Project Kasumi Kato

A couple of weeks ago I received my first Kato. I was overly excited to open the parcel from JNS, as I had heard so many good things about the knives from Kiyoshi-san.

After tearing the parcel apart, I finally got a glimpse of the black box! But when I first opened it, it was like everything fell part for me. I had heard that the finish on these knives was so-so, but this finish on this one was IMO terrible. It had scratches in every direction, and one across the blade was so deep that I even felt that I could feel it with my finger-nail. :scared4:

Well, looks isn't everything, and what is not to be fixed with the right surgery? :spiteful:.

I started to use the knife, and finally I felt the Kato magic! It was a joy using the knife, and for the following two weeks it was my knife of choice for every task.

But, as I just received some other knifes, I have decided to spend my evenings this week, giving the Kato the makeover that it deserves.

My plan is to give it a beautiful Kasumi finish. I have never tried this before, but I have a good idea about the procedure.

I spend about 4 hours today removing the vertical scratches on the blade. I went from 180 grit to 400 grit to 600 g. to 800 g. to 1000 g., though I wasn't satisfied with the removing of the vertical scratches, so I decided to go back to 180 grit, continuing to 400 and 600 grit.

My plan is to take it all the way to 8000 grit before finishing off with Uchigomori fingerstones.

Though, I just don't seem to be able to get rid of the vertical scratches on the Ha-part, and I am quite sure that KKF is the right place to seek help :biggrin:.

Here's a picture from before and after 600 grit. I will keep the thread updated with pictures of the process, but really need some advice on removing the vertical scratches on the Ha-part.

Before:


After 600 grit:

No advice but you've done fantastic work so far, little shocked that JNS shipped a knife in that condition...

If you're going to sand a knife this vid is almost a must watch primer

https://youtu.be/4I4x4QLpfnk

Looks to come out great.

Thanks for the link Robin! I better give it watch!

Here's the current status at 800 grit. At this angle the vertical scratches on the hard steel is more visible.

Yup, core steel is a b****. No specific advise thought Dalmans video is good,, but keep it up. Time and patience are key hand polishing the scratches off hard core steel.

And generous amounts of sharp papers, and hard backing

That's the advice for the hard steel, steel backing, tight wrap paper, don't cut yourself.

What grit would you recommend to start with for the hard steel Robin? Should I go rougher than the 180?

nkbitsch said:

What grit would you recommend to start with for the hard steel Robin? Should I go rougher than the 180?

Click to expand...

Really difficult to say on a pic, but guessing from it, not coarser than 180. Just try to get it clamped up well (and safe) and have a hard backing that allows you to hit just right. I use a long piece of steel similar to nicks. Watch out if you zero to the edge and raise burr so you don't mess with the edge profile more than you like.

You could also consider using your whetstones pulling the knife along it lengthwise to get that area done.

I have an old Shun 1000 whetstone lying around somewhere. I don't like to use it for sharpening, as it is very soft and coarse but it might actually be good for this job. I will post an update tomorrow!

I would say - start somewhere with 240 - 400 and if you are not getting anywhere, drop down one step. remember - you need half-steps (example: 240, 320, 400, 600, 1000 ...) and you need to take all scratches of the previous step out before moving to the next grit. Each of this steps will cost you 30 - 60 minutes of work (per side of the knife), so starting with unnecessarily low grit will cost you a lot of time. Also - grits under 240 can take away quite some material away, so watch what you are doing to avoid low spots or damage to the profile.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip Matus! I'm actually trying to go in 1/3 steps or less, I just didn't have 240, and 320, so i actually jumped all the way from 180 to 400. I only used the 180 with a light pressure to ground off, and remove the vertical scratches.

So tonights update:
I used my old shun 1000 grit synthetic stone to remove the vertical scratches on the hard steel. This actually worked out extremely well! I then jumped back to 600 grit to even everything out, and then 800.

I have spend about 1,5 hour tonight, but so far the result is really promising! Tomorrow I will go 1000 grit and 1200 grit, if i have the time.

It's not quite Shig kasumi level yet, but it's getting there! how far would you go before moving to Uchigomori fingerstones? Should I take it all way to mirror?

After Shun 1000 synth stone and 800 grit paper:

Your pics aren't working for me except for the OP.

I can see them just fine

bkultra said:

I can see them just fine

Click to expand...

I can see all other pics (other posts etc) but the last two pics he has posted don't show for me. Guess I'm out of luck.

Looking back the picture is post #4 doesn't show, but I see the one in #12 just fine.

Looks great. Are you using any particular set up to hand sand this? Vise, clamps, or board to secure the knife? And what about to mount te abrasive?

That is actually a very good idea - to remove the scratches on hagane with a stone as that is so much faster and you have better control. When I worked on that Hide gyuto it was a nightmare to get the scratches out of hagane with a sand paper. I just did not realise that I should do it with a stone or two.

I'm not quite sure whats going on with the images, but it seems to be some privilege issue, as they are uploaded to my google photos account. If I try to show them in incognito mode, I also only see some of them.

To be honest I'm only using a cutting board, and a whole lot of patience. It is definitely not the safest nor most efficient way of doing it, but it does the job. I have cut out a lot of small pieces of the abrasive material, and cut a small chunck of a cork sanding block. I don't mount the abrasive to the cork, just add a little water to the blade and the friction between the knife and the abrasive is less than between the cork and the abrasive.

I have added a picture of my setup below, together with the missing pic from post #12.

I can see that one! looking good btw :doublethumbsup:

That is perfect 👌.

Wow! Looks nice now. That should not have arrived new in that condition though.

You are doing a great job. I would however not do that directly on the cutting board - some of the particles from the sandpaper will get stuck in the surface and may turn your cutting board to 'edge killer' and also contaminate your food.

That's a good advice Matus! I actually don't really like that cutting board, which is why I'm using it for this task. Bamboo has never really been my thing.

So I took the grit all the way to 1500 today, and suddenly something very interesting happened. All the imperfections in my sanding, and non horizontal lines that I apparently didn't remove started to show up.

I think a hazy finish with uchigomori might make these go away, but time will tell!

1500 grit:

welcome to one of the most frustrating experiences of your life

Well spoken Jon 😂

Haha. It's a pain Jon! Please don't rub it in.

And this is why honyaki knives are so expensive. Forget the HT, it is the finishing that makers let you pay dearly for

I truly believe in that Matus! I just took it to grit 2600, and the look is now mirror-ish. I don't plan in taking it all the way to mirror, as I'm quite sure that this will be a waste of time when finishing off with finger stones.