It is now later in Day-2.
As I set up for sharpening and polishing, I noticed the glint off of the cutting board. Considering how much oil was applied, I was startled to find that fully half of the oil had been absorbed.
You might ask why this is such a big deal. In actuality, it provides the chef the best of both worlds. For example, many boards feel like they were dipped into a thick plastic solution. This is good for cleansing, and an excellent way to guard against
Salmonella.
However, when discussing Japanese knives, often constructed of laminated steel (be that 'clad' or folded and welded) the slicing process and the board which is utilized blend into a "system." This sytem is quite tactile, and adds to the joy of preparing food.
This new knife while smaller, is a gyuto. It is a chefs' knife. It will be used for more 'determined' work short of chopping. (And even then I've seen four-star chefs chop with them.)
My job then is to provide a chef or cook a superior Japanese knife, and a traditional bamboo board and provide some very realistic safety concerns.
The food-grade mineral oil I use will allow the board to be dunked and rinsed in soapy water. Now granted it will have to be maintained. A touch of oil periodically helps.
And now for the gyuto. It was taken out of the freezer, marked for the registration of the first cut and then lightly touched on both sides. The left bevel was near perfect, with more of a shallow bevel at the belly. The right side shared this condition, but needed a few more swipes at the tip.
All of this is shaping work--none of it is polishing. But as I broke the burr on the final light pass, I wondered if the knife was going to perform. It still had the protected tape on the body of the knife, but I picked up a sheet of newsprint and easily cleanly sliced the paper with a gentle touch. And the angle of this gyuto is not quite as steep as the nakiri.
If you've seen the Alton Brown's tutorial on knives, you'll know that he regards his brand as "scary" sharp. These ideas are a scale for one tinker telling another (often across the continent) the degree of perfection.
This scale is: sharp, very sharp, scary, spooky and toasty.
No you won't find this in an encyclopedia, and many times we speak on the phone with a voice inflection to drive home the point. However this gyuto, repaired with coarser stones only, is already past "scary."
Consider this. I still have one stone, several polishing papers, two brands of paste and glaziers glass to go before I'm finished.