Japanese Natural (JNats) Stone: The New Adventure

Okay, a 'New Adventure' for me, perhaps— JNATS haves been around a long time and I know a number of SR shavers here already have experience with them. But this a new realm of 'honing stones' for me.

Over the past 6-8 months, I've been diligently reading up on the use Japanese naturals for honing straight razors, scouring forums and websites on information concerning their use and 'correct' application.
What I discovered is the world of Jnats is incredibly vast and confusing, intoxicating to some, and potentially lethal to one's shaving budget.

Ever the cautious one when plunging head-first into something new, I opted to pick up what was described by the seller as a 'Jnat Starter Kit' that was "…priced for someone that's apprehensive to get into Jnats, but put together with high-end gear…." This sounded appealing to me. I purchased the kit from a reputable seller who has an extensive history with Jnats. The price I paid for the kit (consisting of five stones, total) was slightly more than I paid for a single vintage Escher waterstone.

(WARNING: butchered attempt at Japanese to follow)
The kit included a main finishing stone, a Shobudani Asagi Awasedo 菖蒲谷 浅葱 合砥 (essentially meaning, "light yellow finishing stone from Shobudani mines") Size: 6.26 x 2.2 x 0.75" a very-hard (Lv4-5) finisher, sealed on bottom & sides. Comes with matching Tomo Nagura 共名倉 a small piece of similar stone used to raise slurry on the main finisher (honzan).

Along with the main finisher and tomo came the Mikawa Shiro Nagura 純三河白 名倉 (meaning 'white correcting stone, Mikawa mines') four stones of varying grit: Botan, Tenjyou, Mejiro, Koma — listed in order from coarse to fine grit.

Image of the set as they appeared on the seller's website:


The nagura concept is to raise a slurry on the finishing stone with each nagura stone (beginning with the coarsest), and proceed to work the blade with laps upon the stone, breaking down the slurry as one continues. After a sufficient time, the base stone is rinsed and slurry is raised with the next nagura—and this process continues until all four have been used. THEN a final slurry is raised using the matching tomo stone, and the blade is finished after a final series of laps, diluting with water (or letting the stone dry) as one goes.

Simple concept. But how would it be in the 'real world' (i.e. in my hands trying it)?

I began by taping the spine of a W&B wedge that had been 'less than stellar' when it came to comfort. Keen edge, but harsh feeling. One thing I knew about Jnats before starting is they supposedly do provide a smooth, comfortable edge. I also taped up a left kamisori that also had a keenly-shape edge of the 12k, but not the most comfortable to use.

kamisori, before taping…


Following the nagura progression described above, I started with the W&B wedge. after a few laps, the slurry began to darken. I continued laps as the slurry slightly thickened (milky consistency). Continuing to move up the nagura chain, I noticed the slurry changed from granular to incredibly silky. Finishing with laps on slurry made from the tomo (matching) stone, the razor began to stick to the finisher as the ultra-fine slurry developed.
Rinse and arm-hair test: arm hair popped easily at 'tree-top' level — definitely sharp! Thumbnail test caught (cut) immediately. I followed up with an identical nagura process on the kamisori. Similar results on the arm hair/thumb nail test.

On to the REAL test: the SHAVE!
Lapped both razors on linen (50 laps each), followed by 100 laps on fast bridle leather. HHT (not my favorite test as finding consistent strands of hair for testing, I've discovered, is a challenge.) did manage to have hair fall silently on toe, mid and heel on both razors.
I alternated razors for my first shave, switching sides for each pass. Three passes total plus a little touch-up. My Findings? Both razors shaved extremely smooth, without a hint of harshness nor discomfort. No post-shave burn nor irritation. I've had about 5-6 shaves with each of these razors previously and none of those shaves matched this most recent attempt for comfort and enjoyment. SHARPNESS is one thing, but comfort trumps it, every time.


I look forward to trying these stones out on other razors as well. It will be interesting to see if similar results can be achieved on other makes and steel. Overall, my first go with jnats has been very satisfying.

 

Fantastic Write Up... Fascinating Read..

Billy..

 

This really makes me want to buy a japanese straight...and honing stones.

How much did you have to pay for these honing stones btw?

 

Interesting. I've just been dabbling in honing my own razors and have had mixed results with my very limited stones. Are you able to share the name of the seller?

 

$250.— which is NOT inexpensive. Comparable (or less) to what a single synthetic Gokumyo Suehiro 20k runs. My vintage Escher waterstone cost about $180. Some of these Jnats easily climb in to the $300-500 (& up) range…Not an inexpensive hobby if you're going into Jnat collecting. If I can 'do it all' with this set, I'm a happy camper as this particular 'rabbit hole' is rather deep…some say endless.

There are several online Jnat vendors who are reputable. Two are located in the US. Some in Japan. I purchased from tomonagura.com (his etsy site), based in Brooklyn, NY. Be wary of some of the ebay sellers.

 

Thanks, Billy. I know I'm treading on some fairly esoteric ground with this topic but some will hopefully be inspired to try the stones, share experiences, or simply say "Too much money for rocks!"

 

Thank you Kevin. I am a rookie in the honing world and find I am fascinated by jnats. Great right up

 

Very nice setup and I think it is a great price for what you get and what it can do. You have the whole progression there and for the price of just one jnat is alot of cases.

One of the nice things about it is that now that you are going down the jnat rabbit hole (that what everyone calls it), you can venture into other base stones/jnats to use with that nagura set if you want.

 

Kevin, great write up.... Very tempting.

 

I am just going to smile

 

Nice write up Kev, and congrats on acquiring such lovely stones, a Shoubudani is next on my shopping list maybe a full size one I have sooooo many stones at the moment (40 yes you read that right!!!) not sure the GF would be happy at the out lay on another stone but I think it will be worth the risk, I have a Nakayama Kiita Tomae, and I like it but I would like a harder stone and the Shoubudani kinda fits the bill and just about the budget,

 

Ha! Can i assume you've a mixture of nagura and base stones in that substantial collection?
Curious to read you observations on your favorites and what makes them so.

 

I only have one J-nat at the moment a Nakayama Kiita tomae (I got from ebay, cheap enough) it does have a line in it but does NOT affect the edge, its a nice edge I get on it, Different from my Charnley Forest which I love, no nagura yet but they are on my to buy list, I will get from JapaneseNaturalStones site along with a Shobudani, I have just got a Hard Black Arkansas but as that is gonna cut slower than the Charnley Forest I will need to set aside some time.

Most of my stones are UK Naturals 30% I would say,

I am NO Expert at honing, but I am happy with the edges I have on my razors, and I enjoy honing.

I like stones lol, most I acquire at Carboot sales for very little outlay so it's not like I have spent £xxxx maybe £xxx

That was a pic of my stones 2 years ago!!! 5 of those in the pic I have sold, but added quite a lot, I should do an updated pic, maybe on Saturday when the GF is out lol,

What is your normal set of hones (pre J-nat) for honing a razor, ie None repair bevel set to finish.

Regards

Dean

 

My go-to set has been using synthetics and often finishing on naturals.

Chosera 1k bevel setter; Naniwa 3k, 5k, 8k ,10k, 12k, (the Gokumyo Suehiro 20k pictured below was on loan). I've finished many off on just the 12k, but I do like the softening effect of adding a natural finisher to the mix.

Naturals I used prior to the Jnats— vintage Escher, dk blue (top left in image), and a silky-smooth Apache strata, which, according to Glen (who used the stone on 100 or so razors), is VERY close to a Jnat finisher.

Adding actual Jnats to the mix spices thing up a bit....

 

My progression is
Chosera 1k
Dalmore Blue
Tam o shanter
Norton 8k
Thuringan or llyn Idwal
Charnley Forest.

As you can see a fair few UK sourced stones.
I have escher, hindostan arkansas, Chinese 12k but tend not to stray too far from my stated progression I listed.

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Here is an updated pic of my hone collection, top row is my main set up final finishing is optional between the two on the end far right j-nat nakayama kiita tomae, next to it is the Charney forest.
2nd row down all British stones, the bottom 2 rows is mixed world wide Inc British and synthetic hones.

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I just updated a pic the correct way round, first time I have posted pic via phone so hence the error.

I know what each stone is, the odd one I am not 100% but I know where they would fall into the set up and what each will do etc......
I also sharpen knives, and garden tools etc.... so a maybe larger than normal collection is OK.

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You took the fun away, I was going to ask how you kept them from falling off the wall. That is definitely a rock garden.

 

Not the fastest in the West, but a good hard, fine J-Nat is awfully hard to match for a smooth, soft edge. The only J-Nat finisher I ever owned was this monstrous Nakayama Karasu, since sold. Really a sweet finisher.