Hiromoto knives

[CliffCurry]

One of several Hiromoto’s I had the privilege of sharpening today. Wisper thin 15 degree bevel down to 1500grit and a light 3.5 micron diamond paste stropping.

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[Mark76]

I love that knife! I’ve got one, too :cheer:

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[CliffCurry]

Admittedly I dont have much experience with these type of knives. The owner is a young chef in the making who was gifted these by a former employer. And advice I could pass along to him on the care and maintenance would be appreciated… :huh:

He does have a high quality ceramic sharpening steel that I showed him how to use for easy touch ups but he pointed out that patina was showing some discoloration and I didnt know what to tell him?

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[Mark76]

Hi Cliff,

The Hiromoto doesn’t require a lot of maintenance. It’s stainless cladded so that’s a huge bonus. The core steel is AS (great!) which doesn’t rust easily, but it can rust. So the knife should not be left wet and after cutting something acidic, it should be cleaned right away and dried.

What do you mean by the patina showing discoloration? The brownish patina on this knife seems fine, or do I miss something?

Older Hiromoto’s were quite thick behind the edge and needed thinning right away. The newer ones are better. But obviously, after sharpening them multiple times, they need thinning as well.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[CliffCurry]

Thanks Mark for the reply….Yeah it was mostly in regards to the light almost yellow colored patina. The blade itself was very thin and quite satisfying to apply the edge bevel too. 🙂

[Mark76]

It is indeed a bit yellowish. I wouldn’t worry about it. The color of the patina depends a lot on what you cut. I once forced a patina with mustard and vinegar and that came out dark brown. And proteins/blood will give you a blueish patina.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Josh]

Mark,

You take some beautiful pictures my friend… have you ever been a photographer?!

Cliff,

Patina is not a bad thing, in fact, it is good as it protects the metal from bad rust. Patina is a surface oxidation that is not harmful. Now if he sees that bright orange rust that is not good =) Just tell him to keep it clean and dry when not using, and like Mark said, after cutting something acidic clean it right away.

The thin edges are nice huh? I thinned out my large chef knife to whisper thin… it cuts ilke a japanese custom or something (doesn’t hold it’s edge that well but who cares – that’s what I have a ceramic honing rod for). This is in the range of .006″ thick behind the edge and you can see visible edge deformation when applying lateral force against the edge with your fingernail…I like them thin =) Not bad for a $20 knife huh?

Of course, I would LOVE to get one like you have pictured… nothing beats the quality of a true thin japanese knife!!

[Leo Barr]

I have one of these as well although not with a custom handle plus I sold a 210 & a 240 this week the head chef who I sold the 240 to prefers it to his Miyabiys.
Here is a picture of the batch I bought home from them last Sunday I did around 40 knives for them all Japanese all done on whetstones.
There was one new brand to me amongst them Tamahagne similar to Shuns the Myabi were really easy to sharpen I also sharpened the new Hirimoto up to 16k to really make it pop.

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[Mark76]

That’s a nice bunch of knives, Leo. Have you tried the Miyabis for cutting? I wonder how they perform. And can you tell us how they sharpen? They’re supposed to be very hard (65 HRC or so).

I have never been a photographer, Josh. I could ask you the same, by the way :). But two years ago I got a nice DLSR (Canon EOS 650) and then I decided I should improve my technique, so I did a photo course. I didn’t learn anything from the theory, but this stimulated me to photograph a wide variety of scenes. And now I’ve started a blog on Japanese knives, I’m learning a lot about knife photography. It’s not easy, knives are very demanding when it comes to light conditions.

By the way, I’ve almost finished my review of the Hiromoto gyuto, this should appear on my blog in a few days.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[tcmeyer]

Leo:

I see that your profile has you still in Mallorca. Aren’t you actually in the UK? Or did you return?

We haven’t heard from Tuffy for a while. Hey Tuffy! Are you still out there?

[Leo Barr]

I found the Miyabis surprisingly easy to sharpen possible since they were not too neglected. They cut well enough I don’t think they are the sharpest knives in the world but the Hirmoto was equally as sharp since I gave it a sharpen before selling it Aiden the chef reckons it performs better than the Miyabis but the set he has are quite small they still cost him 600£.
I moved to `Manchester last year .My wife & I set up Pro Knife Sharpening& her speciality is PR we have only promoted @prpknifesharpe through Twitter chefs like the speed of Twitter we offer only whetstone sharpening and we are slowly building a cliental in the NW comprised of Michelin star restaurants .
The latest asset was Manchester House restaurant they have 21 chefs and a two year waiting list to dine there they want me to supply their knives as well so we shall go over to Japan to source our own knives direct.Trying to find the right blade smiths who are prepared to sell to us so lots of planning will go into the trip.

Questions relating to Tuffy he regually contributes to the sharpening forum a site for those that do not know it is highly recommended .
His main sharpening tool is the Kalamazoo and he has recently acquired a genny which gives him greater independence at gigs.

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