I cant remember if I have spoken with you on your thoughts of the Asaee stone or not..... What are your thoughts ? I was thinking of getting one as a finisher....
Every natural whetstone is different, even from the same quarry and cut from the same block. When I ordered mine from Adaee, I told them that it was for straight razor finishing and that I would like a clear one - free of inclusions. They told me that they couldn't promise anything but would do their best.
I can only comment on the one Adaee #12000 that I received about 18 months ago. When received, mine looked good with no inclusions. While lapping it flat, I found it to be a very hard stone, not as hard as my hard black Arkansas but getting close.
After lapping flat, I dressed mine on one side with 1200 grit W&D and the other side with 600 grit W&D. As for use in finishing SR blades, it is a fine slow cutter, again a bit like my HBA but not quite as slow. There is only the faintest of self-slurry development.
It took some time for me to learn how to get a good result from the Adaee. The finished edges that I now get off this stone are getting close to the keenness that I can get with diamond pasted balsa. Such edges are not acceptable to some as they prefer a more "comfortable" edge to shave with. My technique has developed such that I prefer the keenest of edges.
The Adaee is what I consider a "splash & go" stone. So far, I have only honed on the Adaee using water and then lather as a lubricant. I am now experimenting with using a soluble oil solution as lubricant.
It can be a risk buying any natural whetstone. However, for under US$30 including shipping for the Adaee #12000 (200mm x 75mm x 29mm), I thought it worth the risk. Maybe I was just lucky with the whetstone I received.
Since receiving my Adaee and reporting on how I found it, I know of three other who have since purchased one. Two of those three have informed me that they were pleasantly surprised with the results they are now getting from an economical whetstone from China (PRC).