Jap. Waterstones Which waterstone should I choose? KING and SUN TIGER Suehiro and Cerax Shapton Ha-no-kuromaku line 1STONE NANIWA Lobster Naniwa Sharpening Stones Naniwa Professional Stones Imanishi Bester Sigma Select II Juuma Cobalt Blue JUUMA Whetstone Pro NANIWA Traditional Stones Japanese water stones: With artificial waterstones, which are far more common these days, there is of course no contamination that needs to be removed and most people use flattening plates of some sort to keep their stones flat. If you use a diamond stone for flattening and you just let the stone dry with the slurry from flattening on it and you have lots of slurry. In that sense the nagura is obsolete.

Before you start, it's essential to gather your tools and set up a suitable workspace. This isn't a task you can do on your kitchen counter. You need space to move, good lighting, and a clean, quiet environment where you can focus on the task at hand. Remember, sharpening a katana is not just about the physical act of sharpening. It's a meditation, a way to connect with the blade and the history it carries. Selection of Correct Sharpening Tools By using the same grit stone, I can true a stone while I am using it, without having to worry about grit (or diamond particle) contamination, which I have experienced with diamond plates but which Henk says doesn’t happen anymore. He may be right, I don’t know. Sharpening Stones Japanese Natural Stones Natural Nagurastones Natural Stones from Kyushu Koppa style natural Ozuku sharpening stones Using Japanese Waterstones Other Sharpening Stones, Honing Guides, Accessories Missarkastones Once you've found the correct angle, maintain it as you glide the blade across the stone. Apply firm but gentle pressure, moving the blade in a sweeping motion across the stone. Remember, you're sharpening the entire surface of the blade, not just the edge. Start at the base of the blade, near the hilt, and work your way to the tip. Repeat this process until you've sharpened the entire length of the blade. Proper Techniques for Sharpening This part is easy. Just plunk it into some clean water and let it get totally saturated. This usually takes about 10-15 minutes.Water stones sharpen great, but as noted, narrow blades (like chisels) will wear a grove no matter how careful you are. Given the price of good water stones, it might be better to use oil stones for the first few stages and finish with a 4000/8000 grit water stone. Then dress the stone with the nagura to remove any groves. I mostly use abrasive (sand) paper on a tempered glass surface up to 1200 grit and then buff on a felt wheel with green compound. A Nagura stone is a small waterstone, the word "nagura" means "correcting" in Japanese. The stone is used to condition waterstones during use. For natural waterstones their use is to wear away hard particles or contamination in the waterstone, and to selectively allow flattening by being rubbed on a high spots on the stone. Another usage is to create slurry. Hold the blade up to a light source and look along the edge. If the edge reflects light, it's dull. A sharp edge, on the other hand, will not reflect light. Understanding the state of your blade will help you determine how much work needs to be done and guide you in selecting the right tools for the job. Applying the Sharpening Stone A microbevel (or second bevel) is just what it sounds like: a very small bevel at the end of your already-beveled edge. The primary purpose of this microbevel is to save you time. When your chisel dulls, you merely need to sharpen the microbevel instead of going through all of these steps from scratch. It will take several sharpenings before the microbevel has been ground more or less flat with the rest of the bevel; at that point, you will go through all of these steps again. But I've been given advice that if the stone absorbs enough metal particles that the resurfacing Stone will not fix that .

I use the Nagura, and very occasionally (once a year?) the glass plate to true my finishing stones. Sharpening a katana is a meticulous process that requires a steady hand and an understanding of the blade's structure. The goal is to remove the minimum amount of material necessary to sharpen a katana and restore the edge. This is achieved by maintaining a consistent angle between the blade and the stone, applying even pressure, and sharpening the entire blade, not just the edge. Cleaning Finishing Stones: Finishing stones always become contaminated with pixie dust and grit from rougher stones. A 10,000 grit stone with 1,000 grit particles mixed in is much less than 10,000 grit effective. If you think a stone is contaminated, wash it well with a scrub brush and clean water then work the surface with a clean Nagura stone to loosen and float up the contaminate particles, then wash off the slurry. The stone will be clean.The katana's blade is made of steel, carefully hand-forged and polished to a perfect mirror finish. The blade's edge, the cutting surface, is the sharpest part, and it's where you'll focus most of your sharpening efforts. The hilt, or handle, is typically made of wood, wrapped in ray skin and silk for a comfortable, secure grip. Recognizing these components is crucial because each part requires different care. The more you understand the katana's components, the better you'll be at maintaining and sharpening your own blades. The Importance of a Sharp Katana In theory, nothing is stopping someone from rubbing two whetstones together as nagura. This experience though is often fairly unpleasant. The two large stones create a suction between one another which make separating them from one another unwieldy. It does still work though, just be careful should you attempt it. Diamond Nagura Incredible Value: Included Nagura flattening stone acts as a conditioner for both the sharpening and finishing stone.