Thread: J-Nat club

Originally Posted by rideon66

Narutaki Nakayama polishing stones.

Odd name. Aren't Narutaki & Nakayama 2 different quarries ?

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Odd name. Aren't Narutaki & Nakayama 2 different quarries ?

It depends I guess if the name Narutaki is used to describe the mine Narutaki or the area Narutaki, of which Narutaki and Nakayama are mines in that area

regards

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Odd name. Aren't Narutaki & Nakayama 2 different quarries ?

Narutaki is also a type of stone used in the final stage of sword polishing and can come from different mines this particular one came from Nakayama.

Just saw Fikira's post and I would also guess that they name this final finishing stone which comes after Uchigumori for the region it comes from too, but not sure on that. I just recently found out that it can come from various mines.

Seems a generic term as well as a quarry.

Originally Posted by alx

So let me ask you straight up. Are you considering these softer stones as razor stones? Against all common thought on the subject that suggestes that only the hardest stones are razor stones. Do you really find that these stones can hone a razor as sharp, or just more comfortable?

Alex

Originally Posted by Steve56

I believe that it is not always true that a harder jnat is a better razor hone than a softer one - but since hardness and fineness go hand-in-hand it is usually true. The holy grail of jnats is IMO, one that's finer than its hardness would suggest.

You can also find softer stones that work well with a clear water finish to boost the edge a little, on some softer stones it works and others it does not contribute much.

Tom, have you tried adding 20-30 light clear water strokes? I assume that you're finishing on slurry.

Cheers, Steve

Ok Alex just wanted to give both you and Steve a little more point of reference on these Narutaki Koppa from Nakayama mountain. First according to everything I have read on Jizuya the Narutaki stone is supposed to be harder and finer than the Uchigumori in Hazuya. With that said these from Nakayama are twice the cost of the norm per kg and much harder than the Narutaki tomo I got from Steve. So the hardness can really vary with these stones and I think these may be at the higher end, but I do not have enough points of reference to say that as any absolute just my gut feeling.

Now with what Steve said before about hardness and fineness usually going hand and hand I think that is maybe more of a bound particle finishing ideal. I do hope this is true with these Narutaki stones and seems to be so far. I find with my softest iro, which I would call maybe a lv4 or 4- it is more about not allowing any pressure which would allow unseen particles to come loose dulling vs polishing like in a harder stone. It doesn't mean the stone is less fine. Now I do use this stone more for knives, but the edges can be very sharp and smooth done right. It is easier to use my other iro stones that are more in the 4.5 lv -5 +++lv for finishing though and to truly answer your question Alex yes I get edges just as sharp or sharper than ones from the hardest of stones, only more skin friendly for that level of keeness. I was actually very impressed at the level the Okudo iromono kan stone I posted a few pages back achieved. I think it maybe one of my finest stones. I haven't quite decided on the level of hardness to that stone, but I would say it is in the lv5 up range.

With all that said I am not as much of a fan of scary sharp bite you if your game isn't on type of edges. I love a smooth forgiving edge that will cut you if you are dumb and just in a hurry, but leave you bbs with one pass and still not irritate with an ATG pass to finish.

Enjoy,
Tom

My Narutaki koppa are one step away from dried mud ie very soft. Must be from Narutaki Quarry rather than Nakayama. Really nice for darkening the Ji on modern swords btw.

The postman was kind to me this afternoon - a new barber-size boxed karasu. I wanted to give this one a try because it has a couple of features in common with another karasu that I have, namely nashiji which is usually considered a tomae strata feature, and a large patch of karasu on the back.

Anyway, the first out-of-the-box test with a Gold Dollar test razor is very promising! Looks like a winner. You just can't complain about a pretty, boxed razor-grade karasu with all 4 corners.

Cheers, Steve

Two Marukas, bench size. These babies are the real deal, it’s like paradise for razor users. They hit it out of the park every single time, even though I would personally prefer it if they were just a bit softer. I know lots of people may disagree, but hey, I’m just weird like that

Koma I obtained from various sources over the course of last 6 months. The square shaped ones marked KY are vintage, as well as the striped orange one.

I have different mejiro's but this one is probably the most beautiful. Came in a box sitting in a little nest.