This stone is particularly appreciated by people who want polishing stones. It is quite soft, but releases little slurry and holds its shape reasonably well. Uchigumori are not the fastest stones, but the polishing results are exceptional. Without magnification, no obvious scratches will be visible on the surface of the blade. The hard-tempered steel will have a wonderful lustre and the shell should darken. While uchigumori may not reveal the fine grain structure as a finer, harder Suita might, the results are usually more predictable and easier to achieve. With a fully smoothed surface, they could be used to prefinish razors or tools, but they are best suited for polishing a kitchen knife. They can also be used for sharpening and produce aggressive blades.
The stone is very clean, with only a few lines at the bottom that are unlikely to cause problems. The stone is grey with red dots called lotus blossoms. The latter are all over the stone and are in a dense pattern known as renge.
The stone surface is smoothed and ready for work.
The Mizukihara (水木原) mine near Ojira, which is well known as another source of uchigumori. Mizukihara is still not intensively used to this day.
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