Best Pirce 🔥 Natural Whetstones #683 Imanishi Ohira Tomae Type 40 Size 1177 Grams 4-4.5 Hardness 4.5+ Fine ✨

Old stock stone from the Tomae strata of the Ohira mine. Hard and a bit scratchy with too much pressure, it needs to be finessed to create a very bright sub mirror finish, I found that I couldnt avoid getting a very bright but slightly scratchy looking finish, not deep scratches but not super mellow looking. I think better can be coaxed out of it with a more thorough polishing of the surface of the stone however. 

There are a few shallow looking cracks on the top half of the stone and one corner cut out, otherwise flat level big stone, priced accordingly 

Ohira:

A ‘Nishi-Mono’ or Western mine that produces some of the highest quality whetstones. This mine is most popular for producing Uchigumori, which is a famous stone type used for sword polishing. For knife users however, we love Ohira Uchigumori to produce a dark jigane and frosty hagane. Ohira mine also produces highly sought after Suita and Tomae stones of various hardness, typically having a fast cutting speed and a toothy yet refined edge.

This stone has not been lacquered on the sides which is recommended to avoid splitting along bedding planes. Do not soak. We do our best to disclose any cracks or flaws but being a naturally occurring stone we cannot guarantee against these. That said these have been selected by an experienced stone dealer in Kyoto with decades of experience.