re-profiling a nakiri...suggestions?

I'm probably undoing the original intention of the smith. In a strange way I almost
hear the blade saying,"I'll never be the same beast." (A forum member hinted as
much, so I wish to give him credit )

I'm really ok with getting another nakiri as I have become quite enamored. This morning
I did the weekly veggie prep. Besides the nakiri I had on board two fine knives...Anryu santuko
and a TF gyuto. Both sharpened to scary sharp and with decent flat areas, yet when it
came to mincing, nothing compared to the feel and efficiency of the nakiri. Can't just
be the weight; the nakiri only weighs 5 ounces.

For continuing work on the profile, I assume that this is a sharpening issue because I'm using stones to do the deed...
400 Chosera. I started with using the side but progressed to going to the top.
It's almost like intentionally dulling the edge. Fairly slow cutting. I angle the blade
corner to corner of the stone but it's straight up and down, and then it's back
and forth. Originally, the profile was more of a belly. I thought that I had it
flattened in the front two-thirds with a little rise near the handle. Then when I went
to resharpen the edge, I still have a belly and..ugh...maybe a little dip or so.

Sure would be nice to have a big wide wheel to flatten wherever I choose,
but I'm willing to venture with the tools that I have.

My inherent strategy is push-cut with chop-chop. Given that dynamic,
what's the optimum profile? How much dead flat and where? How would
you remove metal...is my method on target?

I've been messing with this nakiri for a while and I know that the
brand (TF) has a negative association for many...and, I confess that I 'm obsessed.:biggrin:
So, this is my move to get it out of my system.:spin chair:
After two sessions on the stone...picture below.

Does the heel touch the stone on the picture? doesent look's so and therefor i think your profile look good!

I prefer about 1/3 flat spot from the heel and slowly bending upward similar to your's

To much flat area 1/2 or more makes the knife feel much harder on the cutting board and more straining to the wrist in my opinion

Sabaki,
I should have added the next picture. Not quite as much as 1/3 from the heel and today I did notice just that the board felt harder and that my wrist was not liking it.
I may need to take a little off the heel. This is just the kind of feedback that I need. Without some well informed guidelines, I'm shooting in the dark. And, better to
go slow in removing metal, than too fast.
Thanks!!!!

Have no special experience with nakiris, but I would thin both sides at the lowest angle that's possible, perhaps besides the stone. As for the edge, it's probably off-set to the left, and you better keep it that way. Left side straight, right bevel convexed to compensate for steering. Give the left bevel a higher angle. Just to see how it works, and from there on, you may fine tune.

Benuser,
I'm not sure that I follow you. No steering issues. The cutting edge has already been re-sharpened. In fact, my wife, to my shock, confessed that she just used it to
cut a butter nut squash down the middle! And, she has very little in the way of knife skills and her wrist are about as thin as the handle. Otherwise, never thought
of using the side of the stone to thin behind the edge but I will keep that in mind. My issue is the profile. We have a great gyuto, much more the work horse, and
she went for the nakiri. Oye!

It might be a small burr she has generated.

Benuser said:

It might be a small burr she has generated.

Click to expand...

I'm afraid I don't understand what you're getting at either. The OP is talking about altering the profile of the knife, not the cross-sectional bevel geometry. He said he doesn't seem to have any primary edge problems; he is just getting accordion-cuts because he's not getting enough board contact.

OP: I think you need to flatten the heel section of the edge a bit more (with a standard relief for the chin so it doesn't gouge the board). Make sure that all parts of the edge can contact the board when rolling across; a common sharpening problem is leaving the chin jutting out too far, leaving a "gap" that doesn't touch the board for the first 1-2cm of the heel. This can cause trouble, so make sure you can get the heel section flat to the board, with the chin (the corner at the heel) slightly (1mm or so) off the board. A flat zone of 3-4cm should be plenty, but adjust to taste.

As far as Fujiwara Teruyasu's "design"...I don't see any reason to respect it. He is haphazard with his grinding and shaping sometimes, and that should be corrected. Fixing a wonky knife is forgiving an insult, not issuing one.

Thanks!

xoomg,
Fantastic. Real relief to have some specifics in mind in order to bring this project to a conclusion. If you think of anything else let me know. At this point, if I understand this correctly,
raise the heel about 1mm off the board...and this is merely the corner...then for the next 4cm dead flat..then make sure that when the rest of the blade rolls forward all points on the edge
are making contact. My dentist has decided to become a knife maker and he's going to a week long course in the hills of Kentucky to learn the craft. I'm going to ask him for some of that
green paper that dentists use for evaluating occlusion. Always good to have a plan. Thanks for the clarifying comments about the FT design, too!
ps...my wife ended up cutting that butter nut squash without a problem...no wedging or lateral stress!!