Here are a couple of new acquisitions, the karasu arrived Saturday and the butterscotch kiita on Christmas eve, so I’ve had a kiita and karasu Kristmas. They’re both razor grade but I’m still evaluating them of course. The kiita is a darker butterscotch color that Alex Gilmore said is indicative of old stone, older than the brighter, greener kiita mined later in the 50s and 60s. It’s Nakayama based on the patches sparkling black skin. Possibly a real Maruichi - they never stamped stones, they closed in the 1920 IIRC, and were known for their fitted bases. It measures 195mm long and about 70 wide, so a bit of an irregular 60 cut stone. I like the size a lot, oversize for razors really, but most are still small enough to hand hold if you want. The barber size (~135x80 mm) karasu has some depth to the pattern and is a welcome addition as razor karasu always are in my shop
Kitta Koppa Approx 4x3 inch, hand sawn, skin on one side. I got my first Jnat and it is a winner! I am starting to understand the hype about JNATS !!!! I think I’m the second owner It is one of those legendary hoard stones/ air raid shelter stone, from alex @ japan stone It is small and amazing!!! And just as fast as video It creates kasumi out the “wazoo” Black marks in stone majority of them are possibly Su. Holes made form gas escaping during formation. But some of the specks appear to be goma. My first test was with blade that had an 8K ish finish to kasumi loaded HHT4, in about 2 minutes Excited to do more testing Worst part about getting this stone is I’m 2 days away from first test shave?! video--- original ad--- http://www.thejapanstone.com/761-Kiita-Koppa-TheJapanStone.html
Congrats, that’s a nice looking stone, welcome to the jnat club (aka ‘the rabbit hole’)! Alex always has good kiita. Remember thicker slurry gives a smoother, less keen edge, thinner slurry, a more keen edge. Be sure to also try adding some clear or running water strokes after finishing on slurry. With some stones it helps and others not so much, you just have to try and see what it does.
happy to join the jnat club / jnat rabbit hole.... finally Thanks i was eventually going to hit you up with some questions.. but you just answered my first one.
I’m assuming Kasumi equals more comfortable from the slurry. then clear / running water is the stone only providing a sharper edge with less misty appearance. Is this the case with different kinds of jnats? I did notice a drop in sharpness going to Slurry jnat finished edge, vs the laser sharp and mechanical film edge. I’m finding I like comfort over laser sharp.
never met a Geneva or genco in decent shape that I did not like. I asked about any indicators of age on Geneva or genco @ another forum, rfound there was no conclusive information. pink scales, Gold blade or is that just the light source?
I’m with you, a nice smooth jnat edge is difficult to beat. How are you testing sharpness? I ask because it can be difficult to compare different edges (like film vs natural) with HHT, I think that the shape of the grit/scratches makes a difference. A synth edge almost always does better at HHT than a similar natural, but as you’ve noted, the natural edges have a different feel that many of us like. Clear water or running water finishing on a jnat will polish more than a slurry will. Whether this improves the edge or not is dependent on the specific stone, but there’s usually a larger difference with stones that aren’t super hard. Some stones can polish very brightly with water only, but again, you just have to try and see what yours does and if you like the resulting edge.
My Favorite sharpness test other than actual shave is . When honing ...Thumb pad + tree topping leg hair. Followed by dovo style hair test. I will occasionally try traditional HHT. recently I have been flaoting razor past hair on head. Then checking for cut hair. I have fine hair and traditional HHT does not work with my hair. even with fresh feather razor as a control. Preliminary test passes with slurry and full Kasumi felt super comfortable. When I get enough hair grown for a decent shave I will test slurry edge on 1/2 of face, then go back to water only and shave other 1/2 of face as an experiment. I am pretty sure I’ll be happy with slurry/Kasumi edge. Lately with ark edges. I have been getting great shaves near bbs 2 pass shaves with Minor exceptions to standard problem areas...... my hypothesis is I will love the slurry/ Kasumi edge!
Two Cotis from the flea market. The mag line was from this morning’s market and the other was from around Christmas. They got a bath and lap today. Both have interesting, busy surfaces and this morning’s is hard, hard, hard. A few adult beverages and some muscle music got it flat.
A group portrait of my synthetic coticules. I have been acquiring these hones for years and have been playing them them on and off the the past year. They run the boards of there fineness and what they can do. The bottom two are the coarsest. The Jegs is similar to a fine Carborundum and it’s neighbor to the left is a soft, thirsty hone better suited for knifes. The middle two have a resemblance is function to B-hones. Not too fine, not to coarse, not too thirsty. They give a sharp but toothy edge. The top two are excellent examples of syn. Cotis. They both are hard and glassy. Feedback on both are the same, silky smooth with a slight sensation of abrasiveness. They can, with little effort, refresh a tugger to a keen, smooth state. Neither removes much steel. Seems to polish more than cut, not much swarf is released on the surface. If I did not have several outstanding finishers, either one of these could service my SR needs you a long time
Here’s a lovely hone, my latest acquisition, with remnants of the Hatanaka stamp still visible...more so if your eyes are younger than mine. So far I’ve produced some wonderful edges finishing water-only, but now I’m looking to test with some tomo and see if edge feel can be improved any.
Thanks, @Steve56! It's certainly a pleasurable finisher to use as well. Got really lucky on this one.
I’ve been buying, trading, playing with jnats for something like 10 years now. I’ve learned a lot. If I had to choose between knowledge and luck buying a jnat razor finisher, I’ll take luck every time! Here’s one that looks similar, it’s a nice well mannered stone, very fine, and Sheffield steel loves this thing. Some of them you have to work for slurry or an edge, others like this one are just a joy to hone on.
This should keep me busy until spring, 7 stones, 5 what looks like dirty Mikawa nagura. Gotta love Google Translate from Japanese, these were described as ‘New Years Enjoy Bags!’.
It is a nice size koppa, very thick, fairly hard and very fine. Unfortunately the line that runs through it is toxic. It spits up hard material that scratch the razor. I lapped it but it didn't help. You could feel the sandy stuff coming out and see it with a magnifier. It was pretty wide as you can see. I just decided to sacrifice it and turn it into tomo.
