Iyoto Tennen Toishi
This Iyoto is predominantly white, with a good amount of orange striping. This is a hard Iyoto – but not the hardest of this genre of stones.
Iyoto was, at one time very long ago, a major player in the whetstone world. They were pushed out of favor by the discovery and subsequent love for Honyama stones from Shobudani and Nakayama.
Even so - these Iyoto are excellent stones that range in a variety of hardness with an equal variety in efficacy for different tasks. Today – only one man in Japan quarries these Toishi; so the numbers of available Iyoto stones are not nearly as great as one could expect from a fully staffed quarry.
This example is quite an effective cutter, and it is an excellent choice for setting bevels on straight razors. While it is not as fast as a synthetic 1k stone, the work needed to clean up the scratch pattern is minimal and there isn’t much of a real-time speed difference.
Iyoto are usually fairly thirsty, and this one does take on a bit or water but it’s not one that I’d classify as ‘big drinker’. I’ll probably seal the sides and bottom to help limit excessive water absorption though.
Approx. Dimensions: 5.75 x 2.5 x 1.75” / 146 x 64 x 45 mm
Weight: 27 oz / 755 g
