The nakiri gets it's first sharpening and polish.

[Chico Buller]

As you know, I have purchased a two nakiri style vegetable slicing knives, and I have decided against logical, focused thinking to make one of them "perfect."

The knife has now had the bevel made more uniform (it is a laminated knife, and the layers drive me crazy), and I have taken the edge all of the way to the 800 and 900 grit Edge Pro stones. The knife is a double bevel and that allows me to do most of the heavy lifting with the EP. The knife is now back in the freezer.

The polishing will commence with my most prized possessions, the glazier glass mounts. I tried to take this pic over newsprint and the grains of an oak table so you could appreciate the purity of this glass. The pic is of poor quality.

This is the junk I use just to "level the bevel."

Buzz, this pic is for you. In the words of Dark Wing Duck, "Let's get dangerous." This is the angle chosen for the nakiri.

When the knife has re-frozen a bit, I will begin polishing with a 2000 or 3000 grit paper on a more mundane paste. I will save the fun for the end.

 

[Chico Buller]

The nakiri has just been polished with the initial polishing papers and the paste I use to begin the procedure.

So far the glaziers glass is a complete success. It hugs the bevel, no twisting, it glides very well, and the knife is now once again back in the freezer.

 

[Chico Buller]

Yikes, this was a tad harder than I imagined it would be. The finer I polished the edge, the more and more micro-scratches appeared on the decorative portion of the bevel. I hate that. At first I simply figured I got a bad polishing tape, it happens. The new one was no better.

I figured the final polishing would have to be done by hand, but I wanted it fine and like a mirror.

I did have a swatch of some very fine stropping material sent to me by Keith over at Hand American. I decided to use that piece. I hand rubbed the finest grit paste I had into the swatch.

The knife is actually being buffed and sharpened here since there is an abrasive on the leather. I also "polished" a polishing tape after scrupulously cleaning the paper with ammonia-free windex and the same fine paste.

And so, my friends, here's the finished product. Three hours of questionable pain and a pointless quest to someday have a sous-chef look me right in the eye and tell me I haven't the faintest idea on how polishing a blade is properly done. (BTW, be careful! The edge screams..!)

 

[JohnL]

Wow chico!
Pretty impressive. I'm sure that the time and effort were worth it at first slice!

 

[Chico Buller]

Funny you should mention that. Just like a kid, I had to try it. I made a slice, I thought I 'missed.' Yikes...

 

[locutus]

Wow! Looks great!

 

[Chico Buller]

Wow! Looks great!

Folks, this is my friend Ron. He goes by the name of "Locutus" on knife hobbyist forums. He is also a tinker.

He uses a slightly differing regimen than I use, and this will give you some insight into other sharpening systems. For example, Ron uses more strops and different grit strength pastes than I do.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Wow, we're gettin' the whole gang over here! Any other members here from FoodieForums or KF?

 

[Chico Buller]

Hey, Rob. Officially, I'm a ronin. As with any organization foolish enough to have me, I have to be a "prospect" until I win my colors.

But, it was time to go play with adults, and so I struck a deal with THR. They agreed to ban me, I agreed they were probably right.

FYI, I'm phasing out my business in tactical, and now Bada Bing Cutlery Emporium is all-kitchen-all-the-time.

For some odd reason my mercurial temper is a perfect fit for fugu chefs.

 

[buzzard767]

Funny you should mention that. Just like a kid, I had to try it. I made a slice, I thought I 'missed.' Yikes...

Looking good Chico.

 

[Chico Buller]

Thanks, Buzz. I've been very impressed by most of the JWW laminates. As I have often joked about them, "First, they are actually Japanese..."

As I have played around with this knife (and to be sure, it is attractively priced) I cannot help but admit that I have had Hattori knives that did not cut as smoothly.

As our friend Dwade would point out, knives have to be thin to slice. And therein is most of the problem. When you finally get a knife down to a point where it slices effortlessly, you are treading with some some very delicate edges. Will they hold? Will the edge roll?

My love for laminates is simply their uncanny way to make thin edges perform in day-to-day service. I checked this edge after taking down the rind on that zuccini, and it felt like it came right off of the stone.

It still hasn't degraded.

(The best way to test a knife is simply to tell my wife the blade really performs--but not to oversell the idea. Leave the knife atop the bamboo board, and walk away. When I start to find the knife in the dirty dishes on a regular basis, I know that I have won her over.)

 

[buzzard767]

As our friend Dwade would point out, knives have to be thin to slice. And therein is most of the problem. When you finally get a knife down to a point where it slices effortlessly, you are treading with some some very delicate edges. Will they hold? Will the edge roll?

Thin for sure, and polished. I am never happy with my personal knives unless they push cut paper effortlessly and the best way I've found to reach this level is stropping on charged, thin, hard leather. I treat the edge with respect so I don't fret about chipping or rolling. When sharpening for others, I apply a primary bevel far less acute so that they can bang away on them all they want.

(The best way to test a knife is simply to tell my wife the blade really performs--but not to oversell the idea. Leave the knife atop the bamboo board, and walk away. When I start to find the knife in the dirty dishes on a regular basis, I know that I have won her over.)

I solved the entire problem by having "his and hers" knives. Hers are laid out nicely in a drawer and mine are MagBloked on the wall or in the closet in boxes. She has a fear of using spooky edges (on big knives) anyhow so it works out great. Oddly enough, she uses a Fibrox handled Forschner 5" skinning knife for all sorts of duties and I thinned that one to 10 degrees with a 15 degree primary bevel. Go figure. She handles the short blade just fine but never did learn how to keep her fingers clear of a 240mm Gyuto edge.

 

[Chico Buller]

I've found to reach this level is stropping on charged, thin, hard leather.

While I am coming around to that idea, I like the burr-free edge provided by glaziers' glass. I do have a strop, with a light dab of paste about midway, and I'm using it more.

However, the debate is which strop is better. The convex boys like a firm strop placed down on a solid table. The V-grind and double-bevel cool kids, such as myself, like a free-hanging strop they can control.

But the more I sharpen the more and more I have come to believe that our future is in our past. There are swords in museums that outcut anything or anyone.

My choice has been to incorporate more and more Japanese polishing tools (or modern renditions) into my sharpening regimen.