I was very surprised last night. I took one of my favorite old blades from 1790 and did a touch up on her with this Iromono using light slurry with a iromono tomo of about the same hardness as the base stone. I was surprised because I had taken this razor to a laser sharp smooth edge on a 5+ stone. I though it was as good as it could get. This stone must be made up of a finer particle grit or break down further. Super smooth and still incredibly close. I am sure the lather consistency from my soap can play a role in over all feel, but this stone has really surprised me.
Sounds like you got a winner here in the iromono. The days of samuri developed steels that just might have been similar to your 1790 razor, hard steel but not overly hard, hand hammered, plenty of impurities that add character that allows the steel to give instead of break. It is the same with a stone like yours iromono, and a few of mine that are similar, they react and join in the process of sharpening as opposed to commanding over the process of sharpening.
Level 5+ stones provide level 5+ slurry, crisp and sharp. Comparing hardness levels over the internet is problematic but another stone on your bench in your estimate of 5 or 5- you will find the slurry to be slightly more flexible.
Alex
I haven't had any personal experiences with this seller, but based on what you guys are saying I wouldn't buy a shoe lace from him. I'd be surprised if it's 330mate.
One last bizarre thing about this seller is his naming of stones. Is Suita an Asia layer. I didn't think so. Sunashi according to him seems to mean a lot of things and can be any stone not just Suita with no Su. I talked with him about some of this and asked others about what he meant and it seems very odd. One thought it was 330mate from the wording of what he had said. When I asked if he knew 330mate it got a rise out of him. He didn't seem to fond of him.
Ha, cool so my tomae stones therefore are sunashi. Last I knew is suita strata well 3 suita stratas. To me sunashi is a term reserved for very special suita stones