Hand Tools
david weaver
trans ark
https://s26.postimg.org/eajcxm221/trans.jpg
Slurry gray chinese stone:
https://s26.postimg.org/apnhedxih/slurryphig.jpg
Slurry fine Okudo suita:
https://s26.postimg.org/q9uv4x7mx/slurry_okudo.jpg
Mystery stone - you have to guess what it is:
https://s26.postimg.org/c256g9uy1/mystery.jpg
The chinese and okudo stones could cut more finely if they weren't slurried, but they'd be a lot slower at the same time. Their scratches would look more like the arkansas stone scratches.
Important to focus on the edge (what you can see of it) and how straight and uninterrupted it is. These scratches will not prevent a polished surface, so the edge is what counts.
You can see on the okudo picture that the steel itself has pits in it. Some of these show up in the edge, also. These are AI chisels - I like them quite a lot. I don't notice anything from them in normal use. It'll be interesting to see if we see anything like that in japanese chisels......oops, scratch that. One of the pits is right on the edge at the right side of the picture.