Suminagashi Question

I just bought a Shiro Kamo Syousin Suminagashi gyuto. It has a beautiful damascus cladding with a sort of soft matte finish (this is the suminagashi part yes?) that is part of the knife's charm. (Not sure if the finish also has some function.)

So when the time finally comes that I need to thin the knife, I realize I'll need to etch to get the damascus back in shape. But I'm wondering if I will have lost that matte look on the newly exposed steel.

Is this something the smith achieved through some sort of sand blasting or some such? Or is it more a coloring/appearance that's inherent in the cladding's steel?

You can use finger stones to restore the finish. The right ones can even help bring out the damascus pattern

Ah great! Thanks.

Depending on what's been used to create the current finish you'll be looking at different amount/technique to refinish. You can of course rework it with stones and fingerstones. If it is a sandblasted finish, you may be looking at spending some time with stones. Don't know if it is sandblasted, but the shiro kamo I got ~four years ago was a little uneven and sandblasted on the bevels.

You can also try sandpaper and different backings, some find it easier.

I have access to a sand blaster. Would that be a reasonable way to go?

The pattern is suminagashi, non functional. The work involved to refinish after thinning knocked me out of using my Damascus patterned knife which was one of my first J-knife purchases (in over my head, didn't have sandpaper/micromesh/naturals stones/etchant at that time and had never used such things)
Hopefully you won't have to thin for a while, seems like a fairly thin knife. Microbevel will help stave that off as well

Noah said:

I have access to a sand blaster. Would that be a reasonable way to go?

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No, no, no!!!!

It would just likely be a light etch and then polished with stones.

By matt I assume you mean the look rather than feel?

malexthekid said:

No, no, no!!!!

It would just likely be a light etch and then polished with stones.

By matt I assume you mean the look rather than feel?

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What would one use as an etchant?

ferric chloride, but there are a lot of options

So basically a strong acid?

malexthekid said:

No, no, no!!!!

It would just likely be a light etch and then polished with stones.

By matt I assume you mean the look rather than feel?

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Yes look, not feel. It feels smooth.

Nemo said:

So basically a strong acid?

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I was under the impression that it didn't have to be very strong to work. But as you know, I'm a newb, so take that with a grain of salt. :wink:

Like I said there are a lot of options... just do a search here

Noah said:

I was under the impression that it didn't have to be very strong to work. But as you know, I'm a newb, so take that with a grain of salt. :wink:

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Dave M made a post a while ago about etching knives that describes it quite well. It pops back up ebery few months.

I think most tend to use quite a diluted enchant to control it and go for lengthened etching times for a deeper pattern.

Thanks I'll have a look.