# Maruoyama v Maruoyama



## Badgertooth (Apr 7, 2017)

I make no secret of being a huge Maruoyama fanboy and I have a buy first, think later approach with them. I wanted to wait till a big piece of uchi arrived but I'll tack it on as a reply when it does arrive. So for the purposes of this write up we have:

1. Shiro suita
2. Shiki uchigumori
3. Kiiro suita

Also, what we have above is actually a fair representation of all stones from the shiki-Suita layer at Maruoyama. What is on my bucket list is to round out this list with a tamagoiro Suita and a kuro Renge Suita. James at K&S was in raptures of delight when he visitors Maruoyama and tried a kuro Renge.


The first in the lineup is the maruoyama shiro suita. It was, along with an Ohira aka renge Suita, my first natural stone purchase from Shinichi Watanabe.





It is a dove grey with a solitary russet line running down the left length of the stone but it is benevolent. In many ways, this is a benchmark stone for me. As many stones as I've tried and tested, this is one that I keep coming back to. It's smooth and easy to use. It's a great primer in water management on natural stone as you have to start with a drop or two and work your way up from there. It's fast but this is sometimes disguised by the gray colour of the stone. 





It has immense range on account of the generous mud. If you manage the water and work the mud you can control the edge you end up with from the bottom of the finisher spectrum to the hair-popping end. There is also no scraping or juddering or grabbing on wide bevels an allows nicely contrasted finish to develop.






The second stone is the shiki uchigumori 

The shiki uchigumori is the red herring as it's from the same strata as Suita and not the tenjou layer where a lot of other uchi comes from. Shiki comes from the bottom peach coloured layer in this diagram, not the pink one at the top.









When dry it has he same light grey tones as the shiro suita but when wet there's a greenness that pokes its head through in the tonality but which is hard to capture photographically 





The namazu I mentioned earlier are the white splotches running along the russet lines. Namazu (&#12394;&#12414;&#12389, means catfish and refers to surface splotches in the richly evocative language of stone descriptions. Watanabe asserts that some white ones such as this can have a lubricating quality relative to rest of the surface, almost a sliminess, but this is not something I could detect on this stone.

I confess I forgot to photograph the mud development on the stone but suffice to say, the mud develops easily and there is an easy smoothness with which the blade runs over the surface, more so than with the shiro suita. 









The edge it leaves is that little bit toothier than the Suita but I also did not work the mud as long. 
Cosmetically there's not much in it between the shiro suita and shikigumori. Though I did discover a term, &#26311;&#31995;&#20181;&#19978;&#12370; (cloudy finish), and this is a textbook example.


Last in the rogues gallery is the kiiro Suita 
Kiiro means yellow and you get an idea of it from the lacquered sides and when wet









I have never seen another kiiro Suita for sale but I have a honyama sunashi Suita that I am now convinced is kiiro Suita. It is palpably harder and finer in use and cuts the fastest of the three.





It also leaves a cloudy finish, but bear in mind this is sitting on top of the lustre and depth created by the other two stones. It actually brightens up a bit but this picture doesn't convey it either as I put tsubaki oil on which deepens the appearance of the contrast. While the shiro suita is my favourite all rounder, this stone probably leaves my favourite edge of any stone (or one of). Even if it's not in my lineup, I'll often dry strop on it to get the most batshit, keen edge without sacrificing any bite.





It occasionally spits out a little crunchy which can do this:





But what it offers me, outweighs the occasional scrape by such a commanding weight that I don't care. I find the stone I like the most often have a little quirk. This is this stone's quirk.

I'll tack on the uchigumori review when it lands.

Happy weekend


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## tgfencer (Apr 7, 2017)

Excellent comparison, as per usual. Good luck in your search for the kuro renge!


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## TheCaptain (Apr 7, 2017)

Showoff :thumbsup:

Seriously, I love it when you post the diagams to aid in the understanding of the strata where the stones come from. Looking forward to the next review.


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## Badgertooth (Apr 7, 2017)

tgfencer said:


> Excellent comparison, as per usual. Good luck in your search for the kuro renge!



I found one... for a mere ¥130k


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## tgfencer (Apr 7, 2017)

That's it? Pocket change...


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## K813zra (Apr 7, 2017)

Nice write up as always! Have you had a chance to try a Maruoyama Tomae? I have seen Mr. Watanabe put them up on the site from time to time.


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## valgard (Apr 7, 2017)

Badgertooth said:


> I found one... for a mere ¥130k


:bigeek:

Nice mate, thanks for taking the time to write that. The write up, not the quote above .


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## tgfencer (Apr 7, 2017)

K813zra said:


> Nice write up as always! Have you had a chance to try a Maruoyama Tomae? I have seen Mr. Watanabe put them up on the site from time to time.



I had a Maruo tomae and also a shiki uchimugori. The tomae had a creamy feel while sharpening and was a bit on the softer side. The uchimugori was quicker to slurry and create a good mud and left a more refined edge than the tomae. The shiki uchimugori was more of a useful stone in my eyes, both in terms of polishing and sharpening. The Maruo tomae was very nice, but many stones would perform the same function.


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## K813zra (Apr 7, 2017)

tgfencer said:


> I had a Maruo tomae and also a shiki uchimugori. The tomae had a creamy feel while sharpening and was a bit on the softer side. The uchimugori was quicker to slurry and create a good mud and left a more refined edge than the tomae. The shiki uchimugori was more of a useful stone in my eyes, both in terms of polishing and sharpening. The Maruo tomae was very nice, but many stones would perform the same function.



Thank you! I have not seen much on these stones.


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## Badgertooth (Apr 10, 2017)

The new Maruoyama arrived and I've given it an initial test. If I have it right, this is uchigumori from the Tenjou strata.

The top pink layer





The stone itself is big, clocking in at wider than 80mm, 210mm length and a decent height though there is a chunk missing from right hand bottom of the stone









It is second only to the kiiro Suita in terms of cutting speed. I used it on a knife that had patinated to get a feel for it as a polisher





Below gives you a feel for the slurry and the colouring of the stone





Ta dah! (Quick and dirty, but you get the idea)






Touched up the edge... me likey


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## JGui (Apr 12, 2017)

This is excellent! Can't wait to decide what my 1st jnat stone to buy from mr.watanabe.


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## Badgertooth (Apr 12, 2017)

Hold out till he has a maruoyama restock. Totally worth it.


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## JGui (Apr 12, 2017)

Badgertooth said:


> Hold out till he has a maruoyama restock. Totally worth it.



I've read that youre also an advocate of the aizu if i could only have 1 natural stone, right? Should I?


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## Badgertooth (Apr 12, 2017)

Well it all depends on your other stones and what your preference is for edges. But yes, it certainly is useful as you can jump to it from a 800 or 1k synth and still get some pretty gnarly edges just south of a final finisher. Really aggressive edges


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## K813zra (Apr 13, 2017)

In an older thread Badger advised me that I might like an Aizu, so I picked one up, low and behold I do love it. However, I have two and I must say that those two Aizu stones are night and day. Aizu is not the only stone that I own two examples of but it is the only stone where the two examples differ so much. The first stone is very hard, for a mid range natural, does not like to slurry on its own and is not the fastest cutter but as was said above, it finishes just south of a finisher. I would say when compared to synthetics it is somewhere in the 4k+ range. On the other hand, the other Aizu is medium hard, which feels much, much softer than its sibling. It will raise a slurry very quickly and is significantly faster and coarser. It will get a trail of black swarf from the first stroke. It is an all around easier stone to use. I would say this one is closer to the 2k range or north of there. Slightly finer but easier to use than my Ikarashi but just a smidgen slower. 

If you are buying one from Watanabe I would tell him what you want the stone for and how you want to use it as well as asking him to advise you on which particular Aizu he thinks is right for your situation. Personally I find both Ikarashi and Aizu to be more practical when on the softer side, most of the time. 

Natural stones are a very personal thing so take your time and try to figure out exactly what you want or you might just end up with a dozen or more lateral moves.  Not that there is anything wrong with that. I plan on getting more but I am taking a bit of a rest as my wallet is exhausted.


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## JGui (Apr 14, 2017)

Man, you guys are just the best.

Im currently picking between #2, #8 and #9 at the aizu page under watanabe. And a 45000 yen and below ohira renge suita. 

Will post once i decide!!

Thanks guys


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## Badgertooth (May 17, 2017)

Welcome to the family kid.

Maruoyama Tenjou Tomae





Nice namazu layering and waiting to be discovered









A fairly nice polisher. I was playing around with a Takenoko for another thread but this just jumped it up to another level:


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## Matus (May 17, 2017)

Where did you get that one Badger? It looks lovely.


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## ecrphoto (May 19, 2017)

TheCaptain said:


> Showoff :thumbsup:
> 
> Seriously, I love it when you post the diagams to aid in the understanding of the strata where the stones come from. Looking forward to the next review.



+1, the thoroughness is fantastic!


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