
Originally Posted by
Maluaka
Ok, here goes-
What I want to ask those of you who use them is the following:
1. What made you try single bevels?
HOEK: Well I attended this sushi course many years ago, and I bought my first yanagiba. A smallish mediocre Masahiro, but I was sold as soon as I started using it.
2. What surprised you about them?
HOEK: Just how frig****ly hard the were to sharpen without screwing up the edge, and how easily the edge chipped.
3. What was the learning curve like?
HOEK: In the beginning exceptionally steep. Just to learn the basics so to not destroy the shape, edge, shinogi and ura was a very time and steel and stone consuming process.
4. What style(s) do you find most useful and what styles do you think I would find most useful?
HOEK: Like you I love my Usuba. I use a lot of fish, and use my Deba regularly as well as my yanagibas. My next single bevel will probably be a 240 or 255 mioroshi deba. I believe that is the best of two worlds. Part Gyuto, part Yanagiba and part Deba.
Of course Yanagibas are gorgeous but I also love the look of Usubas. Is there any point to a Yanagiba if I don't cook much with fish? I would get no use out of a Deba as I don't take apart whole chicken or fish with any kind of regularity.
HOEK: I love the feeling of power in the Deba blade. I don't believe you will need one on a regular basis, Maybe a Mioroshi Deba could be a solution. That is a very versatile knife.
I have been trying Katsuramuki with my Nakiri with pretty good results. Did a nasty old soup carrot today and only had it break twice. Cucumber and Zucchini went much better. Would a Usuba make it much easier?
HOEK: An Usuba will most likely aid you even further in performing your katsuramuki, but now we are moving into personal preferences, so for me, definalely, for you, probably.
Sorry, I know that was a ton of questions but anything you've got is always appreciated.
HOEK: I have tried to answer your questions, but these are only my personal experiences and preferences. For almost any knife exept for the finest yanagibas, you will be well off with a #8000 as your finest stone. For a fine yanagiba edge I would take it to #8000 and get a Japanese natural from Maksim at Japanesenaturalstones.com for the final finish. An Oozuku or Oohira or something like that. Maksim will be happy to help you out.
Thanks all!