nice price for ozuku

[BJJ]

i was looking around and saw this nice price for jnat...

i dont know this website reputation but i think might interest some of you guys here it is

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/hinak.html

 

[Tierdaen]

Some have had fine luck with them and I've heard of others having issues. I was looking into ordering one just to try but was pretty discouraged. The business ethics of that company are questionable, and their "expert" really doesn't seem to be much of an expert at all, despite having a small cult on a cutlery forum.

I'd recommend novices deal with more reliable sources and only order stones from CKTG if willing to gamble a bit.

 

[casus4844]

I have that stone and a few others also. It's a great stone and I've had nothing but great service from them. It's the cheapest price you'll find on that stone. YMMV but if your buying Jnats you should know what your buying regardless of the vendor.

There was a thread talking about this stone a few lines down http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/347815-New-to-jnats

Pay with credit card or paypal if your unsure. At least that way you have a guarantee. Mine measures about 14.5 cm x 8.5cm and about 1/2 an inch thick.

Just to let you know, it's a very hard stone. Building slurry isn't easy. But the edges are smooooooooooooth!

 

[ANeat]

Ive always had good results dealing with CKTG, Order stuff, It arrives promptly.

Buying any natural stone is a bit of a gamble.

If you want advice and guidance then there are better dealers JNS comes to mind.


The rock at CKTG to me is a good risk if your looking for a JNAT to play with. I have one, to me it was worth every penny

 

[Brooksie967]

Depends on what kind of person you are. Do you play the lottery? You might just get a good stone, you might not. There are other sites where the vendors are razor users and test each stone before putting it up for sale.

 

[MileMarker60]

Depends on what kind of person you are. Do you play the lottery? You might just get a good stone, you might not. There are other sites where the vendors are razor users and test each stone before putting it up for sale.

Regardless of who you choose to get a stone from ( that includes every dealer..), you can get a bad stone.
It's best to make sure whoever your buying from as a return policy in case your not happy with what you receive.

As for CKTG's "ethics of that company are questionable", I' haven't found that to be the case.
I've bought a few natural stones, some Syn. stones from them.... I've always been pleased with what I got and the timely manner it was received.


As to the stone in question in the OP, it's a good little stone that I would rate about the same as the JNS's type 100 stones.
At least that's my opinion, others may not agree.

 

[Brooksie967]

I'll give a +1 to what Brian has to say about this. Return policy is important. Be sure to verify their policy. If you have to lap your stone and it removes kanji, they might not like that.

 

[Doc226]

I've tried 2 of CKTG stones, very good for the money.

 

[JGKC9AYC]

So is this a post-coti stone or a do-it-all stone?
How would one raise a slurry on this?

 

[Brooksie967]

I wouldn't put it on the jnat right after the coticule unless you have nagura stones. slurry is raised with a tomo nagura (complimentary) stone or other rubbing stones of various grit sizes. there are plenty of threads on here about jnats and how to use them, do some research and look into what you should be doing before you get your razor on the jnat. just as a rule of thumb, you should be at around the 12k mark if you're going to go right onto the jnat with no slurry from a nagura.

a credit card sized diamond plate is a good and cheap alternative to nagura stones and releases the strength and properties of the base stone. people will say be careful about the random diamond that might be released from the plate but it's never happened to me.

 

[xuzxuz]

As for CKTG's "ethics of that company are questionable", I' haven't found that to be the case.
I've bought a few natural stones, some Syn. stones from them.... I've always been pleased with what I got and the timely manner it was received.

It only takes a few bad experiences to warrant staying away from a dealer. Mark from CKTG has been known to scream at many customers over the phone for returning items and refusing refunds - instead redirecting goods to original seller/distributor/manufacturer to shift warranty issues. The lottery is the risk of getting a sub-optimal stone. The refund issues is more like playing Russian roulette with Mark and CKTG. It's possible that he has learned to be more professional over the years, but bad business ethics tend to die hard.

 

[MileMarker60]

It only takes a few bad experiences to warrant staying away from a dealer. Mark from CKTG has been known to scream at many customers over the phone for returning items and refusing refunds - instead redirecting goods to original seller/distributor/manufacturer to shift warranty issues. The lottery is the risk of getting a sub-optimal stone. The refund issues is more like playing Russian roulette with Mark and CKTG. It's possible that he has learned to be more professional over the years, but bad business ethics tend to die hard.

If you've had a problem with them then by all means don't use them...
As I stated, I haven't had any problems with them and will have no problem using them again if they have something I want.

 

[Gamma]

I can comment on my own personal experiences with CKTG.

I've done a good number of transactions with them over the years - each one turned out well.

Including having to return some higher-end purchases.

Also including Mark offering to replace a 3yr old stone that was cracking.

He's never been anything besides totally professional in his communications.

Lastly, IMO - Brian is spot-on with his stone-comparison a few posts up.

 

[mainaman]

One very important fact that seems to be lost here, is that the stone in question is a general described Ozuko.
Being natural there will be variations from stone to stone, so based on that alone one should be careful what they are getting.
What bothers me about the particular stone is that they seem to put all of them under common denominator which should not be the case, just because of the variation in properties.
I had one of those stones but it for sure was not a finisher for razor, as my review indicates. Now that I am looking at the other reviews, assuming the guys know what they are talking about, it is clear the stone has variations in properties and qualities.

The business practices of the owner are questioned by a lot of people in the knife/stone circles. From all reports I have seen it seems that the customer service is inconsistent,I personally have never had issues although I have never had to return items, but I was assured a return is no problem should I decide to do so. One thing I should also point out is that CKTG delete all negative reviews for their products.

 

[life2short1971]

I placed an order for one a short time ago. When it arrives I'll share my thoughts on what I receive.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I don't believe I've bought that exact stone, but I have purchased "generic" razor jnats from dicks and one or two other places before. I wouldn't really advise it. Perhaps you could get a gem, and they're probably a bit more consistent than 330mate's $20 razor jnats, but in my experience, they tended to be "ok" stones that don't really represent what a good razor-jnat should be. I'd compare them to the modern mueller's andthe less famous vintage barber synths, good enough for the price, but nothing to write home about. I don't remember finding any of them to improve on a coticule edge.

But again, there may be a gem or two out there, so if you're willing to gamble, it could pay off. I'd rather put that money towards a jnat that you know will be suitable to go to after a coticule. If I wanted to gamble, I'd go with 330mate. I've gotten much more interesting stones from him in the past than what I remember getting from these sort of "not the stone pictured" deals on websites.

That said, I've ordered a time or two from CK2G, and haven't had any issues.

 

[noahpictures]

I have one of those. My only jnat. I like it. With a little bit of experimentation it can be a versatile stone.

 

[Gamma]

Nakaoka-san can come up with some good stuff - and some of those Ozukus from CKTG have proven to be real winners too.
Getting past the FUD campaigns that are perpertuated by other sellers and their shills across the intertubes has been an important factor in my sourcing good stones regularly.
The simple fact is that all natural stones vary - buying any of them is a gamble. As long as the seller has a good return policy there's no worries.


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]