What is the highest grit you would use on Takamura R2 (SG2) steel without compromising life?

Due to the hardness of R2, is there a benefit to using 8,000 - higher grits? I use Chosera and typically finish on the 5,000 and then leather strop. Suggestions?

Using a pressure controled Jiig, you can go to 0,05my.....

But i think Gokumyo 20k is enough. Or maybe some really good Kamisori finisher Nakayama/Ohzuku or something like that.....

Greets Sebastian.

I usually stop on 2-6K; depends on how I feel. Very rarely I will bring any knife to 10K.

Sharpchef said:

Using a pressure controled Jiig, you can go to 0,05my.....

But i think Gokumyo 20k is enough. Or maybe some really good Kamisori finisher Nakayama/Ohzuku or something like that.....

Greets Sebastian.

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You and your jigs.... :sly:

I think it is more a factor of your sharpening skill and what you are using it for... as Sharpchef said. If you aren't a great hand sharpener jigs can help.

But if you are using it as an all rounder in the kitchen most will say 6 to 8k will leave a keen edge with just enough bite for tougher skinned produce. If it's a yanagi doing high grade sushi/sashimi then higher is probably good.

Ultimately you can go as high as you want with any steel. Just the question of why and how long that perfect edge will last. Which is a factor of many things beyond just the polish/refinement.

I'm very curious about this question in general lately (what grit for what steel and purpose), not that i have a pm steel like sg2, or work in a kitchen for that matter, but I'm guessing a pm steel should get you through the day either way, and then it'll be a question of how often you'd like to sharpen.
Anyway what i am trying to say is that if you have the patience you should experiment and draw your own conclusions. I finish on my current highest grit, a welsh slate stone at 7000-8000 grit, and trying different grit combinations i feel like that's the edge i like either way, and i feel like the edge retention is fine either way, but I'm sure many would disagree with me. What i have read is that higher hardness=higher benefit from higher grit stones, but then again, my experience is limited and i like to sharpen before i have to

malexthekid said:

You and your jigs.... :sly:

I think it is more a factor of your sharpening skill and what you are using it for... as Sharpchef said. If you aren't a great hand sharpener jigs can help.

But if you are using it as an all rounder in the kitchen most will say 6 to 8k will leave a keen edge with just enough bite for tougher skinned produce. If it's a yanagi doing high grade sushi/sashimi then higher is probably good.

Ultimately you can go as high as you want with any steel. Just the question of why and how long that perfect edge will last. Which is a factor of many things beyond just the polish/refinement.

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irate1: Yes for sure... Depends on steel. I made a lot of testing, with different not kitchen knife related steels, and for sure the sence of handsharpening ends with about 6k.... in terms of edge retention, and especially the cut with no danger.....

For classic german/french kitchen knifes i prefer 800 Grit finish with steeling (Dickoron).
For Japanes high hardness kinfes i take Jnats (Suita) or maybe Chosera 5k this is my most beloved Synthetik stone, same for european/american customs......

for Jiig sharpening maybe @matus or Mr. Dalman will chime in..... I got their knifes a little sharper i think

Greets Sebastian.

My favourite edge for any steel is naniwa superstore/ chosera / pro 3k. Nice and refined, fantastic bite. I did shave with my petty Takamura to 10k, jnat finisher, chromium oxide, leather stropping to shave ... But it's not the best knife edge.

"Shave" as in you literally shaved your face, or did it take you to go beyond the 3k to make it shave any hair at all?

LucasFur said:

My favourite edge for any steel is naniwa superstore/ chosera / pro 3k. Nice and refined, fantastic bite. I did shave with my petty Takamura to 10k, jnat finisher, chromium oxide, leather stropping to shave ... But it's not the best knife edge.

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The Naniwa Pro 3k is a great last stone. Have tried 5 & 8k after it without any benefit.

Benuser,
That's what I wondered--but what do you mean by benefit? Edge retention? Sharpness? Both? I want the sharpest possible for the longest life, and am trying to find the best balance between the two for the HSPS (SG2) steel. Hopefully that makes sense.
I love the feel of Naniwa stones on my Takamura, though I heard that they excel on Shapton Glass HR even better (because it is a harder stone). The Takamura brothers say they only finish on the 3k shapton glass, and then strop on rough fabric.

Don't see any benefit in either sharpness or retention.

I literally shaved my face. I'm not particularly hairy though.
I recorded shaving with my teruyasu denka ... [video=youtube;u8bQf0SnCVI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8bQf0SnCVI[/video]

And yes from my limited experience ... the mid-grit shaptons leave similar edges to the mid grit naniwa's.
Above 3k edge *my Perceived edge retention goes down.
sharpening angle makes more of a difference of edge retention then grit does IMO.

Oh OK. My reason for asking was amazement ... because "shaving" behaviour (arm and leg hair) seems par for the course on a 3K ... heck, managed it with a cho 400 and newspaper and am not a good sharpener...

For all my PM steel knives (R2, HAP40, DURATEC 20CV, etc.), I prefer to stop at Naniwa pro 3k or Suehiro Rika 3k.
You could of course get higher than that if you want and have the time to do it as an exercise, but I never noticed any improvements on cutting performance or edge retention for kitchen knives.
Actually, it feels like I am losing some "bite" and the edge tends to slide for a fraction of a second on hard skinned vegetables and cooked proteins.

GRoc said:

For all my PM steel knives (R2, HAP40, DURATEC 20CV, etc.), I prefer to stop at Naniwa pro 3k or Suehiro Rika 3k.
You could of course get higher than that if you want and have the time to do it as an exercise, but I never noticed any improvements on cutting performance or edge retention for kitchen knives.
Actually, it feels like I am losing some "bite" and the edge tends to slide for a fraction of a second on hard skinned vegetables and cooked proteins.

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Hmm I usually take srs15 up to 10K and it seems to noticeably increase its surgical quality. No loss of performance that I can tell. Pretty much the opposite. Not sure if there's any particular reason why srs15 would be different from other PM steels in this regard.

Perhaps it's all placebo :dazed:

@GRoc - Rika 5k or Kouga 3k?