# My thoughts on my Ohira Shiro Suita.



## PalmRoyale (Oct 13, 2016)

Today I picked up the stone and tried it on a chisel (Stanley Sweetheart 61HRC, high carbon steel with some chrome added for edge retention and rust resistance ) and one of my kitchen knives (Sabatier Lion 60HRC, stainless steel). I've read that Ohira Suitas are fast stones but mine isn't. Watanabe also said it's a fast stone. It takes quite some time to produce metal shavings but it's a good polisher. My chisel and knife have never been sharper but it can't match my fast coticules in terms of speed. Maybe it's because of the steel used in my chisel and knife? What's weird about this stone is how it pulls down the bevel of my chisel, almost like it's magnetic. All in all I think I like this stone. It wasn't what I expected but what it does, it does well.


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## cheflivengood (Oct 13, 2016)

what hardness is it? the Stone.


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 13, 2016)

I can only compare it to my coticules and I would say very hard. Like a piece of marble. Now here's what's weird. My chisels aren't hardened over the entire length but only ¾. The remaining ¼ closest to the handle is about 57HRC. The stone removes a lot of metal from that part very fast (like really, really fast) but it's very slow on the rest. To be honest, I'm not sure about this stone.


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## bennyprofane (Oct 13, 2016)

Andrey V. wrote that that the Coticule is quite a unique stone which can go from "zero to hero", so depending on how you use it, you can remove a lot of metal (like with a coarse stone) and also produce a fine edge. You can't expect this from a Suita, it doesn't replace a coarse stone. You would use it instead of a 6000 stone and when it's described as fast, that is relative compared to other fine jnats. So, it's relatively fast and produces a great edge, fine but with some bite.


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 13, 2016)

But the stone also has to be useable for me. I can't spend 10 minutes polishing the edge at work when there are things that need to get done. With my La Dressante coticule it's very easy to remove a lot of metal quickly (but still get a very good edge) and then I lighten up on the pressure to refine the edge. I guess my frame of reference coming from coticules made me expect something else from a Suita that's described as fast. What really threw me off was this video.
[video=youtube;TMNnfYDnPvI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMNnfYDnPvI[/video]
Now I realise the metal shavings are mostly form the soft iron used as backing. At least now I know a fine jnat is not the best stone for me.


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## bennyprofane (Oct 13, 2016)

But when I just sharpen the edge, I get black swarf pretty fast, so it cant be from the iron. Although, Ive just used it for kitchen blades and not tool. And wow, I wish I had that Suita in the video.


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## cheflivengood (Oct 13, 2016)

I dont know much about chisels, but why not do the grunt work on the coticule and then use the suita for the final few passes. Ive owned a lot of very nice stones including a big perfect suita and I would never say they remove a lot of metal, it removes scratches which is microscopic groves, but the burr a hard suita would create is very tiny.


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## Badgertooth (Oct 14, 2016)

Try getting things going with a slurry stone. That speeds things up considerably.


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## KimBronnum (Oct 14, 2016)

You don´t use slurry stones with suitas. Suitas has holes (su=hole) that can get clogged up with stuff from the slurry stone and create scratches and mess up the sharpening/polish. In Jnats you work the swarf so it becomes finer and finer. Then it is a problem if small lumps of coarser grained swarf is released from holes.
If anything use a fine or well used diamond stone like an Atoma for creating a little slurry initially. 
- Kim


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## Badgertooth (Oct 14, 2016)

I'd never considered that with the holes. Good to know.


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## Benuser (Oct 14, 2016)

A stainless Sabatier Lion @60Rc?


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## LifeByA1000Cuts (Oct 14, 2016)

Where did you find a Sabatier Lion that claims 60 HRC?


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## nutmeg (Oct 14, 2016)

Actually I use this one:




Wonderful stone. Hardness 7/10. Not an agressive stone, but certainly not a slow one. I use it with nagura and that makes the job quick.
It leaves a very sharp edge, like semi-mirror. With more time and concentration I think I could achieve this sharpness with this stone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FndYUdUlPg&feature=youtu.be

(I sharpened on Aka renge stone on this video)


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## nutmeg (Oct 14, 2016)

I am professional too (chef). The stone to use at work is the shiro suita from maruo yama.
Agressive, effective, very sharp even on stainless and leves a beautiful hamon and no scratches on the jigane.
No need for a nagura here.
If I has to keep one stone it would be this one.


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## Sharpchef (Oct 14, 2016)

If your stone is too hard to raise slurry of its own, use a fine diamond plate, even with Suita stones, that will speed this thing up!

I am a coticule collector, but for insane fineness you will love your Suita! use it with slurry only! And therefore they can be nearly as fast as really fast coticules, but without loosing fineness with slurry.

Greets Sebastian.


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 14, 2016)

LifeByA1000Cuts said:


> Where did you find a Sabatier Lion that claims 60 HRC?


My sister used to date a guy who worked for Sabatier and he gave me the knife. One day something went wrong with the hardening process and a bunch of knives turned out harder. That's how I got a Sabatier @ 60HRC.

And I did try the Suita with slurry but it just isn't the right stone for me. I intended to use it for my chisels and you have to keep in mind that requires a different edge than a knife. I'm not looking for the ultimate in sharpness. I'm looking for speed and a sturdy, sharp edge. In that regard my coticules blow it out of the water. The stone is going back to Watanabe to make someone else happy.


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## cheflivengood (Oct 14, 2016)

If you are looking for speed and a sturdy, sharp edge try:

http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/suisa-omura/

Im very impressed with the size and consistency, especially for the price


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 14, 2016)

I'm gonna stick with coticules from now on. I only have to tell Maurice what I'm going to use the stone for, how hard and fast it has to be and I know I will get exactly what I want.


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 14, 2016)

Okay, so I experimented with the Suita a bit more and this resulted in something totally unexpected. It actually seems to works better with very light pressure and a small amount of water, like a few drops smeared out over the surface. With light pressure I mean just enough to keep the bevel or back of the chisel flat on the stone. I literally just let glide over the stone and this resulted in more steel removal. This is something I truly don't understand.


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## aboynamedsuita (Oct 14, 2016)

That does sound interesting I'm just getting started with jnats and all accounts I've read would suggest that with lighter pressure it would polish, and cut better with more pressure :scratchhead: :dontknow:

Not sure from your post but were you not using water before (or a lot more than the few drops you mention)? I'd keep the stone as a return would be expensive and a hassle (if even possible) I bought an Ozuku Asagi that'll probably be too hard for knives (maybe okay with honyaki or just the weight of the blade and slurry) during the JNS sale, but made up my mind awhile ago that I am gonna keep it anyways (maybe one day I'll get into razors too :idea2: )


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## PalmRoyale (Oct 15, 2016)

A return is less expensive than keeping a stone I'm not really going to use. I'd rather chalk up the cost of shipping as a loss and get a nice fast La Veinette coticule.


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## Matus (Oct 16, 2016)

nutmeg said:


> I am professional too (chef). The stone to use at work is the shiro suita from maruo yama.
> Agressive, effective, very sharp even on stainless and leves a beautiful hamon and no scratches on the jigane.
> No need for a nagura here.
> If I has to keep one stone it would be this one.



Hi nutmeg, your PM box is full


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## Badgertooth (Oct 16, 2016)

Matus said:


> Hi nutmeg, your PM box is full



My first Jnat was this from
Shinichi. It's kind of perfect I so many ways (for a knife sharpener)


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