# Aoto dilemma.



## PalmRoyale (May 10, 2018)

My cousin is a chef and her aoto was stolen at work. She really loves aotos and her birthday is coming up and I thought it would be nice if I can find her a good aoto for her birthday. And that's what I did, I found an aoto with a good size, 180x58x58mm. Enough to last her the rest of her life. I've personally never been a fan of medium range naturals. I found that most are too slow and I don't particularly enjoy sharpening on them. But this aoto is completely different. It's super clean and doesn't feel as sandy as other aotos I've tried. It feels almost creamy. It's also much finer than your typical aoto. This one starts at roughly 3000 grit and when I work the mud and lighten up on the pressure it can easily finish at 6000-7000 grit. That's a finish that's more than enough for most wood working applications and combined with the size makes it an excellent tool stone. So now I have to decide if I'm going to let it go. She doesn't know I have this stone and my guess is an aoto like this one doesn't show up very often.


----------



## Mute-on (May 10, 2018)

You know you have to give it to her, dont you?! Good karma and it will make its way back to you if its meant to. Meanwhile she might be happy to let you take your tools over for a sharpening session every so often.

Beautiful stone and a really wonderful gesture on your part - if you follow through ....

Cheers

J


----------



## Jville (May 10, 2018)

Hmm tricky, can you buy her another one?


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 10, 2018)

I have a month to find her another aoto. And I do know of one aoto that's a lot larger at 220x80x72mm, that's a good size for knives but it's also a lot more expensive than what I paid for this one. The guy wants $300 for it. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and buy it for my cousin.


----------



## Dave Martell (May 10, 2018)

I've used only two really great aotos, in almost 15 yrs, I'd kill to own either. You've got a dilemma on your hands for sure.


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 10, 2018)

Other aotos I've used always had kind of a sesame seed pattern but this one doesn't. Is it common for aotos without the sesame seed pattern to be finer?


----------



## cheflivengood (May 10, 2018)

Thats like the one I sold recently, probably mined some time ago, I think mine was cut in the 1970s but could have been mined much earlier. Defenetly not a common stone, black with very light little white/grey dots, no inslucions and not sandy. If only you could cut it in half safely and you both could have one, maybe someone in netherlands has the saw and knowhow to do the job.


----------



## tgfencer (May 10, 2018)

I'd keep it and find her another. But I don't like my cousins very much...


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 10, 2018)

I've made a decision just now, I'm keeping this stone and I'm buying the large aoto for my cousin. It's just 250 and if I buy it on my companies name I can write a large part of as an expense.


----------



## XooMG (May 10, 2018)

Enjoy the stone in good health.


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 10, 2018)

Almost every medium grit natural I've tried doesn't like A2 and PM-V11 steel but for some reason this aoto is different. It does a decent job on A2 and it loves PM-V11. I wonder what makes this stone different from other medium grit naturals.


----------



## Mute-on (May 11, 2018)

PalmRoyale said:


> I've made a decision just now, I'm keeping this stone and I'm buying the large aoto for my cousin. It's just 250 and if I buy it on my companies name I can write a large part of as an expense.



She will be thrilled, no doubt!

Very generous of you, indeed.


----------



## Panamapeet (May 11, 2018)

PalmRoyale said:


> I've made a decision just now, I'm keeping this stone and I'm buying the large aoto for my cousin. It's just 250 and if I buy it on my companies name I can write a large part of as an expense.



If you dont take Dutch tax laws too seriously you may expense it yea


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 11, 2018)

I have a very good bookkeeper who can find ways to write off the silliest things :laugh:


----------



## Jville (May 11, 2018)

Seems like a good choice regret is priceless. If you have something that you feel is that special and will be perhaps hard/near impossible to replace, it's easier to replace the money.


----------



## erickso1 (May 11, 2018)

Thread title changes " Aotos Dilemma". "I've got two Aotos and they are amazing....." :justkidding:


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 11, 2018)

There is always the possibility that the large aoto I'm buying for my cousin will be even better :lol2: In that case the one I have now will go to her :lol2:


----------



## Jville (May 11, 2018)

PalmRoyale said:


> There is always the possibility that the large aoto I'm buying for my cousin will be even better :lol2: In that case the one I have now will go to her :lol2:



Either way sounds like problem solved :doublethumbsup:


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 11, 2018)

The store I bought this aoto from (the one I have now) said it was mined in the early 70's so I doubt the large one will be just as good. But we'll see.


----------



## PalmRoyale (May 19, 2018)

The large 250 Aoto fell through. There was an accident at the store, someone accidentally dropped it and it broke into a bunch of little pieces. So I bought this one instead for my cousin. Still a good size with plenty of height to last her the rest of her life. I still can't believe how little I paid for it :lol2:


----------

