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All the stones I list will have been tested on both straight razors and knives. Hardness and fineness of a stone can be very subjective as it is not an exact science. I give my personal opinion from using many different Japanese natural stones over many years.
My acquisition of these stones generally come from reputable Japan sellers. If a mine is mentioned in the listing that is information that came from the reputable seller. But without an authentic kanji stamp there are no guarantees what mine a particular stone came from. If the stone had a stamp prior to being lapped off, I will include the photo that was taken before lapping.
I personally don't put much stock into what mine a stone was extracted from as the stone itself, and its qualities are all that matter. But I will do my best to add any information about a stone that I am aware of and share my personal thoughts on the stone in the description below.
I only list a stone after I am confident in its quality and ability to perform very well. But that being said I want anyone that opts to invest in one to have peace of mind with their purchase, so I always include a 30 day return option.
This listing is for the Japanese natural whetstone shown in the photos.
The stone vendor I originally acquired this stone from said it came from a retired barber. It is a hard and fine asagi tomae that was mined in the 70s or 80s from the Shobudani mine. As with most stones that came from a Japanese professional it is of high quality and was cherished by its owner.
I would estimate the hardness of this stone somewhere around 4.5 - 4.7 and very fine grained. I enjoyed using this stone very much for razors, knives, and tools. Razor edges off this stone were always very nice whether I did a full nagura progression or only used it as a finisher after a synthetic progression. For knives and tools, it leaves a polished very keen edge.
The stone has been clear sealed on the sides and bottom. The surfaced has chamfered edges and was lapped flat with a diamond plate.
Dimensions of this stone:
Max length: 195 mm
Max width: 72 mm
Max thickness: 31 mm
Weight: 1,036 grams with base
The listing comes with free domestic shipping. All stones will be packaged and protected in a way that insures they will arrive in good order.
