Help with a crack!

[GreekGuy]

I bought this JNAT about 8 months ago on the BST. Long story short, I finally got it sealed, bought a nagura, and found the time to test it last night.

As I wet the stone I noticed it had a few lines in it. No big deal I thought.

Well, anyway, as it dried I noticed this. Its a crack in the stone. In the center of the stone I can't feel the crack at all. But it is evident (felt) on the periphery

What do you guys think? Am I out of luck? Is it still useable? Is there anything I can do? It didn't really seem to give me any trouble when I was using it last night. It seems pretty superficial. Is it something that I can lap out?

 

[Gamma]

Can you show both edge sides, close-up, where the crack is?

 

[GreekGuy]

Can you show both edge sides, close-up, where the crack is?

Here are 2 photos. Thanks for the help!



In this one you can see a very small chip where the crack lies

 

[Gamma]

Hmm, either I don't see it because the photo isn't that sharp, but it doesn't seem to go through to the sides.
It could just be a capillary fissure that opened up. Might not be too deep.
Might go all the way to the middle of the stone too - no way to tell.
You might be able to seal it with crazy glue - or even thinned down nail polish.

Where did you get the stone?

 

[sychodelix]

Looks to me like it's only affecting the skin.

 

[GreekGuy]

Hmm, either I don't see it because the photo isn't that sharp, but it doesn't seem to go through to the sides.
It could just be a capillary fissure that opened up. Might not be too deep.
Might go all the way to the middle of the stone too - no way to tell.
You might be able to seal it with crazy glue - or even thinned down nail polish.

Where did you get the stone?

I think I'm going to try sealing it with some CA glue and lapping it. Thanks!

I bought it off the BST from someone I believe to be reputable. I trust that he did not know about the crack at the time. Its entirely possible it occurred during shipping or at some other point. I did not drop it or subject it to any trauma, as that would be an obvious explanation for it

 

[Gamma]

Do you have a photo of it from when you bought it to compare to?
It looks like there's a chip at one end of the fissure maybe? In the second photo, in the foreground near the edge.

 

[GreekGuy]

Here is a photo of the stone when it was new. Although I never noticed the crack until it was wet. When it was dry it never caught my attention. Although you can see the small chip in this photo

 

[Gamma]

Yep - there's the chip, which is the start of the crack I think.
I think I remember this one - wasn't it sold as a Maruka but there is no Maruka stamp on it?

 

[GreekGuy]

Yep - there's the chip, which is the start of the crack I think.
I think I remember this one - wasn't it sold as a Maruka but there is no Maruka stamp on it?

Thats exactly the one. I thought that little flower looking thing might be it, but I know squat about japanese. Perhaps the crack expanded from the chip

In any event, sealing it with CA and lapping it should be curative, right?

 

[gumbo]

Functional or not, I would be curious to know how a crack like that affects the value. If in fact it was there when you purchased it, and was an honest mistake, I would hope the seller would offer some sort mediation. If it was sold as a stone that it is not, and that also affects the value, then I think a refund would be in order. But that's just my two cents.
As for repairing the crack, would mixture of slurry from the stone and CA do a little bit better? Just a thought.

 

[Wid]

I would super glue then lap.

 

[GreekGuy]

I would super glue then lap.

Rick, in your experience will that "solve" the problem, or is it likely to just rear its head again at some point down the road?

 

[Wid]

I've done it and it's worked. I can't say how long term but it seems to work.

 

[Gamma]

Might be easier to drizzle straight CA into it, not sure that adding slurry would help but I can see how it would impede the flow of glue into the fissure. My guess is that the split is fairly tight, and a solid jig-saw puzzle bond is possible. Adding anything to the glue may be more problematic.
A fissure like that definitely affects the stone's value in a negative sense. I would only buy a stone with a distraction like that at a very low price because its a risk.

Its impossible to tell if it was there before without having a high-res photo of the top though. It could have happened at any time. While I suspect that whatever caused that divot caused the fissure, there's no way to know that for sure either.


I'm sure it can be glued successfully though. It might be shallow and if so it'll lap out in time.

OP - did you lap that stone after you received it?