Jnats for Dummies

[@tomlambrecht3808]

Thanks Keith. This is a really great video for someone like me that’s starting out with JNats. Lots of good information here. I wish that I found it earlier.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I'm glad you found this video! Thank you for watching and commenting !

[@dadadadave100]

Man I love how you say exactly what’s on your mind keep up the great videos 🤙aloha from Hawaii

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for watching and commenting David! Stay tuned, more videos coming - Happy Honing!

[@KingJL25]

Very helpful video. Super good explaination. Although I don't use Jnats currently, this definitely helped with my understanding of natural stones in general. Thank you

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Very cool - thank you for watching and commenting!

[@Cdub33]

Keith, excellent video man. This is a lot of great info in 30 minutes. Concise and to the point. From the time I've spent thus far, it's nuts how even one nagura of the same class can feel and perform different. One botan, for example, can feel and perform different from another botan. The mixing and matching of naguras has become part of the fun of the overall puzzle.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Glad you're having fun - thank you for watching and commenting! Happy Honing!

[@daveb4717]

Keith said, "you know that I have some skills I have some understanding". Brother your fingertips scream you've spent time on the stones, and have done the reps! Good video!

[@JamminGIJames32]

Always learn from you bro! Honing is about times on the stones with various razors/steel

[@KeithVJohnson1]

You got that right James! Thank you for watching and commenting! Happy Honing !

[@zathrasnotzathras655]

As a dummy interested in jnats, I really appreciate this video. Jnats always seem so confusing to me

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Good to hear the vid was helpful, happy honing!

[@CDShavinMurphy]

Can I bother you with a question? What does it mean to champer? You said it around 4.29. unless I'm hearing you wrong which is entirely possible. Do you mean to lap the corners and the edges as well as the top?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Chamfer - to put an angled face at the corner where the top meets the sides.

[@Polartrucker]

Very helpful, i need a Botan, Komo and Tomo nagura, Ill check for it, thanks for sharing all the great content!

[@KeithVJohnson1]

You're welcome Mikael, and thank you for watching and commenting! Happy Honing!

[@sloggilonglong]

Great information. I would love to see a "coticules for dummies" next

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I've considered that actually....

[@fallenstudent1103]

@@KeithVJohnson1 please do since I'm very interested in Coticules and more videos on the subject would be welcome.

[@f00by]

Thanks for putting this stone up on your Etsy Kieth ;) Looking forward to the edges off it. Keep the vids coming and keep your Etsy store stocked. Hope all is well

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for checking out the store! Happy Honing!

[@om6ka]

Hey Keith. I still haven't found a single reason for using naguras, if you have a good Jnat then you only need it and a diamond plate to set the best edge after 1k. So I sold all my asano naguras and same stuff :) It;'s just my opinion.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Iwasaki forgot more about steel, razors, and sharpening than 99% of the people on this planet will ever know, and he promoted the use of these Nagura for good, and proven, reasons. I try to remember that always, because, well, the guy was literally a genius and way more advanced in this arena than anyone I've ever talked with. Objectively, Diamond plate slurry is not really capable of refining an edge to the level of fine-ness that the finer slurry Mikawa Nagura creates. Finer slurry makes finer edges, finer stones make finer edges, and so on; logic and reason always apply. Nagura slurry is, by default, going to be finer than slurry made with a 1k plate, which is fairly obvious also. But - not everyone is going to see the the differences or possibilities here because to realize the difference requires being able to create an edge that is refined enough for the difference to matter. This is, partly, why people saying that Norton 8k is a great shaving edge - they just don't know what's better because that 8k (5k JIS) level is what seems to work for them and by default it's their 'best'. Quality of Nagura and Honzan also factor in, so experiences with a limited sample size can often cloud the overall impression. So there's that. I had a customer who struggled with Koma nagura until I tried his Koma and it turned out to be bogus. There's a lot of that going on out there, and that too has to be factored into the equation. Thing is - not seeing a difference doesn't mean that it's not there. Absence of proof is not proof of absence. Many people have said they can't advance an edge using Nagura, that guy from Razor/Stone group used to say that all the time. But he also couldn't use a Frictionite 00 successfully and usually said that Eschers were the only stone that mattered. I just raise my eyebrows and move on because I know, factually through testing, research, and both anecdotal and empirical evidence that a Nagura progression will out perform (sharper/smoother) less complex methods of sharpening. That's for me - I can't guarantee results for others, too many variables for that. It's all a matter of choice. Some guys stick to honing on Nortons, others move on. Some guys hone on Coticules, others say they don't work well enough to finish. And so on and so forth.

[@fallenstudent1103]

Jnats aren't my thing but your videos are always great and informative. Keep up the great work.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Cool, thank you for watching and commenting!

[@juliovesperinas9673]

Nice - Thanks Keith, stay safe!

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you Julio, take care, be well, and Happy Honing!

[@larrymc4373]

Thanks for putting your time into this vid.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hi Larry, you're welcome. And thank you for watching and commenting too! Happy Honing!

[@nejcmazej1129]

Hello. Nice to see your video again. watching your videos always calms me down to the fullest after all this drama surrounding us. Thumbs up! I have been watching your videos since ever and I am really thankful for the wisdom you share to all of us that actually want to learn from you. Thank you. Great video as always. I have a question. Would you be willing to test one of my stones? I have been told that the stone I have is a jnat.. bla bla.. No way for me to tell. And I don't care really. I know it is a natural stone and it's fine and works nice for me. The fact is that it works for me and has been for like 2 years now. I would send my stone to you to test it and maybe tell me more of what the stone feels to you and maybe what do you think it is. If you are interested let me know. Anyway enjoy, cheers

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hello, thank you for watching, following, and commenting! Unfortunately, my schedule is beyond full, there is no time for me to take on new projects like testing your stone. I appreciate the offer though, it sounds interesting. Happy Honing!

[@Smiling_mike]

Thank you again, I learn something from you every video. Much appreciated and am always enjoying my stones from you!

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Good to hear! Thank you for watching and commenting - Happy Honing!

[@ninoeatsnoodlesasmr378]

Really nice way you sealed that stone and made a base using the g10. Do you have a tutorial on how to do that?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I did not do a vid of that process - was one of those things I did 'on the fly' without plans. Glued it down, trimmed the G10, filled the edges, sanded it and voila....done.

[@ninoeatsnoodlesasmr378]

@@KeithVJohnson1 what exactly do you seal the sides with?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

@@ninoeatsnoodlesasmr378 epoxy

[@ninoeatsnoodlesasmr378]

@@KeithVJohnson1 awesome thanks for the info. Keep up the good work

[@KeithVJohnson1]

​@@ninoeatsnoodlesasmr378 You're welcome - happy honing!

[@nejcmazej1129]

Hello Keith. I have a lot of sharpening to do and i plan to do it over the weekend. Let's say i don't go through the whole process of pre-soak_use_dry every day and just leave my jnats in the water for 3 days, can i make any damage to these stones. For example amakusa stones? I would appreciate any help. Thank you.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

typically, Jnats we use to hone razors are Shale, and should not be soaked or left soaking. Doing so can destroy the stone in some cases.

[@nejcmazej1129]

@@KeithVJohnson1 i have this amakusa just for knives. So you would it still be wrong to make a quick dip for 10min before sharpening or just splash and go? These are quite porous and i think it would go dry instantly if i just splash and go. Thank you for taking the time to help me. It is much appreciated. You just saved me 100€.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

@@nejcmazej1129 there is no need to soak the stone, it gets wet enough from just honing and adding water as you go.

[@nejcmazej1129]

@@KeithVJohnson1 Thank you very much. This was quite a shock to me. I wonder why nothing is written in the description of the stone. Tipicaly on sintetic it says to soak. Its a good thing i asked you. Thank you. I think if i did it wrong like that, there must be a ton of people also soaking these stones. Hmmm..

[@KeithVJohnson1]

@@nejcmazej1129 Some synthetics are supposed to be soaked, some are not supposed to be soaked. Within one brand it might very from one series of stones to another. Nani Chosera were not supposed to be soaked, the Traditional Stones were ok to soak. Shapton Pro should not be soaked, and so on. Still, people soak stones, and sometimes stones crack. People who crack their stones usually don't go online and say "hey, I didn't follow directions'. Amakusa are cheap stones, a 2 lb slab is about $20 USD in Japan, no one cares if they destroy it and to be honest those stones fall apart on their own anyway sometimes. So you won't hear about it so much. Most sellers on Ebay have no clue about what they are selling, so they can't help you. Some will give bad information and not care because they will not be held accountable. Bottom line is - when you want to do something, ask yourself 'why do it"? what is the point? What is the goal? Is there proof this works? Most of the time, you'll find out that a lot of 'internet wisdom' is just fantasy babble. Amakusa do not need to be soaked, soaking it does not help it work better, there is no advantage to soaking it. So there is no point to soaking it other than you wouldn't have to add water so often - but a short soak won't really counteract the stone's dryness so it's all a waste of time and all you wind up doing is getting water into the stone that does not need to be there.

[@johnnymotorboat8824]

I can tell you do a ton of synthetic honing. That stuff eats your hands alive. Something in those stones are terrible for skin. I noticed it because only the portions of my hands that touch the slurry were like falling apart.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I guess it depends on what anyone considers to be a lot, but IMO I don't actually do a lot of synth honing. My fingers have suffered from refinishing cast iron weight plates; phosphoric acid, paint, wire brushes, etc. That and making strops, the leather does a number on my skin.

[@honemeisterbcs2932]

I really like your videos. It's a lot of specialized knowledge and I really appreciate your sharing with us. Question, what's the difference between saying "dressing stone" and "tomo nagura"? I received Chosera 1K from Japan and it says "dressing stone included" in katakana ドレッシングストーン府, but when it comes to Jnats I read tomo nagura 友名倉。 I'm wondering if both terms mean the same but dressing stone is restricted to synthetics and tomo nagura to naturals. By the way, I'm a foreign language teacher and I teach Japanese at a university I made some research directly in Japanese but still I can't find a page which directly addresses any difference between both terms. Thank you again. Kind regards.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Naniwa dressing stone is for keeping the base stone's surface clear. Tomo Nagura can be used to do the same thing so in that sense they both serve the same purpose. But a Tomo Nagura's main use is to create an abrasive slurry comprised of particles from the base stone, and it's own particles. That paste, or slurry, is what you sharpen with. The Naniwa 'rubbing stone' is pretty coarse, around 600x or so, not very refined. It's not meant to be used for creating slurry. Using synthetic slurry on synthetic stones is counter-productive for the most part. But they do load with swarf and that is where that dressing stone comes in handy.

[@honemeisterbcs2932]

@@KeithVJohnson1 Thanks a lot for your explanation. Kind regards. -Mike

[@Bayamontification]

Thank you for the video Keith, as always, entertaining and informative. As far as your edges I’ll attest that from personal experience they shave well and are meticulous, pubbahs and haters are going to hate.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hey Nelson, thank you for checking out the vid, I appreciate your comments, always. Yep, haters always gonna hate, it's all they know, so it's all they can do.

[@Bayamontification]

@@KeithVJohnson1 Great information in your video if that’s what you’re looking for. I recently hosted a honing Zoom call and discussed jumping off synthetics after 5K then going to a pre-finishing jnat before a finisher, works like a charm and is very consistent. Your pulling certain Ásano nagura to test the refinement of the edge is an awesome idea, gracias!

[@rockinshavinwithgonzo520]

Always great to learn more. Thanks for sharing great knowledge, it’s much appreciated. Happy New Year

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Gonzo in da haus! Happy New Year and Happy Honing too!

[@rockinshavinwithgonzo520]

@@KeithVJohnson1 thanks brother

[@michaelshults7675]

Something definitely happens - don't know how to explain it, but it does feel different when it's broken down etc..

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Indeed, Happy Honing Michael!

[@michaelshults7675]

@@KeithVJohnson1 Thanks.. I haven't had a whole lot of luck finding a 'pure' piece of tomo. I have found a quality tomo can be harder to find than a awesdo, finishing stone. I may be wrong, but I have found a Tomo nagura works better if it's slightly softer than the finisher, say if you have a 5+ base stone, then say a 5 tomo would maybe work better, than a tomo that is equally hard.

[@FroggyShave]

Really nice video, thanks Keith! Would you not finish with Koma? Or is it always better to end with Tomo? Personally, I prefer to go from 5k synthetic to Tenjou (I tried Botan and wasn't fully convinced)

[@KeithVJohnson1]

When used correctly, a good Tomo will leave a finer edge than any Mikawa Nagura is capable of. Good quality Botan is always coarser than Tenjyou; which makes an easier and cleaner job when removing striations left by synthetics. Just like it is with the Tomo, or any Nagura actually; the Botan must be up to par, and it must be used correctly. And then the Tenjyou/user must be capable of eradicating the haze left by Botan.

[@FroggyShave]

@@KeithVJohnson1 thx for the response. I just sent you a message on your FB 😊

[@RealTalkThomas]

Keith, I purchased a Shobu from you. It came with a slurry stone, which slurry stone came with it? Tomo-nagura?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Yes, that is a Tomo Nagura

[@martadobiasova6933]

very enjaoyable video sir, keep it up, love your content

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Good to hear you're enjoying the vids - thank you for watching and commenting Marta! Happy honing!

[@paulspeller968]

thank you sir . what an interesting subject. only just got into honing so really just trying to get a feel for the stones and steel . i found that very informative and easy to understand . but a fair old times needed before i jump into that puddle 😂😂😂😂

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for watching and commenting Paul, yep - takes time, sometimes, to get where we're going.. Enjoy the ride and Happy Honing!

[@piersilviorossetti3860]

Hi Keith, beautifull video! I'm a beginning, how can I buy this starter kit from you? I live in Europe. Thanks in advance

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Hello, thank you for watching and commenting. That kit is not for sale, and I do not ship internationally. Ty.

[@hosseinordoubadian5439]

Thanks. Great review.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for the compliment! Happy Honing!

[@gregorybupp]

Is that tape you used to protect the spine of the razor just electrical tape?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Yes, usually 3M Temflex 1700, or 3M Super 33 or Super 88

[@gregorybupp]

@@KeithVJohnson1 Perfect, thank you :)

[@DanielWorkshop]

You lashed out a little on those trolls. :)

[@KeithVJohnson1]

It was mostly peaceful though.... :0)

[@johnnyboydianno]

Great way to kick off my days off and the new year gratz my friend I wish this vid was out before I had bought my jnats from a seller on etsy 250 reviews of people saying great stone ya not lol it's brownish yellowish soft and soak for a week before using lol anyway great to see you again

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Lots of chuckleheads out there tryna be Jnat sellers, good number of them are clueless fools selling junk stone. Sorry ya got burned Johnny - hard way to start 2021... be well though, take care and good to see you here in the comments my friend!

[@johnnyboydianno]

@@KeithVJohnson1 pleasure is mine all the best

[@justordinaryeverydaylife7977]

Welcome back brother

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Thank you for watching and commenting ! Happy Honing!

[@rogerpegg571]

I learned something, thanks.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Awesome! Thank you for watching and commenting too, Happy Honing!

[@whitestarleather]

Great video as usual mate, shame you don ‘t ship to the UK. :-(

[@KeithVJohnson1]

It's not that I don't ship to the UK, I don't ship internationally at all.

[@whitestarleather]

Ok, shame shame though as I wouldn’t mind working on jnats. I don’t trust fleabay and I don’t know what to look for too be honest, so I’m kind of stuck. I don’t chat on forums as I want to hone and i can’t be arsed with poobars as you call them.. I use cuticles and eschers etc and I don’t need jnats but it would be interesting to see if I have got the skill level to use them. Any how anyone over here you would recommend for jnats? Btw thank you for the videos, great stuff as I am learning a lot.

[@KeithVJohnson1]

@@whitestarleather unfortunately, I do not have any suggestions for you. During the next year, I may start to accept 'some' overseas transactions where a forwarding service is used. But I have yet to get settled with that idea, I have to do more research about those services.

[@whitestarleather]

No worries mate, please let me know if you venture into shipping overseas. As I am very keen on getting a few things off you as well as jnats that you would recommend for my level.

[@marcfriedman6089]

Do you soak your j-nats?

[@KeithVJohnson1]

I have done that in the past, on occasion, with a ridiculously hard stone. But, I have not needed to soak a Jnat in a very long time.

[@justordinaryeverydaylife7977]

Perfect video for me 🤪

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Glad you liked it!

[@justordinaryeverydaylife7977]

Loved it, I need to hone my Nagura skills... I have to pick up the last two on your Etsy! I am using Atoma and Tomo.

[@agaralpha1842]

Long time no see

[@KeithVJohnson1]

Not that long, but we're here now!

[@agaralpha1842]

@@KeithVJohnson1 👍 I hope you stay safe in brooklyn 🤘