Sun Tiger Renge Suita

Dimensions (mm) / Weight

207x76x34 / 1,216g

Performance

Hardness / Fineness: 2++ / 4

This stone is extremely enjoyable to use with very creamy feedback. It releases slurry readily without being overly muddy. It leaves an excelllent kasumi polish on soft cladding and hard steel that is a great balance of even color and finish and detail. While not quite fine enough to be an ideal razor finisher, it is enjoyable as a honing or tool sharpening stone. It is ideal for the finishing of kitchen knives. There is one strong line about halfway down the stone that also has a large su nest, but other than that the stone is exceptionally pure.

For someone interested primarily in knives looking for an all purpose polishing or finishing stone this suita comes with my highest recommendations. 

Aesthetics & Other Notes

When dry, the stone is very matte creamy white color and the renge is less visible. When wet, the color is more of a very pale grey and the renge become more apparent.

Based on performance and aesthetics I would classify it as a tenjyou suita rather than a deep-layer shiro. 

The stone is not sealed and the surface stamps remain present though faded. The stone comes with an exceptional vintage gold box from the Sun Tiger brand and the original sticker. 

Honyama (  本山)

It is easy to get caught up in the precise provenance of certain stones. While it is always preferable to have precise information to a stones source, there are many incredible stones for which the wholesaler or vendor lacks enough information to give a precise origin. I consider it the sign of a good seller to acknowledge when a stone's mine is unknown.