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Thread: Entering the Jnat rabbit hole. May God have mercy on my wallet...

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Entering the Jnat rabbit hole. May God have mercy on my wallet...

    Finally took the plunge and bought a Jnat. Call me crazy but I see what all the fuss is about, this thing is awesome to hone on. Makes me want to take out every edge tool I own and sharpen them, whether they need it or not. Ha!
    Its a medium-hard stone, so it will self-slurry. Sold as a Narutaki Kiita Tomae. Leaves a nice finish and sharp edge. I don't know that I'd consider it a finisher for paring chisels or a smooth plane, but for bench chisels its perfect. Have a harder Suita stone on the way, but only God knows how long it will sit in customs before they finally release it.

    IMG_2455.jpg
    Wet

    IMG_2466.jpg
    Dry
    ---Trudging the Road of Happy Destiny---

  2. #2
    "May God have mercy on my wallet..."

    Amen, brother.
    *** "I have gained insights from many sources... experts, tradesman & novices.... no one has a monopoly on good ideas." Jim Dailey, SMC, Feb. 19, 2007
    *** "The best way to get better is to leave your ego in the parking lot."----Eddie Wood, 1994
    *** We discovered that he had been educated beyond his intelligence........
    *** Student of Rigonomics & Gizmology

    Waste Knot Woods
    Rice, VA

  3. #3
    Brian,

    Be careful out there. They are so beautiful and can be addicting. BTW, BTDT.

    ken

  4. #4
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    That is one nice rock you have there Brian.

  5. #5
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    Welcome aboard!
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  6. #6
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    School those of us unknowing on what this thing is. Based on my research, these cost more than most of my tools (and I have some good tools).
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  7. #7
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    oh, this is not going to end well for me . . . .

  8. #8
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    I'm having this thread blocked by my browser...

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Charles View Post
    I'm having this thread blocked by my browser...
    Chris,

    Smart move.

    ken

  10. #10
    Indispensable once you have used one.

    And I only have one

    They actually make a task you once avoided something you enjoy doing.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Luter View Post
    School those of us unknowing on what this thing is. Based on my research, these cost more than most of my tools (and I have some good tools).
    I’m pretty new to all this stuff, so don’t think I’m the guy to “school” anyone, but I’ll share what I’ve gathered. The thing that initially intrigued me about these stones is the fact that the abrasive grit released by the stone will break down further into a slurry during sharpening, thereby changing the effect of the stone upon the steel. Synthetic stones don’t do this.

    As as far as cost goes, there are some incredibly expensive stones out there. Like everything else, people collect the more rare ones and help to drive the prices up. The stone pictured above was comparable to the cost of a premium grade high-grit synthetic stone. The feedback the stone gives while sharpening is preferable to any other sharpening method that Inhave experience with.
    ---Trudging the Road of Happy Destiny---

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by brian zawatsky View Post
    I’m pretty new to all this stuff, so don’t think I’m the guy to “school” anyone, but I’ll share what I’ve gathered. The thing that initially intrigued me about these stones is the fact that the abrasive grit released by the stone will break down further into a slurry during sharpening, thereby changing the effect of the stone upon the steel. Synthetic stones don’t do this.

    As as far as cost goes, there are some incredibly expensive stones out there. Like everything else, people collect the more rare ones and help to drive the prices up. The stone pictured above was comparable to the cost of a premium grade high-grit synthetic stone. The feedback the stone gives while sharpening is preferable to any other sharpening method that Inhave experience with.
    Nice looking stone Brian!

    I think I've said this before when someone said the costs were astronomical or something; So at Japan Tool pointed out to me that the fine grit Jnat's similarly sized to the average fine grit synthetics are similarly priced or a bit higher; but the Jnats are harder and outlasts the synthetic by quite a bit during their life spans. The ones that have a face area like the average fine grit synthetic are also usually a bit thicker, or a good bit thicker (from what I've seen at least).


    Here's the quote from So in an email regarding a few suitas (all similar in size to the generic synthetic sizes but a bit thicker):

    "These are all quite thick, and since they are fairly hard (I’d say about 4~4.2/5), you’d probably not use them up in your WWorking lifetime. This is why I say synthetic stones are expensive, because the are soft, they wear out much much much faster. This is something most users are unaware of, that nats can be less expensive, if you don’t lose your mind (= get anything too collectible.)"


  13. My dad's old co-worker has been teaching me about natural stones from Japan and he explained a stratum like suita for example has always been highly coveted in Japan by carpenters and chefs. The dwindling supply of suitas is what's left in stock at wholesalers and distributors and what appears on the second hand market. This scarcity makes suitas quite expensive, the good quality ones can range from €100 for a smaller stone to €300 or more for a larger stone. A stratum like tomae is much thicker than the suita stratum and produced an abundance of good quality stones so the stock pile of tomae stones is much larger and the price lower.
    Last edited by Jessica de Boer; 01-04-2019 at 4:13 AM.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Vincent Tai View Post
    Nice looking stone Brian!

    I think I've said this before when someone said the costs were astronomical or something; So at Japan Tool pointed out to me that the fine grit Jnat's similarly sized to the average fine grit synthetics are similarly priced or a bit higher; but the Jnats are harder and outlasts the synthetic by quite a bit during their life spans. The ones that have a face area like the average fine grit synthetic are also usually a bit thicker, or a good bit thicker (from what I've seen at least).


    Here's the quote from So in an email regarding a few suitas (all similar in size to the generic synthetic sizes but a bit thicker):

    "These are all quite thick, and since they are fairly hard (I’d say about 4~4.2/5), you’d probably not use them up in your WWorking lifetime. This is why I say synthetic stones are expensive, because the are soft, they wear out much much much faster. This is something most users are unaware of, that nats can be less expensive, if you don’t lose your mind (= get anything too collectible.)"

    Vincent,

    So was very helpful when I took my dive down the rabbit hole and I ended up with some beautiful usable stones and a couple on the edge of collectible. All well worth the time and money spent. Probably the best advice he gave was when he told me it was time to quit the hunt.

    ken

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by brian zawatsky View Post
    I’m pretty new to all this stuff, so don’t think I’m the guy to “school” anyone, but I’ll share what I’ve gathered. The thing that initially intrigued me about these stones is the fact that the abrasive grit released by the stone will break down further into a slurry during sharpening, thereby changing the effect of the stone upon the steel. Synthetic stones don’t do this.

    As as far as cost goes, there are some incredibly expensive stones out there. Like everything else, people collect the more rare ones and help to drive the prices up. The stone pictured above was comparable to the cost of a premium grade high-grit synthetic stone. The feedback the stone gives while sharpening is preferable to any other sharpening method that I have experience with.
    Interesting. I will say that the methods I've used don't offer much for feedback on the finer grits, i.e. I can't tell if it's cutting without flipping over and looking at it. I might as well be rubbing the iron on a countertop. That said, my current process (hollow grind, 3m film on glass + strop.) produces an exceptionally fine edge. I'll back slowly away from this rabbit hole.
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

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