# Show us your rocks



## A cute angle (Apr 27, 2019)

Left to right.. naniwa chosera...suehiro cerax...bester...unknown razor hone...charnley natural stone..and a natural stone I found on the burrendong gold fields,most likely Chinese diggers from the 1860s


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## stringer (Apr 27, 2019)

Work setup

Shapton glass 500
Shapton pro 1000
Naniwa super stone 2000
Home made paddle strop


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## A cute angle (Apr 27, 2019)

stringer said:


> Work setup
> 
> Shapton glass 500
> Shapton pro 1000
> ...





stringer said:


> Work setup
> 
> Shapton glass 500
> Shapton pro 1000
> ...


all well loved by looks


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## Barashka (Apr 27, 2019)

Atoma 1200
SG 2k - second most used
Arkansas Black - only when I'm not feeling lazy
SG 6k - I'm not sure yet I understand it, my edge from 2k often feels shaper then after this.
Bare strop (complete with sneeze marks) - by far most used
Loaded strop with 30k diamond ('cause I thought it mattered back in the day) - only when I'm not feeling lazy
Two glass plates with sandpaper from back in the day before I got the real deal, these worked surprisingly well (while sandpaper lasted).


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## bahamaroot (Apr 28, 2019)

No


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## mikaelsan (Apr 28, 2019)

The most used: two binsuis, one slightly rougher then the other. Two unknown jnats from dictum. An aiiwatani 3.0, small nagura, Welsh slate "dragons tounge". And a DMT coarse.

Permasoaked: Mac 1000, king 6000, unknown Chinese combo where I use the 5000 side.

Other then that there's just an akamusa, another koppa sized nagura and 3 different purpose leather strops. I also still have an actual brick I started on hehe




that natural stone, you stumbled upon? looks interesting, do you like using it?


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## A cute angle (Apr 28, 2019)

mikaelsan said:


> The most used: two binsuis, one slightly rougher then the other. Two unknown jnats from dictum. An aiiwatani 3.0, small nagura, Welsh slate "dragons tounge". And a DMT coarse.
> 
> Permasoaked: Mac 1000, king 6000, unknown Chinese combo where I use the 5000 side.
> 
> ...


it does mud up ...its very hard ...maybe for chisels or a razor …...I got a edge that would shave on stainless knife ..I woudnt say it was easy to use ...looks like some Japanese medium stones that I have seen 


mikaelsan said:


> The most used: two binsuis, one slightly rougher then the other. Two unknown jnats from dictum. An aiiwatani 3.0, small nagura, Welsh slate "dragons tounge". And a DMT coarse.
> 
> Permasoaked: Mac 1000, king 6000, unknown Chinese combo where I use the 5000 side.
> 
> ...


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## A cute angle (Apr 28, 2019)

A cute angle said:


> it does mud up ...its very hard ...maybe for chisels or a razor …...I got a edge that would shave on stainless knife ..I woudnt say it was easy to use ...looks like some Japanese medium stones that I have seen


...whats the blue stone you have ?


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## A cute angle (Apr 28, 2019)

Barashka said:


> Atoma 1200
> SG 2k - second most used
> Arkansas Black - only when I'm not feeling lazy
> SG 6k - I'm not sure yet I understand it, my edge from 2k often feels shaper then after this.
> ...


very nice set


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## mikaelsan (Apr 28, 2019)

A cute angle said:


> ...whats the blue stone you have ?


 im guessing your asking me, that is the slate stone. The stone looks less blue in person, i think its just my camera compensating with some contrast. Seems like a cool stone you got there


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## A cute angle (Apr 28, 2019)

mikaelsan said:


> im guessing your asking me, that is the slate stone. The stone looks less blue in person, i think its just my camera compensating with some contrast. Seems like a cool stone you got there


it was permasoaked for 40 odd years ...it was under lake burrendong until the drought allowed me to metal detect that part of the gold fields ...I love it ..just because I found it


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## XooMG (Apr 28, 2019)

I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.


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## Michi (Apr 28, 2019)

XooMG said:


> I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.


Very pretty! The don't look like the usual run-of-the-mill Chosera, Cerax, Shapton Pro, etc. Can you tell us what they are?


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## mikaelsan (Apr 28, 2019)

XooMG said:


> I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.


are you saying they are all c-nats? everything looks very clean


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## stringer (Apr 28, 2019)

Home Setup






Another home made paddle strop
Bottom row: Hardware store oil stone, King Deluxe 300, Crystolon coarse, diamond plate
Top Row: Shapton Glass 8k, 4k, 2k, 500, a little synthetic nagura on the 4k


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## lemeneid (Apr 28, 2019)

XooMG said:


> I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.


That’s a really nice iromono or is that a kiita??


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## XooMG (Apr 28, 2019)

mikaelsan said:


> are you saying they are all c-nats? everything looks very clean





Michi said:


> Very pretty! The don't look like the usual run-of-the-mill Chosera, Cerax, Shapton Pro, etc. Can you tell us what they are?





lemeneid said:


> That’s a really nice iromono or is that a kiita??


Thanks. This set is made up of Chinese stones. Mostly midgrit. They look fairly clean and regular because I put work into flattening, rounding, lacquering, &c.


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## lemeneid (Apr 28, 2019)

From left to right, mystery 400 grit, mystery 1k, Arashiyama 6k

The rest are nats hopefully first is an Aizu, needs no introduction. Extremely toothy edge, finishes around 4-5k depending on technique. About 4.0 hardness and could use a nagura to make the job faster.

Second is a honyama awasedo. A little hard but still sharpens easily and doesn't need a nagura. Finishes around 7-9k depending on technique. Its got a line on the left side which can be totally avoided or sanded down. About 4.0 hardness.

Last one is a Narutaki Asagi I got from Otto, Absolutely hard and releases no mud whatsoever and definitely needs a nagura to work it. Quite a fast stone if you ask me, even with all that hardness. Use a little mud and it reaches higher sharpness as opposed to using lots of mud which brings the sharpness to about the grit of the nagura used.

Top two are cheapass diamond plates from Aliexpress while the bottom two are a Aiwatani koppa and a Mikawa Nagura.


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## DSChief (Apr 28, 2019)

Left to right:

Pink Brick 220

Tsukiji Masamoto 240

Chosera 400

Chosera 600

Gesshin 1000

King 1000

Bester 1200

Binsui from JNS

Suehiro Rika 5K

Naniwa Snow White 8K

Kitayama 8K

missing from photo Takashima Awasedo


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## Luftmensch (Apr 28, 2019)

A cute angle said:


> a natural stone I found on the burrendong gold fields,most likely Chinese diggers from the 1860s



A prize for the most interesting acquisition story!! Thats cool!

(Also; I didn't know they made synthetic stones in the 1860s - )


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## Knife2meatu (Apr 28, 2019)

DSChief said:


> Left to right:
> 
> Pink Brick 220
> 
> ...



Is that a base under the big Gesshin 1000? or a fitted rubber 'ring'? That looks near-identical to the Cerax 3030. Do you perchance have any experience with any of the Cerax #1000 stones?


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## KingShapton (Apr 28, 2019)

XooMG said:


> Thanks. This set is made up of Chinese stones. Mostly midgrit. They look fairly clean and regular because I put work into flattening, rounding, lacquering, &c.



where can you get such chinese stones?
i have often searched on platforms like etsy and aliexpress myself, but i did not find stones of this kind there.


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## DSChief (Apr 28, 2019)

Just a rubber ring, Have no prior history with any Cerax stones so I have no basis for comparison.
I do see the Debado MD-100 #1000 in my near future


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## mikaelsan (Apr 28, 2019)

I'm very curious if xoomgs sources as well, very nice looking likely pretty affordable stones


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## Knife2meatu (Apr 28, 2019)

DSChief said:


> Just a rubber ring, Have no prior history with any Cerax stones so I have no basis for comparison.
> I do see the Debado MD-100 #1000 in my near future


Do you find enough difference between the King 1k and the Gesshin 1k to somewhat justify -- not that I'm implying one _needs_ to justify arguably redundant stones, mind you -- having 2 very large 1k bricks? Assuming it is like the Cerax, I find they're actually quite similar stones; even if I'd definitely pick the Cerax if I had to choose.


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## DSChief (Apr 28, 2019)

Having no profound knowledge of the arts of knife sharpening, the King works just as well ( for me) just way messier
loads of brown mud. The King is cheaper, and the gesshin dishes more. And since one can never have too many stones,
I'll keep looking for The One that cuts super fast & is hard as hell.


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## Barashka (Apr 28, 2019)

XooMG said:


> I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.



These are so pretty! I wouldn't want to use them ...


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## Ryndunk (Apr 28, 2019)

SP 320
Ohishi 600
SP 1000
Synthetic aoto 
SP 5000

Atoma 140
Nagura

Aizu 
Unknown suita 
Takashima 
Narutaki 
Mystery polishing stone 
Suita (use as nagura)

Not pictured- pink brick, atoma 400, king 1000


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## XooMG (Apr 29, 2019)

Barashka said:


> These are so pretty! I wouldn't want to use them ...


Most of the pretty ones are on the coarser side, but are usually slow enough that I use them after 4-6k synthetic to start down a natural stone progression.


mikaelsan said:


> I'm very curious if xoomgs sources as well, very nice looking likely pretty affordable stones


I've lost quite a bit of money on them, going with a variety of vendors and getting wrong sizes, inclusion-riddled stones, broken pieces, etc.

I'm afraid I can't make any recommendations for sourcing, and I generally won't promote the stones to folks looking for a cheap jnat alternative. That includes even the pieces I occasionally lacquer and sell.


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## Barclid (Apr 29, 2019)

You can think of the Debado MD 1000# as a splash-and-go version. Loads a bit more readily, dishes a bit slower. Since it's so much wider, uneven wear will be a bit more prominent. If you tend to miss the corners of your stone and prioritize the center a lot, you'll end up losing a lot of the Debado MD without getting to use it.


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## Mucho Bocho (Apr 29, 2019)

XooMG said:


> I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.




Robert I keep coming back to this pic, he KKF'ers this is how your rocks should look. You can just see the love and respect he's put in them. My rocks look like ass compared to this, thank for an example of what they could look like with the proper care and attention. Also, I'm thinking about blowing up this photo into a poster for the wall. This shot has a lot of charm to it.


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## Badgertooth (Apr 29, 2019)




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## Knife2meatu (Apr 29, 2019)

@Badgertooth Is the bunch of white stones on the 3rd shelf Nagura?


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## Interapid101 (Apr 29, 2019)

At first glance, I thought the thread title was asking to see something else...


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## alex1921 (Apr 29, 2019)

Badgertooth said:


> View attachment 52456
> 
> 
> View attachment 52460


Beautiful stones. May I ask if you have any more info on the grey one, bottom right?


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## Marek07 (Apr 29, 2019)

Knife2meatu said:


> @Badgertooth Is the bunch of white stones on the 3rd shelf Nagura?


My guess would be an entire shelf of Aizus!


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## valgard (Apr 29, 2019)

Marek07 said:


> My guess would be an entire shelf of Aizus!


I would put all my money on that guess


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## A cute angle (Apr 29, 2019)

XooMG said:


> I use the bottom two, the middle greenish one, and the 6.5k brick on the right with some frequency. I also use some synthetics and Japanese stones, but they're not in the pic.


 awesome collection dude


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## Badgertooth (Apr 30, 2019)

alex1921 said:


> Beautiful stones. May I ask if you have any more info on the grey one, bottom right?
> 
> View attachment 52462



That is a Nakayama Maruka Asagi. It was a little too niche in its use before I got my Iwasaki razor. You could, with a great deal of care, get an impossibly brilliant mirror finish in a wide bevel and finish ura on single bevel knives with it. Above it and next to it is also maruka


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## Badgertooth (Apr 30, 2019)

Knife2meatu said:


> @Badgertooth Is the bunch of white stones on the 3rd shelf Nagura?



@Marek07 and @valgard are the winners


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## bahamaroot (Apr 30, 2019)

Badgertooth said:


> View attachment 52456
> 
> 
> View attachment 52460


That is a serious rack of rocks!


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## childermass (Apr 30, 2019)




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## alex1921 (Apr 30, 2019)

Badgertooth said:


> That is a Nakayama Maruka Asagi. It was a little too niche in its use before I got my Iwasaki razor. You could, with a great deal of care, get an impossibly brilliant mirror finish in a wide bevel and finish ura on single bevel knives with it. Above it and next to it is also maruka
> 
> View attachment 52472
> 
> ...



Very nice. I only hone razors and the mizu asagi are my favorite stones so when I saw your collection that was the one that caught my eye


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## alex1921 (Apr 30, 2019)

Few of my grey razor stones.


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## tongas (Apr 30, 2019)




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## Xenif (Apr 30, 2019)

Mine are pretty junk compared to the demi-gods and half-dieties that populate this forum. I like my new setup though.


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## valgard (Apr 30, 2019)




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## Sharpchef (Apr 30, 2019)

I love JNats... but to tell the truth, thuringians and especially arkansas are finer, frankonians and belgians are faster... Sad but true. 
Nobody here likes extreme fine finish i guess so why you settle on this fine JNAts... ? For Razor honing... Even there are better options out there. 





This is no offence, i got lots of them....  ... Just curious.

Greets Sebastian.


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## alex1921 (Apr 30, 2019)

Sharpchef said:


> I love JNats... but to tell the truth, thuringians and especially arkansas are finer, frankonians and belgians are faster... Sad but true.
> Nobody here likes extreme fine finish i guess so why you settle on this fine JNAts... ? For Razor honing... Even there are better options out there.
> 
> 
> ...


Better options for razors than Jnats? Please share, now you got my attention.


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## Sharpchef (Apr 30, 2019)

Better option for razors ... ?

first the coticule, this is the razor stone within! if this don`t fit your face, try a frankonian... They are alike but with much better comfort atg, and on pair with arkansas in this. arkansas ist in my opinion way the best finisher for razors if you like a super sharp edge. 

But the very best straight razor finisher is a thuringian troutstone.../saxonian oilstone by far! 

Greets Sebastian.


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## Sharpchef (Apr 30, 2019)

Really, i think there are Jnats like some hard Nakayama / Ohzuku or whatever that are fit in my progression but only as a finsiher and only if i use a Jiig.. For handsharpening a rough suita may be as good as a 5k synthetic stone, but that`s it.

Here is talked about handsharpening and the less of you go over 6k right ? .. So why naturals ? 

Greets Sebastian.


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## alex1921 (Apr 30, 2019)

Cool. Yeah I don't sharpen knives so no idea about that. Been playing with Eschers/cotis in addition to Jnats but never tried a trout stone. 
Arkansas I have not tried either, finally got a little translucent so will eventually try it. 
Now I will searching for a trout stone


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## inferno (Apr 30, 2019)

I arrange mine into C/M/F piles. 0-1k/1-2k/3k-15k

diaflat 160

glass seven 500 nagura
hyper 1k
hibiki 1k
kunsuto 1k
chosera 800
glass 1k
glass 500
pro 220 (x2)
glass 220
dmt C

atoma 400
glass 2k
chosera 2k
shapton pro 1k
pro 2k
dianova plate

sharpmaker
spyderco UF
coticule
coticule

superstone 12k
glass HC 6k
kitayama 4k
hibiki 3k
glass 3k
glass 4k
shapron pro 8k
pro 12k
extra glass 3k.


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## Michi (Apr 30, 2019)

inferno said:


> I arrange mine into C/M/F piles. 0-1k/1-2k/3k-15k


That's sort of a minimal set. I think you need a few more…


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## inferno (Apr 30, 2019)

I guess i could get by with a lesser amount of stones somehow. 

If someone put a gun to my head I would keep the diaflat, glass 220/500/pro1k/glass2k/3k/4k/6k hc/pro12k. 

And if someone put 2 guns to my head it would be the diaflat, glass500/3k/6k hc

If i could keep even less i would simply take the gun and shoot them!


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## Michi (Apr 30, 2019)

inferno said:


> If i could keep even less i would simply take the gun and shoot them!


Smart move! A lot better than shooting yourself…


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## stringer (Apr 30, 2019)

inferno said:


> I guess i could get by with a lesser amount of stones somehow.
> 
> If someone put a gun to my head I would keep the diaflat, glass 220/500/pro1k/glass2k/3k/4k/6k hc/pro12k.
> 
> ...



So the diaflat is still treating you well? I remember one of the many "coarse stone" threads awhile back where you had just bought it. Is it holding up as a thinning stone or are you using it more for stone flattening?


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## inferno (May 1, 2019)

I did flatten lots of blades with it and its still holding up. I also flattened 4 cermaic stones with similar to spydercos but less dense (missarkas) and they were severely warped. I use it only for stones now. And its very good/fast for that.if i had used an atoma for the missarkas the atoma would have been completely finished. 

but to be honest i dont flatten blades with it anymore since the glass 220 or pro220 is faster and it does not leave scratches deep like grand canyon when youre done!

the problem with diamond stones for flattening steel is the extremely deep scratches they leave that you have to erase with a very coarse regular stone.

even if the diaflat was faster than the 220ies i would still have to follow up quite a lot with the 220 then the 500. then 1000.

if i go for the 220 i can go to the 500 or 1000 much faster.

*There is no free lunch when flattening steel:*

its either diamonds that wear out/leave deep scratches
diamond that dont wear out yet leave extremely deep scratches.
coarse stones that wear out fast/gets expensive but can easily be followed up with finer stones.

I think for flattening steel the pro220 is the most economical and the glass220 is the fastest/nicest. the glass 220 will probably only last 6-7 or so flattenings. and the pro maybe 2 more.
the diaflat will probably last 100, but i just dont like diamonds if i have other choices. even when i have the "best" diamond plates.

I think this plate is much better atoma 140.
*
also the diaflat comes with a warranty!! and its the only diamond plate that dmt warranties for use on stones* so when it wears out (because it will some time do that) then they will send you a new one. atoma company wont send you jack sh1t.

but yeah its very effective for the heavy lifting, and i use mine at max pressure to get sh1t done. then i follow up with the 220ies if i use it. its the only diamond plate i have used that wont shed diamonds really fast when "abusing" it.


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## mozg31337 (May 9, 2019)

Badgertooth said:


> That is a Nakayama Maruka Asagi. It was a little too niche in its use before I got my Iwasaki razor. You could, with a great deal of care, get an impossibly brilliant mirror finish in a wide bevel and finish ura on single bevel knives with it. Above it and next to it is also maruka
> 
> View attachment 52472
> 
> ...



It looks remarkably similar to one of my Uchigumori stones


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## mozg31337 (May 9, 2019)

Here is my latest find, a very nice Awasedo, Tomae, Tamagoiro


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## Andrew (May 9, 2019)

I recently added a couple shelves at my laundry sink for the stones, and am pretty pleased with the result. Ignore the wallpaper... it will go away this summer I hope.


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## Lars (May 10, 2019)




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## Ivan Hersh (May 10, 2019)

This very used sharping stone found in a cave, it's needs a good amount of flatting before it can be used with any results.


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