So, i had a customer bring in one today (a santoku), and i was curious, so i sharpened it. I've never used one, and i remember when we had some discussions here about them, so i thought it might be fun. I recall the makers of the vmatter talking about how normal sharpening methods wouldnt work because vmatter is so different. I guess the knife came really dull to the customer initially, so he didnt really have much to say about its performance. Anyways, i started with my wheel and it was soft feeling but seemingly wear resistant. I moved to some stones. I used a 200 grit diamond plate, just to see how it would respond. Again, metal seemed to be coming off quickly, and it was forming a burr, but it was gummy and soft feeling. I tried a bunch of different stones. The metal does not take a polish in the same way other steels i know do. I'm sure i could polish it with enough time, but at 3k, it wasnt even shiny. Also, it has a very elastic feeling, so light pressure became even more important. Anyways, we got a nice edge on it and it wasnt too hard to deburr. Seems to be cutting well according to the customer (he's comparing side by side with a suisin inox honyaki that i also just sharpened). The suisin is obviously thinner, but as of right now, they are about the same in terms of sharpness.
Anyways, i was curious if anyone else has seen/sharpened/played with one. It was a very interesting experience for me today.
Anyways, i was curious if anyone else has seen/sharpened/played with one. It was a very interesting experience for me today.