Honing forum is slow these days. So... Hone Pics power, ACTIVATE!

[mainaman]

Latest acquisition- green Aoto. This is a rather hard stone, does not make a lot of slurry with a knife very nice stone.

With my other Aotos in increasing order of hardness, red being the softest. The blue Aoto is vintage and produces almost no slurry on its own. Such pieces are very hard to find nowadays.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I've considered picking up an aoto on a few occasions, but horror stories of stones that wear like mud and have inclusions and ate your cat have scared me off them. That blue looks purdy. Where does one pick a vintage aoto like that up? Get lucky on a japanese eBay?

 

[mainaman]

I've considered picking up an aoto on a few occasions, but horror stories of stones that wear like mud and have inclusions and ate your cat have scared me off them. That blue looks purdy. Where does one pick a vintage aoto like that up? Get lucky on a japanese eBay?

None of the Aotos are from auction. The red one muddies a lot but cuts very fast and leaves very uniform finish , the green I got a few days a go and have not had time to try on razor, on knife works super. The blue one is great on knives, and too heavy ( ~2.5 thicker than the others) for hand honing(what I prefer) to use on razor, but it works fine as well.

 

[Gamma]

The Red Aoto calls to me - is is an Akapin?
Isn't Red Aoto the wrong term? Ao means blue I think, right? Whatever it is -- I've wanted one for a while.

Boxed Koma..

 

[Bayamontate]

Damn!

 

[mainaman]

The Red Aoto calls to me - is is an Akapin?
Isn't Red Aoto the wrong term? Ao means blue I think, right? Whatever it is -- I've wanted one for a while.

technically it is the wrong term but it is what it was referred to, it is unknown what the real origin is I believe, it is from Akapin strata.
The stone is really nice IMO, I use it on knives, sometimes razors and the slurry is really great to polish razors when restoring.

 

[Woodash]

The Red Aoto calls to me - is is an Akapin?
Isn't Red Aoto the wrong term? Ao means blue I think, right? Whatever it is -- I've wanted one for a while.

Boxed Koma..

OK - I know that raising this question here is like talking to a bunch of enablers, but I've got to ask: What is it with buying all of these koma, etc? Trying to corner the market? Is the performance of one so much different than the others? Simply collecting? Conspicuous consumption...what? I mean, it's your thing and your business ... but I'm just curious...
Cheers.

 

[Gamma]

Decided to hone your sarcasm instead of a razor today eh?

well.. needs more work - you barely got an HHT 1 there...

 

[SliceOfLife]

I'm more interested in the where than the why. Gamma's picking up a Koma a week when I can't even find stamped ones available.

 

[MileMarker60]

I'm more interested in the where than the why. Gamma's picking up a Koma a week when I can't even find stamped ones available.

That made me laugh..

As to the question why.... I don't see it any different then guys that have a box full of coti's or jnats or thuri's...pick you stone.
As Ian said.. it seems to be a rarity that one pops up for sale. That being the case, if one goes up for sale or you have a line on one..why would you not buy it.

 

[Woodash]

Decided to hone your sarcasm instead of a razor today eh?

well.. needs more work - you barely got an HHT 1 there...

Honestly - not sarcasm; just curiosity. And we all are different, but I'm one of those who personally find the HHT to be closer to a parlor trick than anything else. Now, that was sarcasm.

 

[Gamma]

Personally - I only use the FHT to judge an edge.

 

[paco664]

Personally - I only use the FHT to judge an edge.

i use "the bodyguard".........

she holds out the straight razor then i walk up untill it touches my chest then i pull one hair from her head and toss it into the air and watch as it floats down and splits in two on the edge......


then i go on to make a bunch of crappy movies while she smokes crack till she drowns in a hotel bathtub....

*(too soon??)

 

[joshua1970]

i use "the bodyguard".........

she holds out the straight razor then i walk up untill it touches my chest then i pull one hair from her head and toss it into the air and watch as it floats down and splits in two on the edge......


then i go on to make a bunch of crappy movies while she smokes crack till she drowns in a hotel bathtub....

*(too soon??)

nope. perfect timing.


that said, like stones, people have multiple inclusions and cracks .... some just have (had) a lot more crack than others.

 

[Drybonz]

Wow... I bet a koma that size cost an arm and a leg! Boxed too! That is quite a find Gamma.

 

[Gamma]

TY - It's definitely one of the more interesting Koma I've come across.
This one has more figuring/striping... its quite a special piece too.

 

[cb91710]

Personally - I only use the FHT to judge an edge.

Ditto.
I'm shaved and don't let my pit hair get long enough to be useful for HHT.
SWMBO's hair is so baby fine that it would take a fresh Feather DE to get any kind of HHT result.

So my edge test has to wait until the next time I need a shave, and it is the "ULATGT" (Upper Lip ATG Test).
No weepers = ULATGT-3.
No weepers and no tugging WTG = ULATGT-5.

 

[xMackx]

When we take pics of our stones we spritz them with water like a super model posing for a shoot.

 

[mainaman]

New Wakasa full size

kiita asagi mix, very very smooth, fine and a bit soft, perfect for Kamisori.


Next to my small Wakasa, both are very different stones as far as how they work.

 

[California Cajun]

I should pay more attention to the honing forum, because I had to hone a razor I bought three times to get it right.