Unknown (Ohira?) Jnat -ID help

[SilverSwarfer]

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to help with reading kanji and informing people like me.

I need to know what stone this is. I’m told it’s Ohira but know nothing outside of that.

I will have access to use this stone, and am excited to be able to do so. I’d like to know what to expect in advance.

 

[lemeneid]

Not a jnat expert but it does say Ohira Shouhonyama. Nothing else I can tell you about it other than it’s an Asagi.

I seem to recall you were looking out for your first jnat. If you have access to this stone, do ask if you can test it first before buying. Without knowing the hardness or strata, it will be difficult for us to tell you what to expect. So I hope you’re dealing with someone trustworthy on this

 

[Badgertooth]

Imanishi is the wholesaler

Bottom left is usually the size which in this case is 40 meaning it has surface dimensions of 205 x 75 and height of about 25

Top left I think says Ohirayama awasedo though I’m not sure what the third character down is

Top right looks like Nakato or medium grinding stone.

Not sure what the one on the right is but typically I’d expect to see something like 特撰 tokusen (specially selected), a quality assertion of sorts.

 

[XooMG]

Top left I think says Ohirayama awasedo though I’m not sure what the third character down is

大平礦山合砥石

Top right looks like Nakato or medium grinding stone.

中硬

Not sure what the one on the right is but typically I’d expect to see something like 特撰 tokusen (specially selected), a quality assertion of sorts.

一本撰

 

[Xenif]

Ohira 大平 Mine礦山 awasedo合砥 stone石
Medium中 Hard硬
Ipposen 一本撰
Type 40 四十型

 

[SilverSwarfer]

Not a jnat expert but it does say Ohira Shouhonyama. Nothing else I can tell you about it other than it’s an Asagi.

I seem to recall you were looking out for your first jnat. If you have access to this stone, do ask if you can test it first before buying. Without knowing the hardness or strata, it will be difficult for us to tell you what to expect. So I hope you’re dealing with someone trustworthy on this

I am still on the hunt. One of the guys I work with picked this up; he is gracious enough in trusting me to let me use when I'm in town. I'm capitalizing on the opportunity to build some experience.

Re: strata- I am not sure what I'm looking for but I assume anything in the side profile that's not like the rest. For this stone, it appears homogeneous throughout. In use, it is hard and grippy. Absorbs almost zero water. Makes a grey-light brown mud and immediate swarf. Developing mud takes some work with nagura (hard black (unknown) 2x2" cube) stone. Leaves a hazy polish on the hagane and a more contrasting (darker) grey finish in the jigane. The edge is fine but more toothy than I'm used to with Kitayama 8k. I experienced some chatter on the bevel side of my yanagiba after 4-5 passes. These comments are based on about 15 minutes of experience, so I can't confidently assess anything except it works, nicely!

 

[Mucho Bocho]

Tomae layer I think

 

[Badgertooth]

大平礦山合砥石

中硬

一本撰

What does ippon sen mean?

 

[childermass]

What does ippon sen mean?

Ippon-sen means first selection/first class

I once had a chat with Shinichi Watanabe about the difference between ippon-sen and gokujo (superb) and he told me there is none really. He just thinks that gokuyo stones are on the bigger side in the given size.

That’s what he said:
'gokujo means first rate in Japanese.
ipponsen means selected or choice.

I asked same question. The miner stamps Gokujo for big stone. Gokujo means best.
Ipponsen means "chosen one"
Miners are also human and check his eye and feeling. So very difficult to judge.
And sometimes it is stamped "Gokujo Ipponsen". Very complicated.

I think Gokujo is better than Ipponsen on my experience.
Gokujo is bigger, heavier, thicker and clean stone without lines.'

 

[Kou@Hida]

Hello,

From my understanding name labeling don't have much to do with size and lines (if you're talking about discolored line). Take a look at this picture I took.

From left to right

1. Ippon sen - Type 40
2. Ippon sen - Type 30
3. Gokujo - Type 30 (Smaller than Ipponsen and has lines)

The size is "usually" labeled by the type number. This number shows how many pieces the original chunk of stone quarried from the mine is cut into. So smaller the number bigger the stone. However the stone in middle is bigger than the stone on the right, meaning that original chunk of stone was bigger than the one on the right even though they have the same type number.

Thanks,

Kou

 

[Badgertooth]

A bit off topic but I’ve enjoyed this thread and learned new things.

I can spot ippon sen and what I think is Tokujo (though I’m not certain) and what is apparently an older character for Suita.

 

[Badgertooth]

This number shows how many pieces the original chunk of stone quarried from the mine is cut into. So smaller the number bigger the stone. However the stone in middle is bigger than the stone on the right, meaning that original chunk of stone was bigger than the one on the right even though they have the same type number.

View attachment 49581

This has blown my mind, thank you for explaining. I always wondered what the rationale was.

 

[Consequence]

Not a jnat expert but it does say Ohira Shouhonyama. Nothing else I can tell you about it other than it’s an Asagi.

I seem to recall you were looking out for your first jnat. If you have access to this stone, do ask if you can test it first before buying. Without knowing the hardness or strata, it will be difficult for us to tell you what to expect. So I hope you’re dealing with someone trustworthy on this

not entirely sure its an asagi stone.