OHIRA OITA

INTERPRETATION OF THE STONE

A large, clean OHIRA with good cutting speed, overall ease of use is very high with strong polishing strength.
On first putting knife to stone i immediately was impressed at how easy this stone was to use and get good results from. In the 6k to 8k range producing a thick dark grey mud with a smooth fluid feel under the blade across the entire stone.

For polishing this stone gives very nice contrast with matte soft cladding and a mirror like finish to the core steel when taken far with the natural mud from the stone. When the stones surface is dressed with a 600 grit atoma, washing away all mud and starting with fresh water the stone will produce a thick dark mud naturally, making the stone surface smooth and very easy to sharpen and control the type of desired finish.
As always I like using little water in all my stones by this stone could be used with a normal amount of water or just a few drops under the blade, depending on technique this stone could produce various results in polish and cladding detail.

Incredibly versatile this stone easily handled all types of carbon steel and cladding as well as Honyaki and Ginsan sanmai.

Overall an excellent stone with huge potential in both polishing and edge sharpening and with its large size and clean surface polishing was very enjoyable being able to work around the entire stone.

Recommended for both beginners and experienced sharpeners.