Murray Carter Damascus Neck Knife is Copperized

Here's a weird project that a friend tasked me to try. He sent me one of his Murray Carter damascus neck knives and requested that I etch it with copper. I gladly accepted the challenge because when else would I get to try this, not many people are willing to fork over such a pricey knife for an experiment.

Here's the results...

 

Pretty crazy, huh?

Western (Yo) to Eastern (Wa) Handle Conversion

Besides our normal sharpening service and making custom knives we also do all sorts of upgrades & reconfiguration work as well. One such example is this Misono Swedish Steel (carbon) Dragon Sujihiki that we converted from a western handle to a wa handle.

The handle we installed is HI Cook Pine & streaked buffalo made by Stefan Keller of JapaneseHandles.com

BEFORE

AFTER

JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com

We're on Facebook

Please come visit us on Facebook

A Togiharu and a MAC all dressed up...

Hiromoto Gyuto - The JapaneseKnifeSharpening Way

Here is a recent project knife. It's a Hiromoto Aogami Super Steel gyuto - 240mm where we replaced it's stock handle scales with black ash and also etched the blade.

 

Dave Martell @ Ashokan Knife Seminar 2010

I'm so excited, but much more honored, to have been asked to do a lecture and demonstration at this years Ashokan Knife Seminar. For those of you who never heard of this before, Ashokan is one of America's oldest and most prestigious hammer-ins. Some of the very best bladesmiths and knifemakers from around the world attend each year. I would have been excited about simply attending but being asked to do a presentation, well that's beyond words for me to describe how I feel.

I'll have more details on this later.....I just had to post this now. :)

Out of the Box Sharpening Service

As many of you may already know Japanese knives do not come out of the box (new) in a sharp condition and are not always ready to go to work.

They do often come somewhat sharp and may impress you with their thin cross section however they all can be improved upon when new.

It's a well known fact that the true potential of a new Japanese knife will only be realized after 1-2 sharpening sessions have occurred.

It's also well known that this initial out of the box sharpening is the most difficult to accomplish (beyond edge repairs) simply because the bevels are often very obtuse, wavy, or in some cases not even ground in yet at all. This is true for both double bevel and single bevel knives alike.

We, at JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com, have been providing initial sharpening service for Japanese knives for many years at no additional cost beyond our standard sharpening fees. With only a very limited exception (example - Aritsugu/Moritaka), we still offer this same service at no additional cost to our normal sharpening service. This means to you that you can purchase a new Japanese knife, have it shipped directly to us, and we will then bring out the full potential (and repair any small defects with the maker's bevel grinds) at no additional costs. You will then receive your knife knowing that it is now ready to use at the highest level that can be obtained while also having the peace of mind to understand that the knife is ready for you to either strop or touch-up sharpen when the times comes to do so. You won't have to worry about purchasing a complete set of sharpening stones and going through the learning curve right at the start of your Japanese knife ownership experience. When the knife begins to not feel sharp you can then choose to just strop or maybe touch-up sharpen on a polishing stone and have this work effectively for a very long time. In many cases a home user could go years with this type of maintenance regimen in place and be very satisfied.

If you have questions as to whether or not your new Japanese knife could benefit from initial sharpening you can always ask us about this as we'd be more than happy to answer your questions or concerns. I will say that all knives will benefit from initial sharpening although I will never say that all knives need it. The benefit of having initial sharpening done to your knife can be great but not always necessary. Again, if you have questions about this issue please feel free to ask, we welcome your inquiries.

For pricing and mailing instructions for our sharpening service please see http://www.japaneseknifesharpening....

Guided Sharpening Devices - Why?

Here I am on Easter morning in my shop typing this when I should be inside the house with my family. I know, I know, but I just had to share this....

Last night I was sharpening, or rather repairing and sharpening, two chisels that belong to my father-in-law and while doing so I was struck with the notion of how easy this was going for me. I believe this hit me so strong because of my previous battles in years past with these chisels and how hard of a time I've had sharpening these tools and now here I was breezing through the task. The thing that was/is so striking to me is that in the past I had used sharpening aides in the form of guided clamps and even specialized machinery to work on these tools yet here I am now doing it all free hand on water stones and making better results in a fraction of the time.

I sat back and asked myself why is this? I think it can be easily attributed to all of the time that I've spent free handing on water stones and machines like a belt sander and flat hone. I've developed my senses in such a way that I can now work without the help of guides and jigs to produce superior results to what I used to get from the best that these devices can offer.

The really striking revelation, however, is that if I had never tried free handing and had stuck with the guides then I would only be as good as what they allowed me to be. I would be stuck using them forever, stuck buying their proprietary abrasives, and denied the ability to learn how to actually sharpen. I would never have learned how to actually sharpen a tool on a simple sharpening stone. This is crazy!

Now I'm not damning guided devices or those who use them because I can understand the whys and hows but it has to be said that these devices exist not to provide better results (as their manufacturers would have you believe) but are here to soothe our insecurities. Somehow man has lost the ability to see a problem and conquer it. Today we go for the easy way, take the short cuts, no matter what the cost. We'd rather spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars and get what we think is an answer to our fears than to spend $20 for a simple stone and get to work with it. I wonder why we've evolved into this pattern?

Yes I know all about this behavior, I've owned just about every guided sharpening device for knives, scissors, and woodworking tools including some serious machinery. I know why I bought these items and what I was hoping to get from them but what I got in reality was nothing more than wasted money, wasted time, and road blocks in my learning curve. I guess I needed to try them and see what I needed to see but looking back I sort of wish I had never bothered.

My point in all this babbling is to say that if you're someone who's on the fence between going with a guided sharpening system or trying free handing I would strongly advise you to take the road less traveled. If you have a suspicion that free handing is something you might like then you already know the answer, you already know where you're going to go, you just have to listen to yourself and take the first step, the rest is just some hard work and practice and you'll be sharpening great in no time at all. Remember the best things come from hard work, nothing worth having is given to you or bought easily.

Hey, did you ever wonder why sharpening tools on stones with you bare hands is called "free handing"? I believe it's because you're freed from the boundaries inherently built into jigged/guided systems and free to do your best work.

So give it some thought, maybe you have it in you to try..... I say go for it!

Happy sharpening! :)

Dave

Microscopic Edge Pictures

I had a request to post some microscopic edge images that I shot a few years ago using a QX5 USB scope that my friend Curtis gifted me. Thanks Curtis!

The pictures are meant to show what actually happens at the edge from using waterstones. They are a visual reference for what happens at the microscopic level to which we can't see with eyes alone.

1000x

5000x

8000x

10000x

I hope that these pictures serve to provide you with a better idea of what you're achieving at the edge while sharpening. I think it helps to be able to refer to this while you're working away.

*Please note - What particular stones used are not important here - it's about what happens (in general) at each grit level that's of relevance.

Carbon Knives - Patina or Rust?

When I first started getting into Japanese kitchen knives I was very interested in carbon knives and how they did or didn't react to specific foods. I didn't want to taste steel on fresh fruit, know what I mean? Yuck!

Over time it's become clear to me that carbon knives (once "seasoned") are very safe to use on anything that's going to be cooked (like onions for example) but still may not be the best choice for fresh fruit where I would select a knife with at least stainless steel cladding over a carbon core if not full stainless. Carbon knives appear best used for proteins, both raw and cooked, as they seem to impart no flavor to the food. Anyone notice what steels are predominatly used for sushi knives? Yup - carbon!

So even though we know that we can use them for some tasks safely there's still an issue of maintenance that's going to be greater than that of their stainless cousins. Use and care of a carbon knife is somewhat like that of using and caring for a cast iron pan - they need some TLC in the way of seasoning to keep them in top form and to keep the red stuff (aka- rust) at bay.

I often get asked what's the best way to deal with seasoning (or forming a patina) on a carbon knife. My personal method is to use, wipe, use, wipe, wash when done (with soap and water), and then oil for storage. I choose to use Camellia Oil for this simply because it's made for the task and also washes off easily. Once the surface of the knife begins to oxidize across it's entire length (that is forms a patina) then the need for oiling is greatly reduced. I will use the oil until the knife crosses over from brown patina to blue, purple, black(ish) as this is often an indication of a nice strong seasoning layer having been formed. I would strongly advise, however, that if you are living in an extremely humid environment (such as Hawaii) that you always coat your carbon knives with oil before storing away.

Remember,....patina = good....rust = bad!
There's a fine line between the two and you're the one who controls it.

Conditioning a New Sharpening Stone

So many people I talk to are shocked to find out that new stones aren't flat out of the box. I know this sucks but it's the truth, you need to flatten all of your stones before using them.

New stones can come with stickers on the surface (which when removed leave glue behind) or maybe just ink imbedded into the surface due to fancy markings, often come uneven, all come with high edges/corners, and some will even have a sort of surface crust on them that needs removing before the stone actually works correctly.

My advice is to soak (if your stone requires soaking) the stone first and then follow with rounding the edges and ends, then flatten, then round the edges and ends (again). The order that you do this procedure is the same that you do for flattening a stone each and everytime although it's much more important to do the edge rounding at the pre-flattening stage when the stone is new because these high edges won't allow for you to flatten the stone correctly because the flattening stone/plate will be lifted off of the stone's surface. Sounds crazy I know - but trust me this is key to getting your new stone(s) really flat.

Japanese Knife Sharpening Services....

It's a fact, that one bad sharpening job will turn your expensive Japanese knife into a butter knife or worse. We've seen a great number of damaged Japanese knives that were sharpened on grinding machines or by inexperienced hands left ruined as a result.

Don't make the mistake of allowing a sharpener to work on your Japanese knives unless they confirm that the work is done by hand on waterstones - not a belt grinder or any other grinding machine. You need to find a service that will sharpen by hand using Japanese waterstones.

Also, ask questions about how long they've been in business and don't be afraid to ask for recommendations. If it's a simple job on an inexpensive double bevel knife then maybe this is overkill but for high dollar high end single bevel traditional Japanese knives having major repair work you need to make sure that the person you're trusting has the knowledge and experience to back up they're talk.
Most professional knife sharpeners are charging a premium for sharpening these knives. Why? It's simple - because they can. They know that these knives are expensive, and have a certain "aire" attached to them. They know that it takes more time and skill to sharpen them and they know that the user understands this so they take advantage of the situation. You pay the premium price while getting the basic service. I'm not trying to badmouth the professional knife sharpening industry but after hearing of hundreds of horror stories I just have to believe that where's there's smoke - there's fire.

We, at JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com do charge more for sharpening these knives than some but less than others and we like to think that we offer a great deal in return. We use a highly refined "hand" sharpening procedure that utilizes between 6 - 10 different waterstones. The resultant edge is strong, highly polished/refined, and is nothing short of "High Performance". It's the best possible edge that can be attained through any sharpening method. It is the edge that your fine Japanese knives deserve.

We do major repair work as well, often times working on family heirlooms and high end knives made by famous makers.

One of my favorite repair jobs that I'm quite proud of is the refurbishment of this 330mm Shigefusa (KIYA) yanagiba owned by Harrleson Stanley (from Shapton USA). This knife was gifted to Harrelson personally by the owner of Shigefusa after having survived a hurricane. The knife was found under sea water as seen in the before picture. I worked on this knife to bring it back to what I believe to be close to what Shigefusa would do themselves.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As you can likely imagine none of this work was done by machine, it was 100% hand work done on waterstones. There's only probably a few pro sharpeners doing this level of work in this county and maybe even the world for that matter so remember - ask for credentials! 

Well I really didn't want this post to be a rant but it kind of is non-the-less I guess. My point in all this is for you to beaware of who your handing over you're expensive and very special Japanese knives too.

OK,,,,,,,,here we go! :)

The reason why I'm now finally getting into "Blogging" is that I keep getting asked to create a Blog, well rather I keep getting suggestions to do so, and now here I am doing it. Never underestimate the power of suggestion folks :)

I'll be trying to keep up with this new avenue and will look to post some of my thoughts and techniques for Japanese Knife Sharpening as well as keep you updated on what's new and upcoming with our company  and at our online store.

Hopefully you'll find some things of interest to you and you'll see your way back here to check in every once in awhile. Hope to see you around.

Dave