Life In 19x19

The wood is Agathis and a Tenmasa cut (Katsura is cut itame because the trees don't grow large enough for masame). Agathis is a very distinctive but also quite hard wood so be careful when playing with your stones so they don't chip.

Technically a baduk pan, I received this as a gift and I am quite happy with it (no need to aprice it or anything like that), I was interested what wood it was made of. Also is it usual for Korean badukpans to not have a cutout in the bottom?

This is Agathis which has a rather distinct grain ...

The grain is gorgeous and at first quick glance it looked to be Kaya, but on closer inspection it's Katsura.

A couple of things caught my eye.

1. Color = Katsura coloration. Kaya can have a color like this, but only after spending years in a home with a heavy smoker.

2. Double coloration in the ...

I wanted to raise a warning about fake and mislabeled sets on sites like Ebay. I've hesitated to do this since I sell stones and don't want to appear as though I'm attacking competition, but since I'm not as active now and there are several mislabeled sets at overly inflated prices showing up in my ...

It looks like Katsura, but I'd need to see the player's side grain to be sure.

Beautiful old board.

Thanks everyone! So since Kurokigoishi doesn't offer them any more, there is no quick check for me to gauge the stones' price? ^^


A good rough estimate is to take the mid-point in the price between snow (yuki) grade and practical (jitsuyo) grade. Though it'll likely be closer to jitsuyo than ...

Just for my interest: What grade does "moon" correspond to?

Moon Grade is the mid-point between Practical and Snow. I don't know why Kuroki's company stopped selling them on their website after Mr. Kuroki retired, but as far as I know they're still being sold to China.

Here's a picture that ...

Thank you

Hello,
I'm offering a sale on my Ebay items...

1. Slate and Shell Stones (25 - 35% discount) --> Most sets are discounted at 25%. Sets that were higher than $1000 have a 35% discount applied.

2. Semi-Precious Stones - Any semi-precious stones I have on hand have a 20% discount. The discount does ...

I love the smell of Kaya and always enjoy playing on my own board when I get the chance. The sweet cinnamon aroma fills the room but isn't strong.

Both of your boards boards are Kaya, but the second board is definitely a higher quality.

You could have two trees grow next to each other but produce ...

I guess I can only post three pictures in one message, so here are the other two

Picture #4
Picture #5

Notice that the orange color isn't from dirt or oil, but a natural coloration in the shell itself. A common feature of Japanese flower grade stones.

Native Japanese (Suwabute/Hyuga) clamshell, not Mexican stones. Hi Erythen, what are the visual cues?

Just a few things that caught my attention. (Also, all pictures are my own ^_^)

1. The grain is very fine, much finer than you'll usually see in Mexican Snow Grade. (See pictures #1 (for ...

Hello,
Just a few quick comments.

The board is Katsura. Probably between 1.3 - 1.6 Sun, can't say for sure without measurements.

Based on what I see the stones (in your picture) are Native Japanese (Suwabute/Hyuga) clamshell, not Mexican stones. To be sure I'd need to see a closer picture, but ...

If I had an unlimited budget then this would be my ideal choice...

A Tenmasa (strait grain top) Kaya floorboard between 6 - 6.5 Sun (perfect size for me when I'm sitting on the floor)
--> Not the highest quality masame (strait grain) cut, but I like tenmasa patterns more than Tenchimasa (strait ...