# some naturals



## JBroida (Aug 25, 2013)

while the website is down, i thought i'd post some things over here for you guys to see

we just got in 2 monzento. Monzento are one of my favorite medium grit natural stones. They are fast cutting, muddy, soft, leave a very nice and even finish, and create a beautiful kasumi finish. Many professional sharpeners and natural stone experts like these for kitchen knives because of the stone softness and cutting speed. They are quite large... about 210x70x70mm and are $250 each.






i also had an opportunity to pick up some really nice finger stones lately. Finding really high quality ones is very hard to do, so we only have a couple boxes. Each box is ~100g and we have both jizuya (for polishing softer cladding) and hazuya (for polishing harder core steels). Each box will be $125. The boxes also come with japanese paper for mounting the stones... this is the way they are used in japan.





And lastly, we just got the large takashima awasedo with base back in stock. I get a lot of requests for information about these... it seems people think they are just beginner type stones. However, these stones are the most highly recommended natural stones for kitchen knives by stone experts and knife sharpeners alike. They cut quickly, leave nice smooth even finishes, work on a wide variety of steels, leave a perfect amount of bite to your edges, and are not too hard (a very important trait when sharpening kitchen knives). The large ones we sell are $200 each.


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## mkriggen (Aug 26, 2013)

Jon, will the jizuya finger stones work on both stainless and carbon/iron cladding, or are they strictly for carbon/iron?


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## Amused (Sep 3, 2013)

Hi Jon,

How does the Takashima Awasedo compare to your Gesshin #8000? I'm curious as to which is more versatile over the gamut of steels. I'm looking for a finishing stone in that grit range and am considering 1 of those 2.

Thanks - Jason


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## JBroida (Sep 3, 2013)

The 8k is faster cutting and works better on a wide variety of steels, but the takashima awasedo is very versatile as a natural stone. What kinds of steels will you be sharpening? Unless its a super wear resistant or powdered steel, both should be totally fine.


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## mzer (Sep 4, 2013)

How do naturals work on ginsanko?


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## JBroida (Sep 4, 2013)

depends on the stone and the ginsanko... some will be ok, while others will not be so great. In general, you will want a stone a bit on the softer side to release abrasive more quickly, thus cutting the ginsanko more quickly.


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## Amused (Sep 4, 2013)

JBroida said:


> The 8k is faster cutting and works better on a wide variety of steels, but the takashima awasedo is very versatile as a natural stone. What kinds of steels will you be sharpening? Unless its a super wear resistant or powdered steel, both should be totally fine.


Mostly White #2, Blue #2, 52100, and semi-stainless (HD2).


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## JBroida (Sep 4, 2013)

The takashima awasedo will be fine for all of those


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