CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
TOMAE AWASEDO
208mm x 74mm x 48mm
Reads on the stone top from the upper right down, JUN HONZAN (original mountain).
Down the left center SHIRO UME (white plum).
And at the center right SAIKOKYU HIN (best quality) and MITSU KIRI (3 cuts)
This tomae awasedo stone is NEW/OLD stock from a closed store in a small town 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. Exceedingly rare in this color and quality, toishi awasedo like this have not been mined for many, many years and you do not see them on the market.
Tomae stones are known for their consistent regular quality that retains the same grit and cutting speeds down through the stone. Not necessarily a deep strata stone the Tomae are softer then the Hon Suita and therefore are easier to use. This stone can be used without nagura and will begin to build a paste within a a few seconds. This is an awasedo toishi or finishing stone and the polish it produces would be perfect for general fine finish planing work or as a step to the hardest stone you have in you quiver. The thickness of the stone will provide you with years of service.
These older stones tend to have a microns thin film or skin on the top surface that is a result of chemical reactions with the atmosphere and the minerals of the stone. The stones performance can be greatly enhanced the moment this skin is removed with a diamond flattening plate. I have removed some of this skin to perform the sharpening tests as you can see.
I found indications from the photo tests and sampling the stone that the grit base of this stone to be in the 20,000 range if not higher and with compression will crush finer into the low 20,000s range.You can see a grit test for this stone HERE.
A Swedish blue steel Ishido Teruhide blade was used to sample this stone.
Hardness Grit Speed/Strength Price in U.S. $
8/10 8++/10 9/10 SOLD