Nubatama Stones?

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ex1580
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Nubatama Stones?

Post by ex1580 »

Is anyone selling Nubatama stones these days? Or, maybe the same stones under a different name, or a different stone you might mistake for a Nubatama? I see lots of posts on the internet about how great the Nubatama Platinum 1k Hard is supposed to be and I'm just curious. Thanks!
Sam
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by Radar53 »

I don't think so, but will watch this space with great anticipation
Cheers Grant

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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by Ut_ron »

Did you see this?
viewtopic.php?t=16797
Home cook that enjoys sharp knives.
ex1580
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by ex1580 »

Ut_ron wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:02 pm Did you see this?
viewtopic.php?t=16797
Yes, I am looking for a 1k platinum hard though. If anyone is willing to part with one I will trade my Naniwa Pro/Choseras (400, 800, 1k).
Sam
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by Jeff B »

Nubatama was a "house brand" for Ken, a name he came up with, just like Mark uses Yahiko. There is no actual Nubatama brand or company like there is with a name like Shapton or Naniwa. Ken took the secrets of who made his Nubatama stones to the grave.
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by ex1580 »

Jeff B wrote: Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:15 pm Nubatama was a "house brand" for Ken, a name he came up with, just like Mark uses Yahiko. There is no actual Nubatama brand or company like there is with a name like Shapton or Naniwa. Ken took the secrets of who made his Nubatama stones to the grave.
Get out the Ouija board! :)
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by trancher »

That thing was trademarked by Kennard Novelty Co. How's that for creepy? Yes-Yes.
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by MattinPA »

Jeff B wrote: Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:15 pm Nubatama was a "house brand" for Ken, a name he came up with, just like Mark uses Yahiko. There is no actual Nubatama brand or company like there is with a name like Shapton or Naniwa. Ken took the secrets of who made his Nubatama stones to the grave.
I see. That's a shame. I never saw a comment about them that wasn't high praise. I guess somebody out there is making really good stones we don't see much of here in the States. : (
cliff
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by cliff »

I recall Ken saying that the stones on his videos that Nubatama were common at the Tsukiji market? See here at 3:45:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsAtiDZjd8Y
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by cliff »

Doesn't this suggest they're available, if perhaps under a different name?
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by salemj »

cliff wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:10 pm Doesn't this suggest they're available, if perhaps under a different name?
Ken was both a middle-man and a developer. While he developed a number of products (such as his many compounds and some of the nanocloths), other people made these things for him; as for the knives and stones, my impression was always that these were less proprietary in that Ken found them more than developed them, and what you point out in the video supports this very strongly. That doesn't mean that some of the stones he sold may have been special requests just for him, not unlike Mark's requests from suppliers for certain styles of blades. But it is hard to imagine this was the case with most of the stones. Mark often has to make large orders to get something proprietary, and it is very hard to imagine that Ken, on his own, could order such volume given that stones are harder to sell and - perhaps more importantly - probably much harder to set up for manufacture using a proprietary recipe.

Like Jeff said, I'm not sure we'll ever know. But if you really liked a stone that you bought from Ken, my guess is that you could find it if you looked hard enough under another name, with perhaps the exception of the platinum series (here, the price, uniqueness, limited grit ranges, etc., suggest that, of everything he sold, this might have been a special development project mostly for him).

All this is speculation on my part.
~Joe

Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and own mostly Konosukes but have used over a dozen brands.
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Re: Nubatama Stones?

Post by cliff »

Thanks, Joe. That sounds like good speculating.
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