I bought a new knife.

[Chico Buller]

I am now awaiting a Tojiro Damascus Vegetable Knife Kakugata Nakiri Hocho.

All of the right stuff, it should be a dynamo in the kitchen.

Buzz, this is all your fault. I saw the beauty you just sharpened, and I went out and bought my own.

I hope it's sharp...

 

[QSis]

Chico and Buzz .... will both of you marry me?

Lee

 

[Chico Buller]

...um...you do know that I am in a long-time exclusive relationship with a Harley-Davidson, don't you...

Besides, I haven't even received the nakiri.

 

[Chico Buller]

I learned last night that this new knife has been shipped to me by FedEx. There's a possibilty that it will arrive here within the hour.

Now, I'm an old hand on hobbyist forums and biker get-togethers, but this is my first entry into a cooking and kitchen forum.

What are the main ideas and interests to the members here when someone gets a new knife?

Do they want the knife to complete a recipe? Do they just want a sharpening and picture because they already know how to cook?

I'd like to have this be a fun project.

 

[luvs]

i love knives & would love a pic!!

 

[Chico Buller]

That new nakiri I bragged about...

...arrived bent.

 

[jkath]

OOOoooohhhhhhh
I'm so sorry!!

 

[Andy M.]

Man, that really stinks. When you buy aomething new and special, you want it to be perfect.

I suppose hitting it with a hammer is out of the question...

 

[Chico Buller]

Yes, "cold bending" is something you don't want to try with hardened steel. I ordered a replacement, and I kept this one. Oooh, it slices so nice...

 

[Chico Buller]

Help arrives!

I am also a member of KnifeForums, there I am known as "The Tourist."

There is a kitchen section there, but many of the members are veteran knife sharpeners, cooks and sword polishers. I also posted my problem with the nakiri there.

The conclusion was that the knife was going to have to be repaired. I had seen polishers work on 800 year old katanas, and knew that "repair" was a polite word for "unbent."

As I told them, I should have to solve my own problems. I found a wooden stepping crate a friend made for me and a discarded slat. Wrapping the knife so it wouldn't be marred, I sandwiched the cloth and knife between the step and the slat and slowly and evenly pulled with even pressure. I checked a few times to guaranty the work rendered the spine plumb.

It is now perfectly straight, no mars or scratches.

It does have a truly beautiful pattern that does not translate in the pictures, and the edge is very scary. (It will become "toasty" in the next few weeks.)

This simple procedure was quite a relief.

 

[Andy M.]

That's great that you were able to salvage it.

 

[Chico Buller]

I have been told in KF that many Japanese knives with a chisel grind on one side and a dissimilar grind on the obverse may arrive in this condition.

As a tinker, I'm going to have to learn this aspect of repair and sharpening as I do more kitchen knives.

The good thing here is that it is not (as of yet) a client's knife. I had a bit more freedom in doing what must be done.

BTW, my wife was a tad under the weather this morning I had to feed the bichons. After a stint with commercial dog food,we decided to make our own.

The little boy likes things as strawberries. So, out came the nakiri and I thinly sliced up a nice garnish of fruit on top of his usual meal

I have to admit, it's kind of fun "on the opposite side of the business." Perhaps next I will walk on the wild side and poach an egg!

 

[buzzard767]

Sorry QSis, I'm already married. The closest thing I've ever had to something on the side was firing the twin 50's from the nose of a Korean war vintage F9 Cougar fighter jet. This single seat, single engined hunk of iron shakes when the guns are blazing. Ohhhh. Chico, the Harley "feeling" is a distant second.

Tourist, is your knife a Nakiri or a Usuba? Nakiris don't bend on their own because the cutting edge is centered between the cladding. Usubas and other Japanese single beveled knives have the cutting edge (hagane) forge welded to the SIDE of the cladding (jigane). The resulting asymmetry creates a pushing or pulling action due to temperature changes and is not unusual at all.

In either case, whether double or single beveled, it is an easy fix: bend it back to straight.

 

[stinemates]

Ohhh, how I love my Tojiro knives. I hope your new knife gives you as much pleasure as mine do!

 

[Chico Buller]

I've been cutting all sorts of things since I straightened the blade. I got back to JWW and ordered a bamboo board and some oil.

I can see the need for clients to have big 10-inch to 14-inch gyutos, but we don't eat a lot of woolly mastodon at our house, and a six-inch knife of good quality is ample.

Granted, a nakiri is supposed to be for vegetables, but I'm trying it out on a number foods and slicing styles. Besides, I know a tinker who works cheap should I do something foolish with the edge.

 

[stinemates]

I actually feel I have more control with my 9" Chef's knife than a 6". I guess it's a personal thing.

 

[buzzard767]

I actually feel I have more control with my 9" Chef's knife than a 6". I guess it's a personal thing.

I don't use shorter knives like Santokus for veggies. Having used a Chicago Cutlery 9" Chef's knife for thirty years they don't feel right. My standard size Gyuto is 240mm (9.4") and that seems most comfortable. I have a 300mm and can't get used to it.

 

[buzzard767]

I got back to JWW and ordered a bamboo board and some oil.

Oil? It's mineral oil available cheap in any grocery or pharmacy.

I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but bamboo is hard on edges. It's not wood, it's grass, and held in place by gobs of glue. What you need is a quality END grain board such as made by The Boardsmith. Take a bike ride to Wausau before I leave for Florida September 27th and I'll show you one, and some lovely Nakiris, Gyutos, Sujihikis, and Funayukis.....

 

[Chico Buller]

Guys, I have nothing against any blade of any length if it has that magical component we know as balance--or if the cutler was skilled enough to know that some knives need a proper "placement" for this balance.

For example, I did sell a 9-inch Hattori that had that light springy action of a much smaller knife. I am no sous-chef in my cutlery skills, but I have seen food "fall apart" when that knife was used.

To the contrary I had a butakiri tht was "nose heavy." Another sous-chef borrowed it to block out a large leg of beef. He informed me after his task that he actually got more servings, and it was easier to cut across the striations. He showed me one of these cross-cuts, and it gleamed.

Now, I must lambaste you heretics on bamboo. You have failed to bow before the altar of Browniastorism.

http://www.altonbrown.com/shun/shun_flv_sm.html

As you pikers now know, you do bamboo, do you, I mean bamboo...

(Ah, it was funnier when Cary Grant did it.)

 

[buzzard767]

http://www.altonbrown.com/shun/shun_flv_sm.html

The true "Alton's Angle" is the money he gets from pushing Shuns so hard. Shun makes very good knives from the Classics to the Elites but they're too common. Anything you can buy at Macy's, except for All-Clad pots and pans, is not for me.