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NAKAYAMA #8 MARUKA KIITA AWASADO
207mm x 77mm x 35mm
Reads on the stone top from the upper right down,
JUN SHOSHIN HONYAMA (pure specially chosen original mountain) which is a
registered trade name,
And 24 (an inventory or grading number)
And at the middle SAIKOKYUHIN (very best quality)
Marked faintly on the end of the stone in a
rectangle KA SHO HON YAMA (Maruka correct true original mountain).
This Nakayama Maruka awasedo toishi stone is
NEW/OLD stock from a closed store in Japan. It has not been used other
than to test the quality at one edge of the stone as you can see in the
photos.
You may find other references to the Maruka
Nakayama mines on the internet. This mine was known throughout its history
to produce the finest awasedo finishing stones in Japan and probably in
the world. The Maruka stamp on the end, the registered stamp on the top of
this stone and the single toothed fine saw marks help to date the stone to
before WW2.
This is an actual Maruka Nakayama awasedo, it is
not a fake. Stones of this color and varity have not been mined from
Nakayama for well over half a century and they never will be mined again
as these rare deposits are depleted. The mine was closed in the 1960s, and
I will
not be able to replace or offer these stones again.
This is a very hard stone and it requires advanced
sharpening skills to use. The grit test photos suggest that this stone has
a grit particle size in the 45,000 range. These very hard stones are more easily used if a
diamond nagura (DN) plate is used before hand to build up a slurry.
| HARDNESS
Based on a scale of 1-10 |
10+ |
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| GRIT
Scale of 1-10 |
10++ |
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| CUTTING SPEED/STRENGTH
1-10 |
8+ |
w/DN 10+ |
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| COST
Does Not Include Shipping |
$2000 |
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*In usage when you encircle a kanji word as in this case KA, it becomes
MARU (circle) KA or MARUKA.
**DN-Diamond Nagura
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