blue 2 (one nakiri stainless clad, one gyuto stainless clad, one usuba (don't know if this is stainless or iron clad)), and some other single and double edges knifes. 3 honyakis of different brand (two gyutos and one yani).

I'm looking for information about the qualities on the uchi's I should ask for.
I'm a home user (not pro), and have different edges on the knifes.
Some of them work very vell with suita edges. But the edges is a little bit to fine with the suitas on the gyutos. I also have two Aizu's, but I like the edge from the suitas better...

I have read in kkf earlier that the uchi's don't have as fine grit as the white suitas. Can they be used on edge works on the gyutos, or is the particles ''to soft'' for this use?

The most I read about them, is for polishing. What is the favourite for this use, is it the soft or the hard types? For diffent clad and honyakies?

In the end I think I will end up with both (or all o_O) types, but it's difficult (and expensive), when it's not possible to try them before bying.
 
I only have one Ohira Uchigumori from Nutmeg, is a lovely stone, provide excellent Kasumi when you create thick slurry. edge also very good for my Honyaki Yanagiba, ginsan, blue steel, blue super, white two & white one.

but can't use for pm steel.
 
adam92 said:
I only have one Ohira Uchigumori from Nutmeg, is a lovely stone, provide excellent Kasumi when you create thick slurry. edge also very good for my Honyaki Yanagiba, ginsan, blue steel, blue super, white two & white one.

but can't use for pm steel.
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Thank you!

Can you give a rough estimate on grit size for this uchi?
 
Doffen said:
Thank you!

Can you give a rough estimate on grit size for this uchi?
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Erm... I think the grit around 4k??? But I'm not really sure, after sharpening the grit become finer & finer.
 
Is there any chance that the stones your having trouble with aren’t perfectly flat? I had trouble with one of mine for the first couple months I had it. I routinely marked off the top and lapped it with a plate until clean. This did not get it completely flat.
Try marking the stone with permanent marker while dry. Flatten the stone face down on a large plate until all marks are gone. I was very surprised at how dished a few of my stones actually were.
This may well not be a problem for you but it’s something I have found useful with stones that underperformed.
 
Best advise that was given to me to enhance uchigumori perf was actually to soak them for few minutes... Final result is day and night !

I use it on a mizukihara uchi aka renge at 55hsd that was a bit scratchy because hard, it give me such better and clean result.

And because of the layer, there are (to everyone with good knowledge that I asked about) no risks of cracking them...
 
Hassanbensober said:
Is there any chance that the stones your having trouble with aren’t perfectly flat? I had trouble with one of mine for the first couple months I had it. I routinely marked off the top and lapped it with a plate until clean. This did not get it completely flat.
Try marking the stone with permanent marker while dry. Flatten the stone face down on a large plate until all marks are gone. I was very surprised at how dished a few of my stones actually were.
This may well not be a problem for you but it’s something I have found useful with stones that underperformed.
Click to expand...

My Uchigumori bottom is not flat, but it doesn't bother me, as i got the holder, sharpening surface is very flat when I receive the stone, after heavy use for around one year/ I touch up my yanagiba daily, I don't need to flatten the stone too frequently as my Uchigumori is quite hard. Also, JNAT stay flat much longer than synthetic 😁😁
 
adam92 said:
Erm... I think the grit around 4k??? But I'm not really sure, after sharpening the grit become finer & finer.
Click to expand...
Thank you. It's about that grit I want.

Hassanbensober said:
Is there any chance that the stones your having trouble with aren’t perfectly flat?
Click to expand...
I have used a Atoma 140 on it, but I have not take off much stone. But it's flat.

Justablacktee said:
Best advise that was given to me to enhance uchigumori perf was actually to soak them for few minutes... Final result is day and night !
Click to expand...
I will try this!

Justablacktee said:
I use it on a mizukihara uchi aka renge at 55hsd that was a bit scratchy because hard, it give me such better and clean result.
Click to expand...
This is also my problem. I don't like the result I get. Gives me a scratchy result, and does not feel good to work with. I will try to take off a little bit more stone from the surface, and soak them.
 
Can u post pics of the stones?maybe some bad lines?or inclusions?
Def soaking does help alot!!!and after lapping with atoma 120-140 try lapping it with atoma 1200 to remove the deep scratches
 
Here is a picture of them. I find two more in a drawer that I had forgotten. :)
They are not big. Width from 50mm to 65mm and length from 150mm to 180mm.

The two in bottom I'm sure is uchi's, if the information the seller gives me is correct. The two in top I'm not 100% sure what they are. One of them act very similar as the two uchi's. The one in top is harder/finer.

I use Atoma 140 (very worn) on all of them, and tried to soak them for. And it help to soak them! The feeling was better. With a soak and a lot of slurry all work better. An if the soak will kill one or more of them, no problem, then I have some fingerstone. :)

I will try all of them more in the next days, and come back with some pictures.
 
Uchigumori.jpg

Here is the picture.
 
It help a lot to soak them. I tried the two in the bottom in the pictures. The feeling is much better. Made some slurry, and here is the result...
Uchigumori 1.jpg
Uchigumori 2.jpg


Are this scratch patterns what you want from a good uchi?
(the washcloth is the same in both fotos, its the iphone makes the color different..)
I like the contrast between the soft and hard steel. This is not perfect job, but good enough for a knife I use every day (150mm long mini gyuto)..
 
Not bad at all !! 👍👏

Glad the soaking did the job ... next step it’s to try and try again to understand each stone at their best !

Enjoy!
 
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