Shimauchi 00:00
The seal stone itself feels a bit cloudy. Then it became sparkling shiny—so impressive I wanted to tell someone right away. I was truly surprised. Hi, this is Shimauchi from “Shodo Daisuki.”

Shimauchi 00:19
Today’s theme is how to polish a seal stone until it shines brilliantly. If you’re about to carve a seal right now, please wait—stop for a moment. Are you planning to use the seal stone you just obtained as-is? By adding just a tiny bit of effort, the seal stone you obtained can transform into something that looks incredibly premium.

Shimauchi 00:41
Also, you have a cherished signature seal that you’ve been using carefully, right? If that precious seal becomes beautifully shiny through polishing, you’ll feel even more attached to it, won’t you?

Shimauchi 00:58
So, let’s polish it until it’s sparkling. On this channel, I’ll continue to introduce more and more videos related to writing—not limited to calligraphy—so please subscribe and give it a high rating.

Shimauchi 01:16
Now, let’s get into the main part. I’d like to explain how to make a seal stone sparkling for those who are about to carve a seal. Generally, seal stones are often coated with wax. So when you hold it in your hand—

Shimauchi 01:36
if you press with your fingernail, and you feel, “Oh, it scrapes off more than expected,” that is often the wax. First, to remove the wax, use wet/dry sandpaper and sand it down. At the start, as a rough sanding step,

Shimauchi 01:53
let’s use wet/dry sandpaper around 600 grit. Once you’ve sanded the seal stone to a certain degree, next use something finer—say, 1200 grit—to sand further. Finally, use something much finer—today’s example would be 2500 grit—

Shimauchi 02:11
and sand the seal stone. If you do that, the surface becomes very smooth and fine, but the seal stone itself still feels a bit cloudy.

Shimauchi 02:31
I think most people stop here. They feel, “That should be enough sanding.” But when you look at the seal stone, does it really look premium at this point? Well… that’s hard to say.

Shimauchi 02:49
So this time, I prepared three different methods and tested which one made it shine the most, and which method was the most effective. I’d like to share the results with you.

Shimauchi 03:06
The seal stone I used this time was Shoushan stone. And as before, I sanded it with wet/dry sandpaper first—so this test starts from that state. First, I tried a liquid compound—specifically, a metal polish. I put this liquid onto a microfiber cloth,

Shimauchi 03:26
and polished the seal stone. I polished quite carefully, but the result—did it shine? Not really. It didn’t get to a “sparkling” level. That was disappointing. Next, I used “aobō” (blue polishing compound), which is also used for metal polishing.

Shimauchi 03:47
Shimauchi actually didn’t know about aobō before. You can find it at home centers and even 100-yen shops. And paired with the aobō, I used the back side of cowhide—not the front, but the back side. How did I use it?

Shimauchi 04:09
I rubbed the aobō onto the back side, placed the seal stone on it, and polished. I was honestly shocked—the seal stone became brilliantly shiny. I really didn’t know this before. It was so impressive I felt like telling someone right away.

Shimauchi 04:29
You can probably buy cowhide at craft stores, but even if you can’t get it, as I mentioned earlier, a microfiber cloth works quite well and was totally fine too.

Shimauchi 04:44
Though saying “totally fine” might be a bit misleading—cowhide is still the closest to the best result. Next, I tried a nail buffer—specifically the surface-finishing type. I bought it at a 100-yen shop. I hadn’t used one before, so I learned about it for the first time, and tried polishing the seal stone with it.

Shimauchi 05:02
It made nails shine, but unfortunately it didn’t make the seal stone shine. That was a shame. So, after comparing these three, the one that shined overwhelmingly the most was the aobō method. So everyone, please remember “aobō.”

Shimauchi 05:19
Next, how to polish your own cherished signature seal until it shines: unlike before, I want you to avoid using wet/dry sandpaper. When you use it, you might accidentally scratch the seal face, right? If you scrape the seal face, the impression can change, so

Shimauchi 05:43
that would be completely counterproductive—so please avoid using wet/dry sandpaper. And even though it didn’t do much in the earlier test, the nail buffer can unexpectedly show its true value here.

Shimauchi 05:59
Using the surface-finishing side of the nail buffer, I polished the seal face slowly—slowly, gently. And then—earlier it didn’t shine at all, but this time, it produced a nice shine.

Shimauchi 06:17
It’s hard to see clearly on video, but in person the gloss is more obvious—so please try it. It works. But still, the method that makes it shine the most is the aobō. You might want to scrub like before, but be gentle—same as earlier. Even in this state, polishing the seal stone like this gives plenty of shine. Aobō truly demonstrates strong power even on your personal seal stone,

Shimauchi 06:54
so the best option is to use aobō. Some unfamiliar tools came up, but we learned that adding just a little effort can make your seal stone sparkling, right? For example, if you want to gift a seal stone as a present with confidence—

Shimauchi 07:14
by adding this tiny bit of effort, you can give a seal stone that looks premium. Then, when the recipient receives it, they’ll think, “Wow—what is this wonderful seal stone? I’ve never seen one like this before,” and it genuinely makes them happy.

Shimauchi 07:34
Please imagine it: this small effort creates that much happiness and such a pleasant moment. So I want you to remember this method and try it in practice. And now, this video series has finally reached Episode 30.

Shimauchi 07:54
Wow—this is truly thanks to all of you watching. And yes, I know—many of you have probably noticed that the topics have been getting more and more niche. But I hope it helps increase your knowledge even a little. I’ll keep working harder and harder from here, so please continue to support me. This was Shimauchi from “Shodo Daisuki.”