# Interesting AOTO



## ptolemy (May 6, 2012)

I was battling insomnia last night and saw this stone for sale.

No idea what it is besides being AOTO, likely 2-4k grit. Stone was huge and saw marks made it looks kinda old. It sold quite cheaply, but coming from Australia and being 5lbs, s/h would have been quite high.

Anyone has any insight on it?


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## Heath Besch (May 6, 2012)

The sticker looks like one that I bought a while back. Another ebay purchase from some guy I nave not heard of before (yoicho29). I tried to get the details of where the stone originated from but never heard back. The stone turned out to very soft and ultimately split in half on me, very disappointing! All stones are different though, as I'm sure you're aware, even from the same vein. Mine was a lot smaller though, it only weighed 1 1/2 lbs. Couldn't tell you what the label reads.


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## dmccurtis (May 6, 2012)

I was going to bid on that one, but missed out. I have one with the same label, almost the same size, from the same seller. It's quite soft, around 1000 grit, and a bit scratchy. Not a bad stone altogether, though I'd like to see less scratching. It's an entirely different kind of stone to my Kouzaki aoto.


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## ptolemy (May 6, 2012)

Heath Besch said:


> The sticker looks like one that I bought a while back. Another ebay purchase from some guy I nave not heard of before (yoicho29). I tried to get the details of where the stone originated from but never heard back. The stone turned out to very soft and ultimately split in half on me, very disappointing! All stones are different though, as I'm sure you're aware, even from the same vein. Mine was a lot smaller though, it only weighed 1 1/2 lbs. Couldn't tell you what the label reads.



I spent about 2-3 hours matching label and I don't think it has any info the the mine/etc. Just a quality stamp. 

I guess I was hoping it would be a finer version, 2-4k instead of 1k.


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## Halicon (May 7, 2012)

That's a Tanba Aoto. The cheapest type of Aoto there is and also the softest. Decent for producing Kasumi but I would never use them for transitioning to mid-polishers or any sharpening.


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## maxim (May 7, 2012)

Hmm.. Interesting even Kohzaki Aoto comes from Tamba region they are quite expensive !! , so to say it is Tamba Aoto then it is soft is quite wrong. There are many Aoto mines in Tamba and they are all different. This Aoto dose not say witch mine it come from. Only wholesaler label, that it is from Tamba region nothing about what type 





Halicon said:


> That's a Tanba Aoto. The cheapest type of Aoto there is and also the softest. Decent for producing Kasumi but I would never use them for transitioning to mid-polishers or any sharpening.


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## mainaman (May 7, 2012)

before you use it seal the sides and bottom to avoid splitting.


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## Halicon (May 7, 2012)

maxim said:


> Hmm.. Interesting even Kohzaki Aoto comes from Tamba region they are quite expensive !! , so to say it is Tamba Aoto then it is soft is quite wrong. There are many Aoto mines in Tamba and they are all different. This Aoto dose not say witch mine it come from. Only wholesaler label, that it is from Tamba region nothing about what type



Indeed, it's an interesting stone and I'd love to try it out as the look it has is very close to the new stock from the Tanba quarry with the strong blue hue that tend to be on the softer side of the various Aoto, the chances that it's a western Kyoto Aoto, or Kouzaki are quite small when you consider the price it went for but you never know as the wholesaler sticker didn't have any details on it but at least we could help him get that far with the identification which is great - the rest is up to the buyer that gets to try it out.


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## ptolemy (May 7, 2012)

Oh, btw, I didn't get it: just a watcher


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## dmccurtis (May 7, 2012)

I tried my similar aoto again this morning. It's as I remember it: fast, muddy and scratchy. It gives good contrast, but it's just way too scratchy. Scratching can be minimized by very carefully working the mud, but it's just not worth the effort. I might try lapping it down a ways to see if I can get past any inclusions, but it seems like the scratches are coming from the goma-like spots that this stone also shows.


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## maxim (May 7, 2012)

western Kyoto Aoto, or Kouzaki are quite small ???
Tamba is Western Kyoto and includes Kouzaki 



Halicon said:


> Indeed, it's an interesting stone and I'd love to try it out as the look it has is very close to the new stock from the Tanba quarry with the strong blue hue that tend to be on the softer side of the various Aoto, the chances that it's a western Kyoto Aoto, or Kouzaki are quite small when you consider the price it went for but you never know as the wholesaler sticker didn't have any details on it but at least we could help him get that far with the identification which is great - the rest is up to the buyer that gets to try it out.


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