Thread: My kit of Japanese knives ... WIP

Just out of interest I sharpened the Shigeki Tanaka petty knife on the 1" belt sander with a 9 micron belt and it did more than an adequate job.

Encouraged by that I took the Shigeki Tanaka nakiri to it to clean up the slurry stain left in the Damascus 'grain'. That worked with 40 and 20 micron belts. A coat of Incralac is now called for.

Further encouraged, I had a go at taking out the coarse scratches on the blades left by the 'factory' grinding. That process showed some promise but the nakiri was too wide for effective control and the belts started to wear fast and polish rather than grind.

I think your ko -deba might be white steel version since yours seems did not have a stamp on it "青鋼" which means blue steel. I reveived the same knife from 330mate (I paid for blue but received the one without stamp).
I sent a email to Mikihisa company and they replied me that blue steel version has a stamp of "青鋼" and the ones without this stamp are white steel versions.


お問い合わせいただきまして、ありがとうございます。
お問い合わせの鋼の見分け方は①仕上げ方が違います。
②刻印で青鋼と打ってあります。打って無い包丁が白はがねです。
③弊社では、白鋼の包丁が通常商品です。

以上で不明な点ございましたら質問して下さい。

有限会社　池内刃物
担　　当　池内広和

Originally Posted by rsser

You've nothing to lose by trying the Kings DO.

If there are minor nicks, start with the #800.

....

I succumbed to the temptation to get a smaller deba:

Mikihisa ko-deba; 120mm blade, water quenched blue steel, hammered finish, RH bevel, hollow back. Amazing price.

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

The handle is bare wood and will get a couple of coats of danish oil.

Thanks for the heads-up and welcome to the forum garfieldfei.

Good to be able to read kanji.

In practice I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the diff. btwn white and blue but will look out for it from here on.

Originally Posted by garfieldfei

I received the same knife from 330mate (I paid for blue but received the one without stamp).

I'm not surprised to hear this.

I have had mixed experiences buying from that seller.

Originally Posted by rsser

In practice I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the diff. btwn white and blue but will look out for it from here on.

Blue is noticeably harder to sharpen, but once sharp stay that way for longer.

Originally Posted by rsser

... I sharpened ... on the 1" belt sander...

Good to hear that you are getting at the knives, Ern.

No worries then should you chip a knife in use.

Well here's a return to an old bad choice and this time the Western knife got the punishment and survived.

The Deba repaired looks worse in the pic than it is, by far.

Just posting by way of minor celebration of cooking for family and having good tools to hand, and fave music on the stereo while the gals are out and it's ramped up to my pref.

Tonight it's a terrific recipe of roasted pumpkin, red onions, thyme and rosemary. Normally pork snags would go in as well but they're on separately given the vegetarian in the family.

There's a tom sauce/salsa to add.

Just needs a good SA red Neil to top it off

Originally Posted by rsser

Just needs a good SA red Neil to top it off

Unfortunately my cellar is in a sorry state, so I can't help out.

More a case of smoke and water damage that has turned it into a lucky dip; in effect all clean skins. You might get a twenty year old Wendourie (sorry the Hill of Grace was all gone) or it might just be a bottle of vin ordinaire that was left by a non-discerning guest (certainly not you ).

The Deba looks good to me.

Neil

Oh wow Neil. Ouch!

Not a bad metaphor for life though. We wield the corkscrew but what comes out of the bottle ...

... yet another sharpening vid!

Knife Shop: Japanese Knives, Knife Sharpening, Cookware - Chef's Armoury

What do you think about the technique Neil? Looks similar to yours IIRC.

These guys run classes that are booked out well in advance, mostly by blokes, and offer a well-priced sharpening service.

Originally Posted by rsser

What do you think about the technique Neil? Looks similar to yours IIRC.

Yes, Ern, a very similar technique. Perhaps I don't work what he is calling the 'the second side' so close to square across the stone as he does.

Sometimes I also swing the stone around 90deg (to run parallel to my shoulders) for that 'second side' and work the knife trailing edge from right to left. Not so typical because of the way stone holders tend to be fixed over a water bath or sink.

And, instead of going from medium stone to chromium strop I continue with higher (natural) waterstones to get a micro serration. I like to use my knives with a slicing action and those micro serrations give the edge a bite, in much the same way that the macro serrations on a bread knife give the preferred edge for slicing bread.

Afterword: I have since noticed that the site you have linked to Ern sells natural waterstones. That's impressive. Very few knife sites go beyond the standard couple of man-mades. The prices are a bit exy, but knife aficionados are unlikely to know about Jnat suppliers like So...

Just a use and sharpening update ...

For this winter's spell away from home (about 8 weeks) I took the Gyuto and Nakirri. Neither had edges in the best of shape to begin with but they did the job.

I gave Olive oil a try to preserve the Gyuto CS and it didn't work as well as JP Camellia oil, despite my heating the knife up first.

The Nakirri came with a double bevel and I've decided to turn that into a single, for a right hander. No rush to do this. Figure it will take about 3 sharpenings.

Re which, on my return I started in on that and the Sigma PS II #1000 impressed as always. Quick to build up a slurry and quick to cut.

Then to PS II #3000 and #6000 which is good enough for me, and those two stones did the Gyuto as well.

I'm still on trainer wheels with this stuff: DMT knife clamp and inked bevels. Whatever is in that ink, it's enough to clog the #3000 and #6000.

The clamped knife still needs varying pressure at the edge, working up and down it with a couple of fingers, to maintain the edge line.

Just as an aside, I'm not getting much use out of the big Deba so if anyone is interested, make me an offer.

As a 2nd aside, in the winter accommodation I put in a Wiltshire StaySharp as sometimes I go there on the bike for a week or two over summer.

What a comic tool that is by comparison. And our mothers loved them!

Originally Posted by rsser

Just out of interest I sharpened the Shigeki Tanaka petty knife on the 1" belt sander with a 9 micron belt and it did more than an adequate job.

To add: it worked fine on the first use and before that passed the fingernail test easily.

On the 2nd it was noticeably duller.

What does that suggest to you?

...

I've redone it on the #6000 stone.

I took the bevel ink glaze off and worked up a slurry very quickly with some #400 W&D on a flat block.

Now have a #10,000 Sigma PS II from Stu and will give that a go once I've got the old feel back on this knife.

I used to have a Shapton #12k but didn't feel it was worth the effort.

Originally Posted by rsser

To add: it worked fine on the first use and before that passed the fingernail test easily.

On the 2nd it was noticeably duller.

What does that suggest to you?

Not sure what is happening there, Ern. Maybe the belt was getting clogged.

One of the advantages of the waterstones is that you are always getting fresh grit and especially so if you run the diamond plate over it periodically.

Originally Posted by rsser

I've redone it on the #6000 stone.

I took the bevel ink glaze off and worked up a slurry very quickly with some #400 W&D on a flat block.

Now have a #10,000 Sigma PS II from Stu and will give that a go once I've got the old feel back on this knife.

I used to have a Shapton #12k but didn't feel it was worth the effort.

Highest I have gone in the synthetics is 8K, and I wasn't overly excited about the mirror finish. But your preferences may be different, Ern, so will follow with interest what you find.

I tend to finish now beyond 4K on the synthetics with naturals. Usually a Tanaka Aoto (2-4k) to remove the deeper abrasion pattern left by the 4K synthetic and then on to a finishing stone, but not always. The aoto does leave a nice toothy edge.