Japanese Sharpening & Honing Stones

There are four major classes of Japanese woodworking tools and equipment which now have an established presence in specialist Western markets, saws, planes, chisels and stones.

There are superlatives which apply to all of these and each offers a remarkably different experience to their Western equivalents; the saws cut on the pull, are incredibly thin and have highly sophisticated tooth geometries, the planes have massive blades, a subtle sole design and can also be used on the pull, the chisels take lamination and steel to new heights and the synthetic stones consistently feature at the head of worldwide surveys of competing technologies used to hone edge tools.

SHARPENING STONES

There are numerous examples world wide of natural sharpening 'stones', in fact every human settlement and culture since the invention of metal edge tools will have its own particular natural stone used to put an edge on tools and implements for food preparation, agriculture, warfare and hunting. The use of natural stones persists.  We still list Belgian Slates, Japanese Natural Stones and Arkansas oil stones for the USA which are now sadly depleted in quality and availability.

In modern times 'stones' (the use of the word 'stone' persists in a similar fashion to the use of the term 'sandpaper'), are manufactured from a wide range of abrasive materials, some natural; Emery, Diamonds (natural and synthetic), Pumice, Rouge, Sand (hence "sandpaper"), Corundum, Garnet, Sandstone, Tripoli to name a few. Synthetics include Borazon, Ceramic, Aluminium Oxide, Silicon Carbide (carborundum), Zirconia Alumina, and Boron Carbide.

JAPANESE STONES

Japanese waterstones have been a sensation because of the comparative speed and quality of the edge they offer.  The 'feel' of the sharpening and honing process is superb, they use water which means you don't need to be fussy about cleaning up when using oil for honing.

The bad news? They are comparatively soft and fragile. The use of a honing guide is probably mandatory and stone maintenance is a routine requirement.

Japanese stone makers use a grit specification which can be approximately compared to other grit definitions in use but it's probably best to get acquainted with it as a system in it's own right.

Grits can start around #80 and progress all the way to #12,000.  An #80 is a 'road base' grit used in lieu of a coarse diamond plate to rapidly remove metal, grits around #800 to #1200 are for coarse shaping, finishing stones range from #3000 to #6000 and polishing grits range from #6000 to #12000. Nagura stones are useful from about #4000 and finer.

How many grits do you need? Truth is as many as you can afford and sensibly bring to bear but a combination #1000/#6000 is probably a minimum. Grits past #6000 offer a diminishing return given their relative cost. The standard advice for sanding using a sequence of grits applies to sharpening, too few grits and too large a jump between grits is likely to leave scratches from an earlier coarser grit.

The abrasive material in the 'stone' you opt for can be a confusing choice and bear in mind there is no woodworking subject more contentious than sharpening and you will find many points of view. The comforting fact here is that you have a far greater range of choice than prior generations ever had.

Japanese Natural - are not man-made and hence bear bracketed grit specifications, are relatively soft and require maintenence. Offer acess to a world where individual blocks of natural stone fetch truly astronomical prices from the most prized sources.

Japanese Synthetic - are man made from a proprietry composition of natural and synthetic abrasives, offer a consistent grit and remarkable quaility and speed.

Ceramic - are tougher, can be used dry, are challenging the supremacy of synthetics.

Aluminium Oxide - less prone to wear and offer superb honing of especially hard white and blue paper steels.

We now offer over 50 waterstone options. Click HERE to go to our full stones listing.

A few popular purchases

Combination #1000 / #6000 grit. 207 x 66 x 36mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3586	Shaping Stone #1000 grit, 207 x 66 x 34mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3568	Sharpening Stone #4000 grit 210 x 73 x 22mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3575	Finishing Stone #8000 grit 185 x 62 x 19mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3578
'Amakusa' Natural, 400-800 grit 220 x 65 x 65mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3557	'Aoto' Natural, 1000-2000 grit 185 x 58 x 38mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3559	'Awaseto' Natural 6000-8000 grit 200 x 72 x 22mm BUY NOW Item Code: E3560	Waterstone Bench Holder BUY NOW Item Code: A1998