A Newb and his knives first day.

So I received my first batch of stuff today and decided to get to work.

Tojiro ITK 210 gyuto and 150 petty. Out of the box the finish was a little rough and not as sharp as I expected. They wouldn't cut the hanging paper test although they're still the sharpest knives I've used in the kitchen. I took some vinegar and scrubby sponge to the black finish and it smoothed out but I was still unhappy as it was unevenly coated and missing spots. This wasn't a big deal as I had figured as much.

So I stripped it off with sand paper levels, like 60, 320, 400, 1k, 1500 which is what I had lying around. Then took the Mother's Billet polish to it that I have for car stuff. While it was getting there, as I was polishing one side the other side was starting to tarnish. Man! that's some fast reaction :wink:

So I decided to go mustard. Don't mind the old wooden cutting board, it's been replaced!




It didn't come out like I hoped after about 45 mins.





So back to the mustard for a second try. 30 more mins and I get:



Better. And after this I decided it was a good starting point and I'll just continue to use them and develop some natural patina.

Off to the new board and to make some board butter.



Final days work:

Nice board.

The Tojiro ITKs are known for having some very reactive steel. Hope they work well for you.

Just a word about that Catskill board. Don't freak out if it warps on you after a couple of days. Just keep it oiled and it will come back to level after about a week. Can't tell you why they do that but mine did it and I've heard the same thing from others. It's been a great board ever since.

A hui hou,
Mikey

I would assume they warp because of the very small and different type of pieces being used.

ThEoRy said:

I would assume they warp because of the very small and different type of pieces being used.

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Very possible, but they seem to be fine once they acclimate.

Are you going to sharpen them?

I'll keep an eye on the board. Gonna try sharpening them tonight, we'll see how it goes.

Very pretty!

Am loving the cutting board too... I should probably invest in a nice cutting board :x