Ohiras Renge

All Ohiras is here and most of them is send out today 

Here are some pics and vids 

Time to prepare to Japan trip !!

JNS will be closed during my visit in Japan
from 22 October to 30 October  2011


Last shipping date will be this friday 21 October 2011 !

I try to update my blog with pictures and videos from Japan wile i am there but i dont know how internet is out there.
So fallow the blog anyway :)

New Vidos

Some new videos of stones that is in the store :D

Ozukus and Maruka A la Carde

Scheon Burg honing video, with vintage Coticule, Maruka and Ozuku 

2 Very fine Ozukus super nice colors and very beautiful stones 

Ozuku Suita and Ozuku Sunashi Suita 

3 new videos

Aoto comparison video 

Red Akamom Aoto and unknown my favorite Aoto

Fingerstones part 2 and 3

Part 2

Preparation:


It is very very importent to make good preparation befor using fingerstones !!
Take good time to prepare because it is last polish you dont want to ruin anything.
I use chisel to make my fingerstones from a big rock, then i flatten them on both sides with Atoma 140, then i flatten useable side with 600 grit and up to final natural i used.
You have to round all the conners and make sure that nothing sit lose on that small stones .

Fingerstones

I thought i share some of my thoughts about fingerstones.

I got some very nice Ohira Uchigomori sword polishing quality !

Finger stones is bit difficult to choose because they are used for final finish on your knife or sword so they have to be of very best quality to not to destroy your finish after all that hard polishing !!

Here is 2 examples of bad and good Uchigomori

At the looks you cant see much differens but after use the bad one is very soft and fragile it will ruin your finish.

Uchigomori is a layer in Tenjyou strata so it is not name of the stone but just a layer, this layer is very good for fingerstones because it is soft and dose not have to much cutting power to ruin the finish so it is safest stone to use for fingerstones ! But very difficult to get a good one


First stone on top is very fine and sword polishing grade Uchigomori, one below is very bad Uchigomori

Bad one 

Good one

Nakayma Fingerstones the best fingerstones i have tried so fare milky mirro finish and very smooth polish 

This one is more for advance users very hard to make slurry but very stable and fast cutting stone it is not Uchigomori but harder Maruka Nakayama.

Ozuku super hard VERY difficult to use will scratch soft steel if not used correct but will leve super mirro polish, i use it very rare because its very easy to ruin your finish.

Ready to use fingerstones 

Will continue... with more pictures of finishes 

For more good info about fingerstones you can also read this from my friend, there are 5 parts 

http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitaeji-maintenance-1.html

Vacation !

Note ! I will be on vacation from July 8 to July 24  2011

Kasumi finish on double beveled

By request of Yoshikane or Shigefusa users i made video how to make or maintain kasumi finish on double beveled knifes without Shinogi line.There is no Shinogi line on thise knives on purpose So dont try to make one !!!
Your knife will preform much better without Shinogi line and with only Hamugiriba edge.
It will prevent crunching or wedging in your food !



stones used: Hakka, Unknown Asagi, Ohira renge suita and Nakayama finger-stone

Shigefusa stone Ohira Range suita

After i read Hides blog about Shigefusa stones.
http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/04/shigefusa-and-his-whetstones.html
I was very excited and asked my soars that sold that stone to Shigefusa to get one similar for me :)

So i just got it today :)
It is Ohira Range suita mine is without toxic lines or inclusions and i can not feel any lines on it !
I just try it out on my kasumi Moritaka, that stone is amazing i am bit surprised that it is so hard i thought it was much more softer stone  but its not , it is very very fast as you can see it is only black swarf on the stone without any slurry. Finish is like on Shigefusa knifes :)
Now i have a stone i can relate to when i peak some stones and finger-stones for Shigefusa knifes !!

Here is pics of my new stone :)

Medium stones Test

Now where i have all stones home i will do a test between them :)

Stones in Test:  Iyoto, Coarse Aoto, Aizu, Blue Aoto and to make comparison more visible i test Hakka too that stone i use after medium stones.

Iyoto:
That stone is the hardest off all very hard to make slurry !!! I guess this stone will work best with Nagura

Coarse Aoto: The softest stone off all very fast and muddy !

Aizu: Still very hard stone but with better feeling then Iyoto, it is fast hard and muddy all in one :) 

Blue Aoto: Smoothest stone with very nice feeling finest of medium stones, medium hard !

Hakka: That stone i use after Aotos and medium stones very nice polisher and i use it as final stone for western knifes.

Conclusion: 

I love medium naturals stones ! but good ones is hard to find and they are quite expencive because of size, weight and shipping cost.  

All these stones is very good for different tasks and its very hard to find witch one is the best for you and what you will use it for . 

I am still searching for good soars of Medium stones so i can add them to my shop but for know there are just to many bad ones :( 

Iyoto 伊予砥 VS Bester 1000

Got Iyoto stone today from 330mate :)

I needed to try this one out !
330mate is only soars that i can get Iyotos from so i searched for one on his website and bought one for 9000 yen + shipping 3000 yen
http://www.330mate.com/product/874

Same time i bought Bester 1000 grit stone on German website for 37 euro + shipping 10 euro http://www.fine-tools.com/bester.html

So prices of Bester is cheaper but Iyoto is twice as big as Bester so for size they cost exactly the same !

Here is my impression:

Bester: Soft stone, cuts very fast, i love the feeling of that stone :) I permanent soak mine stone so it lives in water. Very easy to use, light colour make it so easy to see metal removal  !
Very good for beginner and pro. !

Iyoto: Hard stone, not so easy to use but with Nagura make it much easier and faster ! Splash and go stone, these stone will last a very long time. Bit slower then Bester but i think its because of hardens, finish is bit finer then Bester.
I like these stone a lot too :) Beautiful zebra colour!
Not for beginner !


Ok, here are some videos and Picture of finish
Knives in test White 2 steel laminated Pity and Tamahagene hole steel Gyuto !

Iyoto and Nagura (much faster) 

Iyo, Tmahagene 

Bester, Tamahagene 

Iyo, white steel laminated 

Bester, white steel laminated 

Dai Honyaki Pare

Got handle for my small Honyaki pare
I had it for a wail now like a project knife for polishing but never had time to use it.
So i gave up ! Did very quick polish and put handle on so i can start to use it :)

I got it from http://dai-knives.com/
90 mm white 2 steel water quenched.

My new Knifes

Got my new knifes today :)

Costume order chopper meat cleaver i ordered 2 one for me and one for my student at work.
It is total costume, me and my friend Stefan made the design and measurements, only 3 is made, 2 in Denmark one in US. We have ordered it in cheap SK4 steel but Yoshi made it in White 2 steel as extra service without extra charge :)

And 210 mm Gyuto extra thin in Skd steel for line work  :)

Waiting time was 3 month and maker was Yoshikane

All knifes was ordered at my friend from Japan Hide from "Hides Export"
http://hides-export.blogspot.com/

Here are some pics :)