Craftsmanship in Wood

Sounds like the Yamahiro line no longer features the filed hoops. Their performance in the cut is priority, but I can't say I'm not a bit nonplussed by that news.

I can't help but assume they were simply too laborious to make.

I finally read through this whole post and thought I'd share what stones I have used and am currently using. For many years I did my sharpening with a 1000 grit king stone and then an 8000 grit finishing stone. I don't remember who the maker of the finishing stone was as I got it 10 years ago, but it is a white synthetic stone. I would flatten the stones with a dmt diamond stone. I got by with this setup for years, but after being exposed to other options I realized how soft the king was, and my finishing stone had always felt sticky and was frustrating to use. Also I eventually realized that my diamond stone wasn't as flat as it was claimed to be, so lately I've been using sandpaper on a granite plate to flatten my stones.

Eventually I added a few stones and now use a 1000 shapton, 4000 imanishi tamago, and 8000 Kitayama. The shapton is a huge improvement over the king, and the addition of a medium grit stone has greatly improved my results as well. The kitayama is much less sticky than my other white finishing stone, and I've been pretty happy with it so far.

I don't own any natural stones, but I recently got to try a few natural finishing stones as well as some blue stones, and I really liked them. I hope to acquire one or two at some point down the road.