u/Chase1126

No, we have natural whetstone at home. I visited my sister today who lives next to a quarry and we went on a hike to find some pretty stones. Once we got back to her house we broke out the tile saw and cut up some pieces. I ended up with over a dozen beautiful pieces of slate, and some gorgeous red stones that are very common where I live. Some initial testing on the kiridashi proves promising. The slate feels a lot like my cambrock silkstone. The patterns in the stones are gorgeous. The red is a really fast cutter! Im still flattening these, but just stopping in to say I've got some more awesome stone writeups coming your way. Anyone else go natural whetstone hunting in their back yard?

240mm Mazaki Kuruchi Gyuto White #2

240mm Manaka Kurochi Tsuchime Blue #1

Life is good. 😁

250g. Clad lines a little funky on one side, but i like it. Should I clean it off with isopropyl?

Background:
Mined from the Glanrafon Slate Quarry in Wales that closed in the early 1900s. It is an extremely hard and fine slate stone that has beautiful and highly diverse patterns throughout. I 100% bought this stone because I thought it was pretty, and I continue to pine for the Glanrafons that go for sale as I am completely obsessed with how different they can look. I’m not sure if this stone should be honed with, or mounted on a wall. I’m amazed by how many varieties of stones were actually mined in this small region. Dragons Tongue, Yellow Lake, Llyn Idwal, Llyn Melynllyn, Cambrock Silkstone… many of these are on my must try list. This stone is easily one of my favorites in my collection.

Looks:
A light grey background splattered with a Jackson Pollock of black lines, dark grey speckles, yellow whisps, and reflective metallic spots. It’s dense, over 1000g, and perfectly smooth. None of the patterns in the stone can be felt on steel. It resists slurry, but when I kick some up with a diamond pad it is grey with a slight purple tint that I don’t think I was able to pick up on camera, but looks awesome in person.

Smell:
Damp cave, neutral, slate. Makes me think of hiking trails around waterfalls where I live. Are we surprised it smells like wet slate? 

Polishing:
I started off with a thick slurry. The stone cuts fairly slow, and it takes a while for the purple/grey slurry to turn to a fairly unpleasant looking brown green as it fills with metal particulate. These brown hues in particulate seem to occur in stones that I think are slightly acidic and can leave tungsten finishes when polishing. The stone fights me a bit, which is a bit of a change from the coticules I’ve been playing with all morning. It doesn’t seem to care too much about water, it doesn’t drink at all, but it requires more attention to pressure and angle. The feedback is very light, it doesn’t tell you what's going on until you are way off the mark and it can gouge. The surface feeling while polishing is one small step back from glassy smooth. It feels significantly harder than my other slate stones and is certainly one of the hardest and finest stones I own. The finish I achieve with the thick pre-made slurry is a little scratchier than I anticipated. It manages to leave a medium-high reflective haze on the iron cladding with a shiny but somewhat scratchy core steel. I wipe off the slurry and give it another shot, but this time on just pure water. The stone is clearly much happier here. The surface feel is even closer to glassy. It now approaches a fineness territory that I am not talented enough to wrangle, and my kiridashi is not flat enough to receive. Parts of the iron cladding along with the entire core steel are now completely reflective. I still have scratches from an imperfectly prepared kiridashi surface, but the more I work it the more they disappear and all semblance of contrast goes with it. All this is to say, it’s probably not a polishing stone, at least for newbies like me.

Sharpening:
With slurry the scratch pattern is fine, and without slurry even more so. The edge is incredibly refined. This is far beyond where you would ever normally need to take a kitchen knife, but boy can it provide one hell of a sharp edge. Cutting speed here is slow, as one would expect, and feel when sharpening is glassy. The only thing I feel are the grains of removed metal particulate. I sharpened my Hatsukokuro Bunka in Aogami and it left a highly reflective mirror. I grabbed a sacrificial potato, and it just lasered through it like it wasn’t even there. Not even a sound. I doubt the edge retains any tooth, but on the right meat and vegetables this stone is hilarious. Do I need to say that this stone does not self slurry?

Razor:
This is no doubt where this stone exceeds. This is my number one razor finishing stone at the moment as it leaves an edge north of 12k. It needs to be set up properly with supporting stones, but when done right this stone is more than capable of leaving a tree topping edge. The feel when lapping a razor is much similar to polishing and sharpening. Smooth, glassy, not water dependent. Once well honed, the razor will stick to the stone on lift up, but the stone doesn’t skip or burnish in lapping. It sits right on the edge of burnishing, right at the finest point I’ve seen yet where the stone is still abrading and removing metal. It sits around a 4.5 - 5 / 5 Jnat as far as edge performance, very similar to my Nakayama Hachimai. It also works great with Mikawa Nagura stone progressions. 10/10, you can’t have this one, get your own.

Notes:
All resources I see declare this stone incredibly rare, but I got mine from a guy on etsy who seems to have a bunch rotating with some pretty wild looking designs. I won’t lie to you, this stone is pretty expensive. If I were a richer man, I would be slurping up all the availability and collecting them like paintings.

Today I’m pounding through some stone reviews, and we are starting off with one I found super exciting! This is a vintage Belgian Coticule that is naturally attached to a piece of Belgian Blue. The stone is very used, and very thin, and at some point was attached to ANOTHER Beligian Blue for stability. There isn’t much life left in this beauty, just enough for a taste.
For those who saw my new Ardennes Belgian Coticule review the other day, I’m going to be making a bunch of comparisons. This stone is much softer, as you can probably tell just by looking at the surface. There are no reflective surface patterns like the new coticule, and the color is much darker and more creamy. At first I assumed oil contamination, but the stone was freshly lapped and flattened and the dark creamyness remains unchanged.

Looks:
A somewhat flat tan. Under close inspection one side of the stone has light spots of a more orange color and a light mottled grain of similar tannish yellows runs throughout the stone. It is less silky to the touch than the new coticule, but does not have the “poprocks” inclusions which leaves the surface very flat and chalky. Some parts of the stone have just a glimpse of yellow left before transitioning to Belgian Blue. The transition of Belgian Blue splits the stone in a soft wave that gets deeper at one side. The underlying Belgian Blue is of a light color. Towards the bottom of the stone a thin slab of a different variety of what I assume is Belgian Blue that stabilizes the stone. This bottom variety is much deeper and more purple. I decided to lap it lightly on a diamond stone and it left a fat streak of bright purple. I’m not sure if the spots of yellow on the bottom are the remnants of another coticule, or just old workshop dirt. They don’t come off with the lapping. Decidedly the freshly lapped bottom finish makes me think Belgian Blue or maybe a pyrenees… I’ll have to play with it. Thoughts?

Smell:
Neutral to sweet. I can smell the woodshop that this stone must have lived in for many years. It somehow reminds me of my grandfathers workshop. Faint oil, sawdust. 

Polishing. 
A diamond pad brings up a nice light yellow slurry. It only takes a few moments for the aogami kiridashi to change the slurry to light grey. The stone would certainly slurry enough on its own, and I would call this a fast cutter in comparison to the new coticule. The “grain” of this stone is much finer and more uniform in feel, and it sucks the kiridashi to it’s surface. Mud covers everything, this stone will not last long. Pleasantly strong feedback on proper angle, it tells you directly when you have it right. It is delicate, as expected. The slurry actually feels really nice on my skin, like some sort of lotion. Natural stone face mask spa day?
Oh. My. God. The hazy kasumi finish this stone produces is S tier. A highly reflective core with a FAT and uniform haze on the iron cladding. No detectable scratchyness on this finish whatsoever. It puts my Ohira Uchigumori to shame. It reminds me of the perfect haze you usually see on sandblasted knives. I don’t think I have another stone that achieves this level of fat haze while retaining a shiny and non scratchy core. This stone is absolutely a polishing dream. Someone help me identify this variety of coticule, I need ten more of them.

Sharpening:
Under a microscope, the scratch pattern is more uniform than the new Ardennes coticule, but decidedly less fine. I’m not surprised by the uniformity considering the polishing finish. With my limited testing I will say that it still has a significant bite which I believe is visible under the microscope. The edge is not as refined here, and while some of that could be because I’m sharpening aogami instead of Mazaki’s White #2, it’s definitely a function of the stone being slightly coarser too. Further testing is required on white steel, but I find this aogami edge pretty much in the sweet zone for toothy multi-purpose kitchen use. 

Razor:
Despite what I expected when purchasing this stone, it is nowhere near a razor finisher. I had to try two kamisori razors to confirm, but the surface feels almost sandpapery here. I broke out my Belgian Blue stone to compare, and the blue is actually quieter and more fine. I’m not sure how to interpret this.

Notes: 
If it weren’t so obviously visually and in slurry characteristics a Belgian Coticule, I would think that I have a different stone. I’ve been trying to hunt down a more fine coticule, but ended up with one that may be coarser than my belgian blue. Having said that, I very much like the stone, but for different reasons than I intended.

I just picked up a newly mined Belgian Coticule and had a bit of time to play around with it. The stone is 8"x2" and I believe it to be of the La Grise variety based on what Ardennes as been mining recently and the patterns on the surface of the stone. If you know otherwise, please feel free to share!

I've had a Belgian Blue for a while now, and it has been one of my favorite stones for a quick kitchen knife edge or a fat hazy kasumi. It's easy to use, and the surface feeling of the stone is nothing like my other European/American/Japanese natural stones. I've been on the hunt for some unique yellow Belgian Coticules, but due to lack of luck in auctions, I've broken down and gotten a new one

Background:
Coticules are very popular in the razor community as a one and done stone. The right coticule can be used as a coarser bevel setter with a thick slurry and a razor finisher with fresh water. Coticules are mined in the same place as Belgian Blues, and traditionally come attached to one, using the harder blue stone as a base material to hold the soft yellow coticule together. The nicest coticules are mined naturally attached to these blue stones, but with modern supply many are glued to them, or like in my case, just glued to a piece of slate. The surface of coticules are very unique. They are incredibly soft stones, but the inclusion of garnets in the stone material acts as the abrasive surface. This leaves an incredibly beatiful surface that catches the light in its unique micro patterns in a reflective way. It's hard to describe, almost like the reflective properties of a street sign on what would otherwise be a chalky stone. The stones are INCREDIBLY fragile, a fingernail can dig out scratches. I found out the hard way that I had mushed the tip of my kiridashi when I pressed it against the coticule and immediately dug out a groove in the stone. I didn't have to lap it out, as within a few hours of playing with the stone and slurrying it the surface has already removed enough material to wash it away. My initial thoughts are that the softness of these stones is not talked about enough. I imagine that with any heavy use I could use up one of these stones very quickly... which is probably why you see so many worn out ones on ebay.

Polish:
In short, soft and fine. An unusual combination for sure. The texture of the stone is so unique, like a slate stone mixed with soft butter. The feedback is intense, and more direct than any stone I own. It tells you exactly what you are doing, and consequentially will damage itself if you don't listen to what it says. With a razor, a slurry is reccomended, but with a kiridashi, it slurries itself as fast as an aoto, and immediately turns light grey with metal particles. I would call it a medium speed cutter. It's soft and ready to work, but too fine to remove serious amounts of metal. The finish it leaves on the kiridashi shows that unlike it's Belgian Blue brother, it is not ideal for polishing. The surface is fine, highly reflective, but seriously scratchy for the fineness it provides. I've read that this is fairly signature for Belgian Coticules.

Smell:
Unlike Japanese natural stones that have a damp and funky aroma, this belgian coticule smells sweet and fresh. My nose mostly picks up the smell of the slate base material. Sweet chalkboard.

Sharpening:
I finally took my Mazaki to stones. After test fitting it so many times while making it the spalted tamarind saya, the edge had lost it's sharpness and it needed to be done. The Coticule was a wonderful surface to refresh the White #2 steel in the Mazaki. I found the cutting speed here to be adequate, and notably, incredibly responsive in it's feedback of the proper micro-bevel angle. These stones are sold as ~8000 grit by Ardennes, and while I would say that the refinement of the edge reflects that, the scratchy finish of the bevel sets it apart. I would call it medium reflectivity of core steel at a distance. The edge left excellently toothy for vegetable skins, but not fine enough for where I know Mazaki's white steel can go. I would call this semi-finisher for white steel, and a finisher for blue. Nowhere near as fast as synthetic stones, but I think the edge is excellent for more refinement than a Naniwa Chosera 3000 offers while retainting a toothyness that a synthetic 8000 stone would not give.

Razor:
How lovely this stone is to lap away at with a razor. I would describe the experience as theraputic. You can lightly feel the grains of garnets as you make each pass. I would describe the feeling like poprocks sunk in to soft butter. Taking the stone to fresh water finishing definitely gives a razor edge that can be shaved with, but is not fine enough for my taste. This stone in particular is likely not a final finisher, but an excellent medium AND semi-final stone. The range here is impressive. It will be a regular user on my razors as I find it incredibly enjoyable to use.

Notes:
I think I need to collect more Coticules. From what I read, I believe this to be a coarser Coticule, and I would really like to see how these stones perform on the finer end. Someone tell Ardennes to get some more La Vienettes and La Dressantes in stock. I'm itching for a fix.

I hope you guys are enjoying these posts. I have a bunch of new stones that I'm excited show show to you, but I'm trying to take my time to learn them and have something solid to say about them. Is there anything you guys would like me to explore with them? Any comparisons you would like me to make? Any pictures you would like to see? Up next is either a Cambrock Silkstone or a Tam O Shanter. I'm having a lot of fun with my Euro stones right now.

2024/25 240mm Migaki

2026 240mm and 180mm KU from a Yoshiro collab?(Box is yoshiro, knife is definitely Mazaki)

Maximum distal taper. Honkin' Chonkin' meaty He-man swords. My favorite kurochi finish (sans maybe a tsuchime kurochi manaka, if one could ever actually be purchased). And hand finished on stones by Mazaki himself!? At this price? How do you not have a Mazaki?

This newly released series is definitely shortens more towards the tip, making it feel shorter overall despite the same maximum height. Out of the handle they are both thicc, but the new series tapers off more extremely and is much lighter and thinner overall. I think the grind is more consistent and its a better all purpose cutter. The core is better centered too. The new style is objectively a better knife, and still retains Mazaki character. But the old knife just has that character up to 11, downfalls be damned, she's a big girl. I was planning to keep only one, but Im kinda glad I have both. Mazaki the cartoon character, and Mazaki refined.

The 180mm is a gift for my brother, but the mini version of a big thicc workhorse knife is pretty hilarious. My heart wants one too, but i know I never really use smaller knives.

180mm

183mm actual 325mm LOA 26.24mm height

139g

4.7mm out handle > 4.1 at choil > 1.95 midway > 1.15 end of kurochi > .57 10mm before tip

.5mm @ start of core steel

240mm Kurochi

242mm actual 395 LOA 53.8mm height

220g

6.75 out handle>5.6 choil>3.3 midway>1.65 end of kurochi>.7 10mm before tip

.5mm start of core steel

240mm Migaki

246mm actual 400 LOA 53.1 height

262g

6mm out handle> 5.5 choil>2.75 midway>2.1 end of migaki>1.22 10mm before tip

.6mm start of core steel

I was pretty bummed when the guy who sold me my 240mm Mazaki Migaki Gyuto didn't send the wenge saya it originally came with. So I started getting in to saya making. This is saya #3 for those counting. I tried bookmatching the seam, but was slightly crooked and didn't successfully hide it as there appears to be some sanding contamination I believe was coming from the spalting or ebony residual on my sandpaper from the last saya. I also really need a belt grinder to explore more complex shapes now that I've started working with harder woods Spalted Tamarind is almost as hard as ebony, but in some of the black areas (spalting) it gets as soft as balsa wood. This made it a pretty difficult piece to carve out with chisels and I actually broke the saya in half towards the end of the process... can you tell?

I saw some spalted tamarind sayas on kkf and thought it would look awesome with my stabilized birch handle. The ones I saw had a pretty uniform white with the spalting, but my tung oil finish brought out this rustic map like color. Or again maybe just sanding contamination. But it looks pretty cool!

Next up, Ambrosia Maple saya for a 180mm Mazaki KU 180mm gyuto. Im also going to cut more tamarind to give this one a second go with fresh sandpaper. Any reccomendations for a powered sander? My arms are tired.

Video below.