All you enablers, curse you! I was having stone envy Inbound.... 3x10 surgical black ark 2 2x8 gray white translucent arks 2x6 hard ark 4x6 soft Pocket sized surgical black Vermont green slate Most will need lapping.... I ll post a family pic when they get here
My wild guess..... there is not a large enough vein of the good parts. They regular shapes are available just high dollar! When a large chunk of the good stuff is found it ends up becoming collector value $$$. Even the smaller more regular shapes are $$. There are bench regular shaped stones available but be prepared to pay $$. So the irregular shaped stones is what us mortals can afford. I lust at jnats here.... http://www.thejapanstone.com/A-new_bench_okudo_mine2.html
They aren’t all irregular. There are many regularly shaped ones, but the koppas (bits and pieces) are cheaper and more are available. The perfectly rectangular shapes are less common nowadays, remember most of the mines closed in the 1920s and Nakayama closed in 1964 or thereabouts I believe. The regular stones tend to be larger, and jnat prices go up exponentially with size. Since many razor honers don’t need huge real estate, they prefer the cheaper, smaller sizes. If you visit knife forums, you’ll see larger more regular jnats. Here are some 60-cut (190x70) and bench size (205x75) that are close to rectangular.
This is a mystery hone from last weeks flea market. It needed some restro work to get here, but worth the effort. A 9” purple stone with orbs and bursts of green, orange, and white thou-out. It might be a Vermont, Welsh, or maybe French stone. It delivers a edge as good as it looks. It delivered a nicely polished edge and comfortable on the face
This is the summation of my weekend hunting. Three Washitas, a boxed Coticule, and a paddle with a thuri-ish looking stone. Of the Arks, the 8 inch is a edge cutter with a nice dish. The 7 inch is a stamped Pike No. 1 Quality that was broke out if the box but is a perfect match fit. The 4 inch came from the same seller as the Pike but is unmarked. The 7” Coti came in a nicely oxidized box. The maybe Thuri is a 7x 1.5 inch stone, it’s a more green than blue, blue-green that I lapped. It is soft and muddy. Look forward to playing with this
To give the antique and vintage Arks some company, a contemporary soft Ark. A SB-8 by Norton. A bright evenly colored white stone that is not as aggressive, uncommonly fine, compared to other softs that I have.
Thanks. The dealers get some of the credit. Years of teaching them what to look for is giving dividends
Holy crap on a cracker, got a unicorn by the horn today. For your viewing pleasure, a Rosy Red Washita. 8x2 Inches of Ark loveliness. Been looking for this OMG stone for a long while and I am luck to score it. Fills a empty spot in my Washita collection. Has a side label that is so gunk covered can’t make out one word. There is a freshly made divot on one corner so the oil migration and rosy color inside is easy to make out. Unfortunately, no box but I will get some special wood to make a nice case for it.
This stone was a wild find in of all places, a thrift store. I almost passed on it. I thought it was a synthetic due to it marked 1.5k on the box. When I handled it, it felt much finer so it came home with me. If I am understanding the kanji correctly, (and with the grateful help of forum members) it is a 山城国 Yamashiro 特産 tokusan "Speciality stone of yamashiro no kuni (South Kyoto)”. It is 最優良 saiyuuryou “top quality” 正本山 honshouyama “true original mountain” 合砥 awasedo “finishing stone”. All of the above is wonderful to know but it is nothing compared to how the stone preforms. It is a excellent finisher. It is on the hard side, but not to hard. It has a velvety feedback with almost no feeling of grit. It is a fast cutter, it generated swarf quicker than I thought to would for being so smooth. I only refreshed glass killed blades so far. It gives up a polished edge with a slight haze with not to much effort. Shaves so far have been smooth, comfortable, and enjoyable
Thanks very much, all. It was the last thing I expected to find at a thrift store. I was pleasantly pleased when I found how easy it gave up a sharp, keen edge