Naturally Sharp

Hi,

I suppose you all know that there are different whet stones:

Oil Stones,
Synthetic Water Stones
Natural Water Stones

My favourite are Synthetic Japanese Water Stones and some of the best in the world are Shapton, Chosera and Arashiyama.  There are many others too, Nubatama Bamboo, Imanishi for example

But what would happen if we took a beautiful stone like the Arashiyma 6,000 and created a slurry with a natural water stone, something in the 10, 000 grit range?

Well, I will tell you, it creates a beautifully polished edge that is both quite sharp and very functional in any kitchen. My friend Ken Schwartz, a gifted sharpener gave me a piece of a natural water stone that comes from caves in Kyoto Japan and with that piece I created a slurry, or muddy paste that can enhance the sharpening effect.

I was very pleased with the results.

The picture below is the amazing Arashiyama 6,000 grit Japanese Water Stone, man made with the natural water stone that I used as a Nagura stone to create the magical paste on top, the slurry.

Sharpening knives is pretty freaking cool, this is just something that is fun to do, the results will vary with the knives/steel of course.  At some point in time I will own some full size Natural Stones but that isn't something on my radar yet.  I am not even saying that they are better for sharpening knives, however on traditional Japanese knives, you can create some beautiful finishes on them bevels with them.