Section 7 - 8, Kitayama Hone

[joel]

Kitayama -

The Kitayama stone is often advertised as a 12,000 grit water stone, but it is actually an 8,000-9,000 grit water stone. The interesting thing about the Kitayama stone however, is that while it is barely a finer grit than a Norton (if finer at all) it does a much, much better job at eliminating scratch patterns from hones, and as a result is quite a nice polishing/finishing hone, and will leave a very smooth, very nice edge on your razor. The Kitayama comes with an artificial nagura stone, which I don’t recommend using when honing razors with this stone as this stone is so soft it provides outstanding feel/feedback I think the nagura ends up doing more harm than good. Speaking of feedback by the way – this stone offers AMAZING feedback, and is just about the most fun hone to use. You can really feel what’s going on and you just sort of “know” when the edge is perfectly honed. I am quite fond of this hone, and it is certainly striking – as it is quite large (8-1/8 X 3 X 1)and beautifully mounted to a large piece of wood. This hone is pretty easy to use, and I’ve found does not need to be soaked – merely wet the top of the hone, and it should be ready to go. Great hone… but overall – I think there are better, less expensive options.

Pro’s
1.) Very large/sturdy stone – does not require the “X” pattern when honing.
2.) Hone is ready quickly – just needs a little water on the top.
3.) Outstanding feedback from the hone – really fun to use.
4.) Exceptionally easy to use, and get good results from.

Con’s
1.) At $70, this is a pretty expensive stone. For the money you can get a small Belgian Yellow Coticule, or for quite a bit less you could purchase a Chinese 12K or a spyderco ultra-fine.
2.) Hone is very heavy with the wooden base – a bit cumbersome to use when honing from the hand.
3.) This stone is very soft, and as a result will need to be lapped frequently.
4.) The included nagura stone is pretty useless/pointless.

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[ouch]

The Kitayama ("North mountain") is one of my favorite polishing stones. It is sort of a hybrid stone, as it is made from crushed natural stones. The best natural stones may go from several hundred to several thousands of dollars, and are prized by sword polishers, sushi chefs, and lunatics. Because of this, there is some question as to the actual grit of the Kitayama- it is composed of particles ranging from 8K to 12K, unlike the usual strictly graded stones.

None of that would matter if it didn't work well, which it does. It's one of the better finishing stones I've tried, along with the amazing Naniwa 10K, which feels more like a strop than a stone.

The last time I was at Korin in NYC, master sharpener Chiharu Sugai was finishing a brand new, out of the box yanagi (around $700). He used a sequence of DMT diamond plate, 1K medium stone, 3K Naniwa ceramic stone, and the Kitayama, which demonstrates its reputation.

 

[BertMor]

Hi,,,

i am new here, just having joined, but I would like to ask a question....


I have this stone, for sharpening knives, and I find everything that has been said about this stone true. It is a fantastic hone, and provides mirror finishes to my knives.

But..... I am curious as to why you find that tha nagura is useless. you haven't given a reason for this. I use it, it makes an excelent finishing slurry, and the color helps determine how much metal particles get suspended in it, so that you can clean it off and re-slurry. so what are you reasons for saying its not very uselful?

BTW the Naniwa is considered THE finest finishing stone in the knife world.

Kitayama -

The Kitayama stone is often advertised as a 12,000 grit water stone, but it is actually an 8,000-9,000 grit water stone. The interesting thing about the Kitayama stone however, is that while it is barely a finer grit than a Norton (if finer at all) it does a much, much better job at eliminating scratch patterns from hones, and as a result is quite a nice polishing/finishing hone, and will leave a very smooth, very nice edge on your razor. The Kitayama comes with an artificial nagura stone, which I don’t recommend using when honing razors with this stone as this stone is so soft it provides outstanding feel/feedback I think the nagura ends up doing more harm than good. Speaking of feedback by the way – this stone offers AMAZING feedback, and is just about the most fun hone to use. You can really feel what’s going on and you just sort of “know” when the edge is perfectly honed. I am quite fond of this hone, and it is certainly striking – as it is quite large (8-1/8 X 3 X 1)and beautifully mounted to a large piece of wood. This hone is pretty easy to use, and I’ve found does not need to be soaked – merely wet the top of the hone, and it should be ready to go. Great hone… but overall – I think there are better, less expensive options.

Pro’s
1.) Very large/sturdy stone – does not require the “X” pattern when honing.
2.) Hone is ready quickly – just needs a little water on the top.
3.) Outstanding feedback from the hone – really fun to use.
4.) Exceptionally easy to use, and get good results from.

Con’s
1.) At $70, this is a pretty expensive stone. For the money you can get a small Belgian Yellow Coticule, or for quite a bit less you could purchase a Chinese 12K or a spyderco ultra-fine.
2.) Hone is very heavy with the wooden base – a bit cumbersome to use when honing from the hand.
3.) This stone is very soft, and as a result will need to be lapped frequently.
4.) The included nagura stone is pretty useless/pointless.

 

[joel]

Hi,,,

i am new here, just having joined, but I would like to ask a question....


I have this stone, for sharpening knives, and I find everything that has been said about this stone true. It is a fantastic hone, and provides mirror finishes to my knives.

But..... I am curious as to why you find that tha nagura is useless. you haven't given a reason for this. I use it, it makes an excelent finishing slurry, and the color helps determine how much metal particles get suspended in it, so that you can clean it off and re-slurry. so what are you reasons for saying its not very uselful?

BTW the Naniwa is considered THE finest finishing stone in the knife world.

I find that for knives - the slurry stone works superlative, however I feel for straight razors, it has a deleterious affect to the edge of a straight razor. This hone/nagura is really designed for knives, and I find the nagura to actually increase the coarseness of the stone. By and large - using the included artificial Nagura I personally tend to get a rougher edge, that isn't polished as smoothly as when I use the stone without it.

Hope this helps.

 

[ouch]

BTW the Naniwa is considered THE finest finishing stone in the knife world.

I presume you're referring to the Naniwa 10K super stone. It really is great, and the softest stone I know of. You can gouge it with a fingernail. It seems to wear fast, but the level of polish it achieves is impeccable.

Incredibly, the super stone series isn't even their top of the line. Their cho-cera super ceramic series is pretty pricey, but top notch, with thicker stones. Until recently, that series topped out at 5K. Now they have a new 10K, which means, you know................

 

[rexj]

I agree with Joel about the nagura stone. I do use a natural one instead of the synthetic that is sent with it.