Hone information
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Hone information
  • COMPOSITION:
    These natural hones are a kind of sedimentary rock composed of mud, especially clay and silicon.
    The rocks are formed by thin layers of mud/clay setting with limestone or sandstone. These layers had started to form during the Mesozoic era and the Tertiary period, and now produce the fine polishing stones available today.

  • STAMPS:
    All good quality natural Japanese hones come with various stamps, indicating which quarry they came from, their quality, genuineness and with the mine owners trademark, which is often made from characters from their names. Today these stamps also add value to the natural hones. The difference between hones stamped with the Maruka stamp and ones not, has not yet been determined. The Maruka stamp does not refer to quality but is rather a family trademark stamp. The stamps do not provide information on stone hardness or grit levels.

  • HONYAMA:
    The term Honyama is actually misused in the tool industry today to mean finishing stone. Honyama in the past, was actually a name given to Shoubudaniyama (Mt Shoubudani). The Nakayama quarry is a very famous quarry that was located in Mt Shoubudani, thus only hones from the Nakayama and Shoubu quarries are considered to be the genuine Honyama hones. The Nakayama quarry was closed in the 42nd year of Emperor Showa (1967) because the mine(s) became unstable and unsafe.

  • PAINTING:
    The Japanese tend to put their hones outside to dry thoroughly after use. If the hones are left outside too long in summer they get real dry and crack, and if left outside too long in winter, any water still in the stone may freeze, thus expanding and again cracking the hone. The sides of the stones also soak up water faster than the top and if this water isn't removed properly it can cause the layers to start separating. It is for these reasons that a lot of Japanese people choose to coat the sides of their natural hones with Japanese lacquer, leaving just the sharpening surface exposed. If a hone develops cracks before being treated with lacquer, one could place rice paper over the cracks and then lacquer over the paper. This will reinforce the stone greatly and prevent it from breaking.