Okudo Hon Suita Renge Japanese Natural Finishing Whetstone

Selected by us and imported directly from Japan, this Japanese whetstone has been sealed on the sides and back with clear lacquer for protection and extensively tested to assess its performance. Complete details of our testing results are provided below.

Hardness: 4.6
Okudo is one of the most revered Eastern, Yamashiro Mines in Kyoto. Okudo is known in Japan as "Suitayama" as it is common for all layers/strata to contain Su holes, which are microscopic holes in the stone produced by gas and pressure escaping while the stone was forming. Su can help to increase the stone's cutting speed and also aids in the stone's ability to avoid clogging. Okudo Suita are widely known for being considered "King of Suita" and they're highly revered in the Japanese Craftsmen community for their versatility and performance characteristics. Okudo Suita are becoming increasingly rare and bench sized stones are rare to find. This group of stones were set aside for a large festival in Japan and we were lucky enough to gain access to these special selections! This is an extremely lengthy stone at 270 mm length so it will support long honing strokes and it's added width at 80 mm allows for most razors to be honed evenly with straight on honing strokes. This is a classic Hon Suita with beige/yellow base with classic orange Yaki coloration and aka Renge. This is a dry, fine, crisp feeling stone which is a pleasure to use with water only laps. It's hardness is above average for Hard and slurry can be broken down nicely to achieve light saber edges. Can be used highly effectively with Tomo progressions and Mikawa nagura as well. Okudo are extremely versatile Suita and standalone finishing also yields amazing results in terms of edge sharpness and refinement, especially for a Suita. Great for polishing and sharpening knives and tools and produces a hyper keen yet toothy edge with relative ease. Polishing results are a great balance of refinement vs haze, similar to the edges.