Tojiro Honing

[jklee]

Hey all,

I been searching around the forums and learnt a lot of the discussions you guys have had, helping me to decide on a good first knife, the Tojiro DP.

Somethings confusing me though. I'm a bit unsure as to how I should hone the blade regularly, or if i should at all. The knifes blade is apparently made of carbon steel, so should i just use a normal steel? or a ceramic?

Thanks

 

[kitchenelf]

I wish I could help, but, I can't

Someone will come by with the answer!

 

[70chevelle]

Tojiro DP is a swedish stainless AFAIK. It is not recommended to 'steel' japanese blades as they are heat treated harder than german knives. Steeling basically realigns or straightens the edge, not sharpen. The recommended 'steel' is actually the Idahone, which is a ceramic hone. Anyway, there are many other more knowledgeable posters on this subject than I. Here is a link to another thread on the DP. Good luck & nice knife. Tojiro DP, sharpness, waterstones freaks and a question or two - Foodie Forums

 

[Rob Babcock]

Despite what Korin says the Tojiro DP line is stainless, not carbon. The core does seem to be pretty hard; their claim of 60-ish seems plausible. The DP is an excellent choice and will serve you well. I've found mine have held up pretty well in a professional kitchen where they're not babied.

For mainanence a glass hone works well, as does a fine ceramic. I keep both a Hand America borosilicate and a DMT CS2 ceramic hone in my roll. The trick is to go very lightly with almost no pressure.

A Spyderco Sharpmaker will also work very well. You'll often hear people cautioning against using the corners of the stones and that's probably wise, although the Tojiro seems less prone to chipping than many other J-knives. Maybe because it's a little softer than you typically see in knives of V-Gold 10.

The DP holds its edge fairly well and won't need a lot of maintenence.

 

[jklee]

Thanks for the replies,

I think ill just get a DMT CS2 for honing, and maybe a waterstone for sharpening.

Out of curiousity, what tools do you keep in your roll?
Im thinking i only need a 4 slot one for a chef, paring, bread knife and honing rod.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Thanks for the replies,

I think ill just get a DMT CS2 for honing, and maybe a waterstone for sharpening.

Out of curiousity, what tools do you keep in your roll?
Im thinking i only need a 4 slot one for a chef, paring, bread knife and honing rod.

Well, I just took a job in a restaurant that's scheduled to open in a couple weeks, so I may change the contents of my roll to reflect the new menu once I see what I'll need. But I normally have:

1 x Hand America Borosilicate hone
1 x DMT CS2 Ceramic hone
1 x Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker
3 x Edgemaker Pro Sharpeners- one of each grit (Blue X-Coarse, Red Coarse/Med & Yellow Fine Honer)
1 x Hand America 5" Med Ceramic Hone
1 x Measuring spoon set
1 x Dough/bakers knife (the scraper kind)
1 x Thermoworks Thermopen thermometer
1 x Forschner Cut Resistant Glove (except I have the Large)
2 x Green art erasers (to clean the Sharpmaker rods)
1 x 12" peice of mesh shelf liner- cushions the Sharpmaker & keeps it from skidding around
1 x Bottle Ibuprofen & Tylenol
1 x Box Assorted Bandaids
2 x Med/fine Sharpies

Plus my knives, of course!

My daily carry knives:

1 x 240mm Tojiro DP gyuto
1 x 170mm Tojiro DP santoku
1 x 12" Forschner Fibrox Granton Edged Slicer
1 x 6" Forschner Fibrox Semi-Stiff Boning Knife
1 x 8" Wusthof Chef's knife
1 x 6" Shun Classic Utility
1 x 8" Kershaw Pure Komachi Bread Knife
1 x 210mm Kanetsune Gyuto
4 x Assorted Messermeister Paring knives (Birds Beak, Clip Point & Spear Point)

Some knives I generally rotate in and out or take when I need, plus some I'll probably start using at my new job:

1 x Shun Classic 10" Chef
1 x Shun Alton's Angle Straight Veggie Knife
1 X Shun Steel 9" Bread Knife
1 x Shun Classic 7" Santoku
1 x Hattori 240mm Forum Gyuto

 

[buzzard767]

Tojiro DP is a swedish stainless AFAIK. It is not recommended to 'steel' japanese blades as they are heat treated harder than german knives. Steeling basically realigns or straightens the edge, not sharpen. The recommended 'steel' is actually the Idahone, which is a ceramic hone.

Right on. The DP is made of Sandvik 19C27 strip steel. While the material is capable of R63 the Tojiros are about R60. It is classified as stainless because it contains 13.5% chromium, 13% "free" chromium being the generally accepted minimum requirement. I highly recommend an Idahone fine ceramic steel to be used between sharpening sessions. Three light passes per side are all that is required and you're good to go. Only hone when the edge starts to lose its bite. Assuming you are a home cook, you ought to get several months use of the Toji before sharpening on stones is required.

Hope that helps.

Buzz

 

[jklee]

Only trouble is... I'm in Australia and its proving very difficult to find any of the hones you guys have suggested. Could you maybe describe the fineness of the rod i should be looking for? what do they feel like to the touch etc. If I'm lucky Ill be able to find a similar alternative.

Impressive collection Rob, grats on the job. I, however, am quite amateur so i think ill stick to my 3 knives.

Thanks for the help so far.

- Joe

 

[Rob Babcock]

Maybe Buzz may remember, but I think there are a few Aussies @ KF & FF- they may be able to help source a good hone. You'll want one that feels very smooth to the touch, the finer the better. You shouldn't have to worry about getting one too smooth: 1) it doesn't exist and 2) most hones will be a tad course.

Dave Martell might possibly ship internationally. I know he has customers all over the globe, including Japan. He runs JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com and is a great resource for sharpening supplies and wisdom.

Hopefully you can find some local piece but shipping shouldn't be bad if you do have to purchase from North America or Europe (a hone is fairly small).

Yeah, I carry kind of a lot of stuff at work. It goes back to my days as a chef in a hotel where I never knew what they might throw at me. Realistically I could get by with 6-8 and my maintenance gear now with no trouble. I just carry a bit extra 'cause I'm a knifegeek.

 

[jklee]

Sweet, I'll check it out. I found an Aus shop that usually have the DMT CS2 but their out of stock. Meanwhile I found a pretty fine ceramic one from IKEA for $28 that will do I suppose.

Regards

- Joe

 

[buzzard767]

Sweet, I'll check it out. I found an Aus shop that usually have the DMT CS2 but their out of stock. Meanwhile I found a pretty fine ceramic one from IKEA for $28 that will do I suppose.

Regards

- Joe

Do you have a web url for it or did you see it at a store? The IKEA will probably work as well as any. Remember to use a very light touch because the hone removes metal and you should keep that to a minimum.

Buzz

 

[TheNoodleIncident]

i assume its this one

IKEA | Preparing | Knives | SKÄRPT | Ceramic sharpener

 

[Rob Babcock]

No reason why the Ikea one wouldn't work. The caveat is that I have no idea how fine or coarse it might be. As Buzz stated, work it with a light touch and it should be fine.

Btw, Wusthof also makes a decent ceramic. It's pretty expensive here in the US compared to the others but it might be an option in Ozz.

 

[jklee]

Do you have a web url for it or did you see it at a store? The IKEA will probably work as well as any. Remember to use a very light touch because the hone removes metal and you should keep that to a minimum.

Buzz

It’s an online store, Everten. I cant post links yet

i assume its this one

Yep that’s it.

I tried to take a photo of the fineness, but alas my camera isnt that great

 

[buzzard767]

It’s an online store, Everten. I cant post links yet



Yep that’s it.

I tried to take a photo of the fineness, but alas my camera isnt that great

The reason "fine" is mentioned is that, at least with the Idahone, is that the grit is somewhere around the Japanese 3000 range. This grit is about midway between crunching and polishing and is just about right for removing accumulated garbage at the edge itself if used sparingly. Honing can extend the useful life of an edge many times over.