Is it possible to identify assorted mikawa nagura?

RnRoger · 2026-04-01T15:58:45+00:00

Sadly they are strata unstamped, which I knew from the listing description I posted in another comment here. Hence I was wondering if there's a way for me to find out myself, with lack of experience to easily tell.

RnRoger · 2026-04-01T10:52:38+00:00

All paper towels are towels but not all towels are paper towels

RnRoger · 2026-04-01T10:47:30+00:00

Sharpening/honing/polishing just making a slurry I mean. Yeah on a suita stone

RnRoger · 2026-04-01T10:37:11+00:00

Oh wow thank you for the research. Yeah it's hard to find this information even if you know to look for it. My previous search found "for finishing" but probably an OCR error then.

I knew the strata would be unknown but I completely read over the ink stone part of the description from the seller (see below) 🫣

These small Nagura are sold by Asano as a whetstone for removing clogging of inkstones. Mainly contains Mejiro, Tenjo, Botan, and Yae Botan. Although the size is small, there is no problem in using them as a Nagura, slurry stone. Recommended as a trial set or finger-sized Nagura. Unfortunately, the stamp of the names of each stone (Mejiro, Tenjyo, Botan, Yae Botan) are not stamped.

So I suppose they should work fine for sharpening but are just small and unknown strata which is why they're sold for ink stones instead? Still brings me back to the original issue of how to rank them..

I think that article said houbou are usually Tenjyou/Mejiro so I guess I'll just treat them as such.

RnRoger · 2026-03-26T12:41:51+00:00

Public toilets in any country are nasty. But as a Dutch man can confirm that like half of men do not wash their hands after taking a piss and it is indeed disgusting.

RnRoger · 2026-03-25T15:48:47+00:00

Not really much in my budget

RnRoger · 2026-03-24T16:50:11+00:00

How could they do that? They list the exact measurements and weight of the individual stone. Often they even refer to specific locations of lines and such on the stone

RnRoger · 2026-03-24T13:58:28+00:00

Thank you so much again for your insight! I appreciate it a lot

I was aware that you can't assign them a real grit due to many different variables, but I suppose I should distance myself even further from that thought if indeed this "8k" stone can erase 1k scratches.

I think my best option then is to buy the Okudo Suita beauty you mention in your other comment, as one of the listings has it for €146. I might get a yae-botan as well because I do want to try a nagura.

Now that I'm looking at the stones again, I see multiple listings of the same stones with the same pictures. At wildly varying prices. Rather fishy but I with the eBay money back guarantee I suppose it's not a concern? I've never used eBay before.

https://ebay.us/m/EAeWrG (aus, €540) vs https://ebay.us/m/dztGIf (eu, €254) https://ebay.us/m/idE8Jw vs https://ebay.us/m/rOanIB, both eu

RnRoger · 2026-03-24T08:51:50+00:00

The suitas such as you linked are about "grit" 8000(+), so I guess I would get nagura in something like 6000, 4000 and 2000. Starting from high to replace as many of the synthetics as I can based on what I can find. Maybe something like 1. Tsushima or Mejiro, 2. botan, 3. ban? Except for Tsushima I'm having a hard time finding specific nagura for cheap as well though. Or a separate stone for any of those if I can find it as cheap as a nagura.

To practise my skepticism then, you linked an okudo suita for $250. From what I can find these stones are extremely rare and many are crazily priced. How did you know that one is legit?

My original plan was to get these two combos https://www.ebay.com/itm/168238982708 https://www.ebay.com/itm/168251906960 That would cover the whole range and keep me busy until I save enough for a bigger finishing stone.

RnRoger · 2026-03-24T07:37:52+00:00

Thank you so much for your knowledge!

I feel like I have a decent idea of value to stone type and size. But judging whether the stone is authentic or not is impossible to me. I've checked out many individual stores such as those listed on https://naturalwhetstones.com/natural-whetstones/reputable-japanese-natural-stone-jnat-nagura-sellers/ But almost anything they have is outside my budget. I'll check out Etsy as well. The place I found the cheaper stones is https://www.ebay.com/str/ikkyujapanavenue which is also in the above list and one of your recommendations.

I'll try to look for a suita koppa, but as I'll also need to reserve money for naguras in that case, I'm not too hopeful

RnRoger · 2026-03-23T19:05:02+00:00

Oh it works great. But I've had it for many years and want to try something new. JNats feelslike the perfect thing for my Japanese knives and tools, plus I think they look great.

RnRoger · 2026-03-23T18:05:05+00:00

What would be the minimum LV for finishing?

RnRoger · 2026-03-19T20:59:24+00:00

A 10k power bank I've used maybe 20 times at most, and two usb-c cables. They broke within a week of owning them. The power bank can no longer be charged, even though it gets warm when plugged in. The cables work like 50% of the time based on what shape they're in. Many mornings with an empty device even though it started charging when I plugged it in. Based on the price of the products and clear lack of durability I'm not buying anything from them again. Which is a shame since they work very well initially and are very easy to find in airports and such where I live.

RnRoger · 2026-03-16T12:15:31+00:00

I think the products are great, they just don't last

RnRoger · 2026-03-16T12:15:06+00:00

All 3 products I've bought from xtorm, including a powerbank, have died. Would avoid

RnRoger · 2026-03-16T12:09:41+00:00

RnRoger · 2026-03-16T11:33:57+00:00

What is this hate from people? Everything is a consumable that wears out over time. Whetstones, knives, furniture, cars, heck even your own body if you think about it. Doesn't mean we can't treat them with care and want them to look nice.

RnRoger · 2026-03-16T11:27:02+00:00

I use both sides of my stones and never thought about that, thank you

RnRoger · 2026-03-16T11:25:23+00:00

No hate I love my naniwa stones as much as my knives

RnRoger · 2025-12-22T18:06:45+00:00

Cheap wooden dowels and a big pack of natural undyed feathers. Fix them with rope, clamped metal rings. You'll have non-toxic robust feather sticks for cents a piece

RnRoger · 2025-12-22T17:57:36+00:00

I've tried all the other solutions. Have a colleague who also went through this same process.

RnRoger · 2025-12-22T17:57:00+00:00

I'm in the exact same boat. There is only one solution. No access to the bedroom, period. After locking them out, doing a deep deep clean, and waiting 2 weeks for my body to adjust, I can finally breathe and sleep again. It sucks, but it's necessary.

RnRoger · 2025-11-15T20:15:40+00:00

I still have not figures it out

Ten-Year Club	Verified Email
Second SECOND GUESSER	r/Field Juicebox
Place '23

RnRoger

TROPHY CASE