Tell me about Japanese Knives

[jpaulg]

You gotta be zen.
Muscle memory for repeated movements.
Relying on your ears to tell you when the edge is grinding and when it is sliding.
Feeling the pressure and making all the adjustments in your fingertips.
Counting the strokes.

When I do my weekly maintenance sharpening it's almost like falling into a trance and waking up half an hour later and finding my knives are back to where they should be.

 

[Rob Babcock]

You gotta be zen.
Muscle memory for repeated movements.
Relying on your ears to tell you when the edge is grinding and when it is sliding.
Feeling the pressure and making all the adjustments in your fingertips.
Counting the strokes.

When I do my weekly maintenance sharpening it's almost like falling into a trance and waking up half an hour later and finding my knives are back to where they should be.

True dat!

 

[gadzooks]

Hey, I just got a new (to me) nagiri. Found in thrift store for $1. It's carbon steel, and took a lot of cleaning up and sharpening. The blade had some rust and micro-chipping, and was probably steeled (bad). It's pretty nice, now, and I noticed a few things about it. For one, the carbon steel blade is harder than most of my other knives, including stainless. Lots harder. It looks hand-worked, and very nice, with a thick spine. The writing stamped on both sides is all in Japanese, and the "left" side of the blade looks like it was marked with a made stamp, while the "right" side looks like it was all stamped with a single tool...written. And the collar that keeps the handle from splitting at the end where the tang is inserted is made of bone. The handle is asymmetrical, raised on the right side. It (the bone collar) has been gnawed a bit, and it looks like insect damage more than mouse. I am considering patching the damaged collar with resin and hardener, colored to as close a match as I can get, but it works fine as is. I will add pix when I get my camera back. Now I can give away my little Joyce Chen nagiri.