Your wishes are order dear readers. I will also review my new hammer buying experience at samurai pro shop.
First, the hammer:
I love the skin from the forge.
And the subtle variations it has.
But what I love most, is the finish near the sticking surfaces. Beautiful details.
This are the details of the guy who answered my mail.
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Hitoshi Yoshino.
PRO SHOP HOKUTO(SAMURAI Tool)
1469-3 Saijyou
Gyouda-city
Saitama 361-0005
Japan
Phone81-48-557-0878
E-mail proshophokuto@mth.biglobe.ne.jp
URL http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~ttoishi/sumurai.index.html
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He's really a kind person. We sent about 20 mails to each other. This is the hammer I got: NO.G１２ Hisikan hiiro Square hammer 40匁 1pc JPY3.250 With shipping and handling, it came to 36 euros or 10 cappuccinos from tribeka. I'm looking forward to get another one.
Oh, and I realised I needed a square japanese hammer when looking on of David Barron's videos. It was pure lust.
Now the stone, together with ruler and Charnley Forest. (Does anyone know what do they put in the wood? Is black and smells bad, under it is the wood. Looks like teak)
The japanese stone came rough. Spent around 1 minute in my 240 diamond stone and it was kinda ok. Then 600, and I gave it a go.
It's not so thick, but who cares. For less than 15 euros included shipping.
The surface with a bit of water:
Now, Jason asked if this was a hard stone. The answer is, I don't know. My experience with japanese stones is quite limited. I bought last year this one from dictum http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/product/711303/Quarry-Stones-Honyama.htm
That one was really hard, difficult to use, or I was too stupid. It's anyway in Chile so I cannot compare.
This is the slurry it makes after 30 seconds or so on the back side of the chisel.
It doesn't cut that much. But when you go to the soft iron, is a complete different story. It leaves immediately a black stripe of iron.
I tried with my japanese kitchen knife (more on that later) and I could shave as never before. A different kind of sharpness.
About the seller, 330mate, there is no much to say. The guy is quite professional and focused on business. He answers promptly and ships fast. I like the prices he has, and must probably, I will get a bigger stone before next year. In particular, I've been looking at this one. Maybe I also get other small ones, this is the "hard", he also has a "soft". They make beautiful paper weights anyway.
In case you ask yourself, I glued the stone to the wood with "Moltofill", this paste that comes in a tube to fix the holes in your wall. I had it, so I tried. It hasn't break.
Hope this answers some of your questions Jason. I feel a bit dumb describing stones... there are so many subtle differences that I don't know yet how to explain. But I like the experience, I can see why people spend shits loads of money on them. There is a certain dance between the steel and the stone, it's nice to be there to see it happen.
Edit: Pictures with slurry form the 600 diamond stone
