Single Bevel Japanese Kitchen Knife

This topic has 40 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 02/26/2015 at 12:18 am by Leo Barr.

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02/20/2015 at 9:41 pm #23684
Steven N. Bolin
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Just finishes this guy up for a fellow coworker.

~Steven
02/20/2015 at 9:59 pm #23686
Aaron kimpton
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Super fun looking. I had a few nice japanese knives years ago. WPIA to keep up with. Wife thought they were best used on plates, counter tops, I went with cheaper knives when the kids started doing dishes.

how did you deal with the burrs on the back side? Did you just knock them back via the flat or smooth them off?
02/20/2015 at 10:27 pm #23688
Montana Edge
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Very Nice. PM’d you Steven.
02/21/2015 at 12:10 am #23691
Mr.Wizard
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Is that a honesuki? It does not look like a normal Japanese “single bevel” knife. Where are the blade road and shinogi?
02/21/2015 at 2:28 am #23697
Steven N. Bolin
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Is that a honesuki? It does not look like a normal Japanese “single bevel” knife. Where are the blade road and shinogi?

Man, this was a unique knife to say the least. It was so scratched up from poor sharpening and general abuse, I thought the shinogi was hiding somewhere But, upon further inspection and talking with my coworker, I was looking for something that didn’t exist. She didn’t know who made it since it was it was gifted to her back in Japan.

~Steven
02/21/2015 at 3:55 am #23701
Steven N. Bolin
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Is that a honesuki? It does not look like a normal Japanese “single bevel” knife. Where are the blade road and shinogi?

No, I wouldn’t consider it a honesuki. It measures nearly 12″.
02/21/2015 at 5:10 am #23702
Mr.Wizard
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From that length and the remaining profile I am guessing that was once a gyuto but a lot of it has been sharpened away. You don’t want to hear this now but probably it is in need of a good thinning to restore cutting ability, and a bevel on both sides to avoid steering. Then again if the owner is happy perhaps it does not matter.
02/21/2015 at 5:49 am #23703
Steven N. Bolin
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From that length and the remaining profile I am guessing that was once a gyuto but a lot of it has been sharpened away. You don’t want to hear this now but probably it is in need of a good thinning to restore cutting ability, and a bevel on both sides to avoid steering. Then again if the owner is happy perhaps it does not matter.

It seems as though after looking at the images I provided you’ve concluded that I DID NOT thin the bevels? And, if I did, I failed to thin them enough?
02/21/2015 at 6:15 am #23704
Mr.Wizard
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1. I am not an expert; far from it!
2. I do not mean thinning the bevel or creating a relief bevel, I mean thinning the entire blade face.
3. For a double bevel knife if the metal behind the edge is sufficiently thin I believe the edge bevel should end up narrower than that, unless it is very low angle.
4. For a single bevel knife the edge bevel usually blends more smoothly into the blade road above it.
5. Before worrying about it see for yourself how the knife cuts. Does it wedge or steer?
02/21/2015 at 6:39 am #23705
Aaron kimpton
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I owned several Japanese knives in the late 90’s and early 2000s that came in the same card board sheath. While not overly expensive they were able to stay sharp. And easily sharpened on water stones. My guess this is from the same manufacturer.
02/21/2015 at 6:40 pm #23724
Leo Barr
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Great polishing job!

I am inclined to agree with Mr Wizzard it is a well worn gyutu, If when lain flat each side has the same relief in which case it is a 50/50 beve. It looks fairly thin which means it probable is not a single bevel knife it may well be an asymmetric .
Debas & Yanagi are concave on the back side Uri and this is sharpened flat on the stone with edge leading strokes which also removes the burr from the other side.
A lot of gyutus do not have a shinogi line .
I think you may well have sharpened this knife incorrectly as said by Mr Wizzard it looks like a well worn gyutu and is more than likely asymmetric.
Another test for steerage is to cut a melon in half a big piece of melon will show up any steerage problems.
02/21/2015 at 9:29 pm #23733
Steven N. Bolin
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Well, now I’m really confused. It does have a 50/50 relief and I was surprised that it had such a long blade road when she gave it to me to sharpen. She mentioned not being able to use it because her roommate screwed things up by sharpening it. I asked her if the geometry had been changed. She said “No” and told be she just wanted the wide bevel cleaned up and edge sharpened… I can’t describe how scratched up the entire face of both sides of the blade were. On the side with large bevel, I could barely distinguish where the shoulder of the edge was due to the swirling scratches on both the edge and the face of the blade…

I didn’t change the geometry of the knife when I sharpened it. The shoulder of the bevel as it was when I received the knife was not parallel to the edge so I cleaned it up and thinned it out. The edge itself was pretty much flat having only a very slight r I thinned the edge out rather significantly.

I may have sharpened it incorrectly, but I simply did what she asked me to do :unsure:
And, I actually sent her a text last night while she was at work asking how it was performing. She had nothing but good things to say, so…

I thought I did a pretty good job considering my limitations and customer demands… But now I feel like a jackass, I know that much.
02/22/2015 at 12:18 am #23743
Mr.Wizard
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Oh, that knife. I had forgotten about it. Like I wrote in that thread I think the edge had been ground down rather bluntly and the knife is in need of regrinding to restore a proper geometry on the now shorter (top to bottom) blade.

Do not feel like a jackass. One could argue that the knife is worn out. A regrind now would give it new life, but that thinning should have taken place over years of sharpening rather than leaving it to be done all at once. (With what you had to work with I think the job you did was reasonable, and it certainly looks a lot nicer now!)

Watch how Japanese knives are professionally ground. Do you want to compete with that or should you tell someone to buy a new knife when it is appropriate?
02/22/2015 at 12:31 am #23746
Leo Barr
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Firstly lets say if it is cutting for her when before it was not this is all good.if it does not micro chip easily and works then no problem.
I would suggest finding a store that sells similar knives ands have a good look at them this will give you an idea how it should be .
The big water wheels the Japanese use take a considerable skill to use and maintain.
Should a knife need considerable thinning you can use a belt sander just keep the blade cool and leave some to finish by hand .

I think there is still some life in that knife yet
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02/24/2015 at 9:40 pm #23825
Steven N. Bolin
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Oooooh, you guys are spot on. After a couple days of use, my coworker tried communicating her one and only issue the best way she could – It needs to be thinned out substantially.

You guys rock. Just saying B)
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