Yoni Lang
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- Jan 22, 2013
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I've been searching for a while for a good source on this, but haven't quite found anything here, and nowhere else that I seem to trust. I have a few questions that maybe someone can help clear up for me.
A little background: The first sujihiki I bought a few years back was a Kikuichi Elite Carbon 240mm. I basically didn't know much about the asymmetry of sujihiki's, and was told by numerous sushi chefs that I worked with at the time, that Western Suji's were just 50/50.. :no: Fortunately I didn't spend a fortune on the knife as I was just beginning, so it was a good lesson learned.. So I invested in some stones and have been learning about sharpening ever since. I got a new job at a restaurant in Austin and relocated from Baton Rouge. Everyone here has knives with edges I didn't know were possible to get. So that inspired me to learn even more.
I have some old ontario carbon double beveled kitchen knives that ARE 50/50 that I've sharpened to practice (and also so the girlfriend has some halfway decent knives to use). I dont have any problem putting an edge on those that I can shave with. That includes thinning out the blades, and then putting a micro edge on it.
That being said, when it comes to most sujihiki's I've seen (including the kikuichi's), the factory edge is so small. Barely anything at all really. From what I understand, it's best to sharpen the bevel as close to the asymmetry of the blade as possible. How exactly do you do this with a bevel that's so small? Will it always be this small? Here's an example:
Even this has been sharpened and is actually a good bit deeper than it comes stock. On top of that, both sides are practically identical in how deep that edge grind is, which doesn't seem consistent with the 70/30, 60/40 that suji's are. I was under the impression that the grind on the right side of a right handed Suji would have a deeper shinogi line than on the left side, since you're grinding the assymetry and the spine of the blade would be closer to the stone when sharpening the right side. I'm guessing all factory edges aren't almost identical like this?
1. Would the best way to go about that be to just follow that thin grind? And 2. if it's that thin, does that mean that putting a secondary edge (micro bevel) on it would be pretty much impossible? And thirdly, how would you thin this type of blade out once it was to that point? would you basically have to lie the face completely flat on the stone and thin it that way? :eyebrow:
A little background: The first sujihiki I bought a few years back was a Kikuichi Elite Carbon 240mm. I basically didn't know much about the asymmetry of sujihiki's, and was told by numerous sushi chefs that I worked with at the time, that Western Suji's were just 50/50.. :no: Fortunately I didn't spend a fortune on the knife as I was just beginning, so it was a good lesson learned.. So I invested in some stones and have been learning about sharpening ever since. I got a new job at a restaurant in Austin and relocated from Baton Rouge. Everyone here has knives with edges I didn't know were possible to get. So that inspired me to learn even more.
I have some old ontario carbon double beveled kitchen knives that ARE 50/50 that I've sharpened to practice (and also so the girlfriend has some halfway decent knives to use). I dont have any problem putting an edge on those that I can shave with. That includes thinning out the blades, and then putting a micro edge on it.
That being said, when it comes to most sujihiki's I've seen (including the kikuichi's), the factory edge is so small. Barely anything at all really. From what I understand, it's best to sharpen the bevel as close to the asymmetry of the blade as possible. How exactly do you do this with a bevel that's so small? Will it always be this small? Here's an example:
Even this has been sharpened and is actually a good bit deeper than it comes stock. On top of that, both sides are practically identical in how deep that edge grind is, which doesn't seem consistent with the 70/30, 60/40 that suji's are. I was under the impression that the grind on the right side of a right handed Suji would have a deeper shinogi line than on the left side, since you're grinding the assymetry and the spine of the blade would be closer to the stone when sharpening the right side. I'm guessing all factory edges aren't almost identical like this?
1. Would the best way to go about that be to just follow that thin grind? And 2. if it's that thin, does that mean that putting a secondary edge (micro bevel) on it would be pretty much impossible? And thirdly, how would you thin this type of blade out once it was to that point? would you basically have to lie the face completely flat on the stone and thin it that way? :eyebrow:
