ARGH!!!! §#@$%#!!!! %@!%&$!!!! %§@$%&#!!!!

[timwcic]

It is always a good day when a Jnat is found for sale at a very respectful price. Seller said he had it for a long time but never liked it. It was too fine and too slow to use with his knives. Too fine and slow, that my favorite flavor. Without bickering over the price, could not pay quick enough. Just asked to pack well to survive the shipping barbarians and arrive safely. Even shipped UPS, never had a problem with them before. Arrived the next day and my first impression on the porch were

Large box, check
Heavy for it size, check
No sign of shipping trauma or crushing, check
Shake test, no movement, check
Opened box, lots of paper and bubble wrap, check
So far so good

Never had a UPS problem before, first time for everything. Pulled the stone out from the packing and was broke perfectly in half along the long axis and top piece was broken in two along the inclusion

Three pieces, ARGH!!!! $%@!%&$!!!! If there is any silver lining, all the margins are clean with no missing pieces, no shrapnel

After some aspirin for the headache and tums for the acid reflux, the realization set in that a got another rescue, repair, restore. After taking a 24 hour time out while studying the pieces, I put a plan together

First to remove the bottom piece from the Dai. 2 hours in a 180° oven softened the glue/cement enough to pry from the wood. Gave all the pieces a good bath to remove any slurry and oxidation. Used epoxy to bond everything together. Tricky figuring out how much to apply. I didn’t want any to squeeze out the sides but I did butter the two ends so when I clamp together, the epoxy oozes out the top, but not the sides. That will make for a smooth surface but will allow lacquer to enter the sides to be waterproof. Clamp together and use 15 lbs to lead to hold all the pieces together. So far, so good

After a 24 hour cure, sealed the stone before going any further. Mixed some lacquer very thin so the first application gets sucked into the side gaps and good overall penetration. Several thin coats and two a little thicker finished the job nicely. Time to lap and chamfer. Cleaned up nicely, very impressed with the end result. Surface is silky smooth, can’t feel the repair. I would have loved to have in its original condition, but for what was delivered, I can make this work

 

[timwcic]

Turned out to be a good looker. Primarily cream colored with rivers of red, pink, violet, and blues. 8x3” and 890 grams. It’s a mystery stone, no stamps on box, wood, or stone. One interesting tell is gold specks in the small amount of black skin on one end. On the plates it runs on the softer side and creamy. Look forward to seeing what I can do with it after this save

 

[Wid]

Nice save. Hopefully the buyer makes it right with you. If nothing else a big discount

 

[rideon66]

You got a nice big iromono with namazu on a dia and seller pic looks kind of domed for sword polishing for $45. Win even with the repair. Been there too. Had a unique purple iromono barber size with namazu show not great packaging from Germany and split right on the namazu line. Apparently that is a week point. I used super glue and clamp. Worked like a charm. onl ruins resale valu, but oh well. Seller cut the price down to what it would be worth as tomo.

That stone looks nice Tim.

 

[timwcic]

Nice save. Hopefully the buyer makes it right with you. If nothing else a big discount

Thanks Rick

I told the seller I hold him harmless. Just got bit by Newton's laws and the top half stayed in motion. Discount, HAHAHA, any cheaper it would have been free

You got a nice big iromono with namazu on a dia and seller pic looks kind of domed for sword polishing for $45. Win even with the repair. Been there too. Had a unique purple iromono barber size with namazu show not great packaging from Germany and split right on the namazu line. Apparently that is a week point. I used super glue and clamp. Worked like a charm. onl ruins resale valu, but oh well. Seller cut the price down to what it would be worth as tomo.

That stone looks nice Tim.

View attachment 1852160View attachment 1852161View attachment 1852162

Thanks Tom

IMO, the packing was there. Just my time to pay a good luck tax. I thought for a short minute of leaving as is and lap the bottom piece flat. Cut the small piece in half for two same stone, same width Tomos. One full size and a barber size. My math said they would be less that 10mm and was afraid they would have crumbled, even after I glued to backers

 

[rideon66]

Thanks Tom

IMO, the packing was there. Just my time to pay a good luck tax. I thought for a short minute of leaving as is and lap the bottom piece flat. Cut the small piece in half for two same stone, same width Tomos. One full size and a barber size. My math said they would be less that 10mm and was afraid they would have crumbled, even after I glued to backers

Tim you did the right thing there. I am a bit of a Iromono addict and that looks to be a really nice one. So good save. If it cuts fast and has the right fineness you may have a diamond. As those softer iromono like that are harder to find.

It could have been a bump in just the right spot, a bit of moisture left in the stone or the hot/cold temp fluctuations. It definitely split across the top like mine right on that weak point along the namazu line though.

 

[Christian1212]

With how it broke I would lap the bottom too. Might like that side more, or at the worse you have a double sided jnat! Cheers

 

[rhgg2]

Love those patterned boxes! Give me choice between a stone festooned with stamps, and one with one of those boxes and I'll take the box every time.

No idea if they are associated with a particular distributor but the one I have in such a box is a Yamaichi:

 

[timwcic]

Love those patterned boxes! Give me choice between a stone festooned with stamps, and one with one of those boxes and I'll take the box every time.

No idea if they are associated with a particular distributor but the one I have in such a box is a Yamaichi:

View attachment 1852756

Glad it’s not just me, I thought the box was gorgeous. One of the few question I asked, besides how quickly I can pay, was that the box was part of the deal. It is also oversized to contain the dai. It’s 10x3 3/4 inches in perfect condition. It survive better than the rock. The stone is exceeding my expectations. Harder than I was expecting but not too hard. Feedback has been prime. Using a misty diamond slurry, feedback was silky smooth with a feeling of the slurry under the blade doing its work. Saved a seven day growth for the test drive, blade was wonderfully smooth and sharp