Does this need thinning?

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mano

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I'm pretty sure I know the answer already. Singatirin honyaki sujihiki closer to 290 than 270. Marvelous knife in all respects except it wedges a bit with harder foods. With my mediocre sharpening skills I'm hesitant to try thinning a honyaki.

Approximates:
Width of Spine at Handle- 3,6 mm
Width of Spine Above Heel- 3,3mm
Width of Spine at Middle- 1,9mm
Width of Spine 1cm from the tip- 1 mm

IMG_1549.JPGIMG_1544.JPGIMG_1545.JPG
 
Excuse my ignorance but is thinning a honyaki harder or more difficult than a different type of knife? I thought it would be the same.
 
It is actually much thinner behind the edge then most of the Sujikis i have sold. Shigefusa Kato Yoshikane etc
But if you want to thin it, it is not super hard Honyaki to thin.

Also it may help you just to put bit lower angle on the bevel it self
 
Maxim,
I gotta tell you how great this knife is and what a bargain the Singatrins seem to be. My wondering about thinning is because there is some wedging that wouldn't be expected given how sharp the edge is.

Are you talking about a micro bevel?
 
Yeah or actual bevel, i think just drop micro bevel and go for regular edge on it :)
If you need any help let me know !
 
Excuse my ignorance but is thinning a honyaki harder or more difficult than a different type of knife? I thought it would be the same.

A honyaki blade is made with a single steel. When you thin non-honyaki blades you're mostly removing soft cladding material, when you thin a honyaki blade it's all hardened steel.:scared4:
 
Thanks Maxim. I'm figuring you sharpened it before sending it out, or else my sharpening just sucks compared to what Singatirin put on it. So, I'm not inclined to mess with the edge much at all.

Not that it matters much, but what is the steel and hardness on the Singatrins?

Edited to add: I checked out the choil shots of your Shigefusa Kasumi and Yosihide yo suji's and damned if they aren't thicker behind the edge than my Singatirin!?
 
I think for sure that Singatirin is thinner behind the edge then Shig or Kato. But biggest difference is that there is micro bevel on Singatirin but not on Shig or Kato

I have sharpened it before i shipped it out but i just maintained the same edge :D I always do.
I think they put micro bevel on it so user can self decide what kind of Angle he want his edge
 
Then I'll most likely leave it as it is. It glides through meat and can get paper-thin cuts. It can even do this:
[video=youtube;6aoQGC1yIlQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aoQGC1yIlQ[/video]


I'll try and make a video of the Singitirin. The fit and finish is outstanding and I can see why you and Jon like burned chestnut handles.
 
Then I'll most likely leave it as it is. It glides through meat and can get paper-thin cuts. It can even do this:
[video=youtube;6aoQGC1yIlQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aoQGC1yIlQ[/video]


I'll try and make a video of the Singitirin. The fit and finish is outstanding and I can see why you and Jon like burned chestnut handles.

This is actually not a problem. You can do that even with wusthofs.
 
Dont be afraid to thin it ;) Or to put extra low edge on it.
If you get any problem with it i will be happy to help !!


Then I'll most likely leave it as it is. It glides through meat and can get paper-thin cuts. It can even do this:
[video=youtube;6aoQGC1yIlQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aoQGC1yIlQ[/video]


I'll try and make a video of the Singitirin. The fit and finish is outstanding and I can see why you and Jon like burned chestnut handles.
 
If you do thin it, a Shapton Pro 320 does a nice job, and replicates the OOTB finish pretty well, if you're careful.
 
So it is just as difficult as thinning a normal high hardness monosteel gyuto? You should not have too much of a problem if you do decide to thin it.
 
So it is just as difficult as thinning a normal high hardness monosteel gyuto? You should not have too much of a problem if you do decide to thin it.

I think honyaki are harder than most mono-steel knives...not sure by how much though.
 
monosteel knives from japan tend to be easier to sharpen by a fair bit than most honyaki knives... there are always some exceptions though
 
So it is just as difficult as thinning a normal high hardness monosteel gyuto? You should not have too much of a problem if you do decide to thin it.

it's not really difficult to thin, what is difficult is polishing it afterwards.
 
For me very light thinning behind the edge is an important part of learning the grind of a new knife. I would use a sharpie and a fairly high grit stone just to see what angle you would have to use to achieve a performance altering thinning angle. On this knife I would guess you would decide not to go to the coarse stones but that shouldn't stop you from testing the waters. At a minimum it would show what lies ahead in terms of maintaining the knife.

That choil shot looks hot BTW.
 
I'm pretty sure I know the answer already. Singatirin honyaki sujihiki closer to 290 than 270. Marvelous knife in all respects except it wedges a bit with harder foods. With my mediocre sharpening skills I'm hesitant to try thinning a honyaki.


That is because it was not meant for harder foods. :whistling:

Nice knife!
 
Singatirin is actually very close to mono steel knives, it is just with Hamon :) So thats why it is not as hard to thin as regular Honyakis
 
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