Shobudani Shiki Tomae Asagi Japanese Natural Finishing Whetstone

This exceptional Japanese whetstone was selected by us and imported directly from Japan, thoroughly tested and sealed on sides and back to protect the stone for long term use. A tested and matched nagura is included.

It measures 205 mm (8.07 inches) long × 80 mm (3.15 inches) wide × 30 mm (1.18 inches) tall, and weighs 1396 g (49.24 oz / 3.08 lbs).

Hardness: 4.8
Old mined Shobudani Shiki Tomae for razors. This stone was processed from Rough stones which originated from Hatanaka mining company when they closed and sold their remaining stocks of inventory. This Shobudani Asagi is hard and fine, perfect for razor finishing. These deeper strata, hard Shobudani Asagi are perfect for Mikawa Nagura progressions as they translate feedback well and provide a highly performing base stone. This stone has a highly dense, heavy feel which is indicative of its fine nature. When honing razors, this piece is excellent in translating Nagura feedback and has a very forgiving feel for its high hardness/density. This stone is exceedingly pure and clean with excellent particle uniformity and abrasive density. If you're familiar with our Shobudani Asagi from KVJ, this Shobudani Asagi offers a wonderful comparison with slightly different characteristics, overall. Capable of producing the ultimate sharpness! The stone is forgiving enough for tools and knives and polishes at an extremely high level. Its high level of elasticity allows for higher levels of pressure to be used. For such a fine stone, creating an even and consistent polish is quite easy and straightforward as the stone is not prone to scratching at all but likes to be used by heavier blades with attention to pressure management. Would be great for Honyaki knives as well. This stone has the ability to bring out details and grain structure. When comparing this Shobudani Asagi to our current Shobudani Asagi inventory, this one has an exceedingly smooth and unique, gentle feel for such a dense, firm stone. Collector Grade!!!

A photo of the stone's polishing ability on soft and hard steels of a Japanese kitchen knife are shown.