Colorful iromono with a broad ring-kan pattern with hand-sawn edges & chiseled back. There is blackened kawa skin on one side suggesting that the stone came from the edge of a nook in the sedimentary strata.
With tones of yellow and green the dominant sharpening surface is also striped with swaths of purple. A few shots of pink namazu in-filled lines on the front and back, and black kawa skin that sparkles in the sun are all typical of earlier Nakayama stones.
The odd beauty of this stone is overshadowed by its cutting performance. Not all stones cut all steel. From type to brand, old to newer products some stones cut certain steels with ease but not others. With my testing of this stone, using The AxMethod, after setting each bevel with a 1,000 grit King stone, I was able to hone each razor in the photo below to shave ready status by using just that one Nakayama. From old Sheffield to modern boutique steel including Hart, Zowada, Speach & Brian Brown, and everything in between, all passed HHT tests as "shave-ready" blades on this stone. In my experience, this is rare a performance that only a very small percentage of natural stones can provide.
A lifetime-size tomonagura slurry stone will accompany the awasedo.
#1219 Nakayama tomae
214x75x33mm thick
1107gm 2.4lbs
$2800
#1219 Nakayama iromono kan pattern tomae
All of my stones are sold with a money-back guarantee minus the return shipping if within 30 days of the sale and returned in their original state. Please do not lacquer the stone if you have any intention of returning it.
I encourage sealing the sides of all sedimentary stones, especially if there a inclusions, cracks, or fissures and or if the stone is used in an active workshop where the stone is constantly wet. For casual use, sealing, especially all four sides, and preferably the back with one of either a marine type of spar varnish, a synthetic lacquer, urushi, or a cashew-derived lacquer is prudent.