Japanese Natural Toishi Finishing Whetstone - Nakayama Tomae Kiita Iromono Nashiji

This exceptional Japanese whetstone was selected and purchased by us directly from Japan, then thoroughly tested and coated with cashew lacquer on sides and back to protect the stone for long term use. It measures 128 mm (5.04 in) long × 80 mm (3.15 in) wide × 33 mm (1.30 in) thick, and weighs 900g.

Stone Testing Details:

Hardness: LV 4.7
Beautiful Kiita with Iromono and nashiji covering the stone. This stone is hard and dense with with nice thickness and surface area to hone on. Though it is a hard stone, it's about average for Nakayama Kiita. The stone has perfect square shape and the backside is covered with beautiful Kawa. 

For water only honing with razors, this stone has a hard feel but elastic cushion when using. it is a unique feel that is present in high quality stones. The stone is fast cutting and released a bit of black swarf while honing on water, indicating nice Silica content level. 

Diamond slurry speeds up the cutting ability with sharp feeling particles compromising the slurry. For this reason, the edge is very aggressive and in need of further refinement. 

Mikawa Nagura progressions are great with this stone. The stone doesn't release much of itself into the mix. However, with sharper particles combined with the Mikawa Nagura slurry, makes for a really aggressive edge if not worked with extra time/care and light pressure. If the extra work is done, the reward is high as the edge was a nice combination of aggression and comfortability. 

It's also great for knives. It has a wonderful elasticity that makes sharpening feel a dream. It's a fast cutting stone that produces black swarf immediately. Kasumi finish on knives is a bright mirror-like finish with a touch of haze. Edges are very keen and aggressive for such a fine finish. 

A photo of the resulting polish left on a high quality Japanese knife is shown.