Stones for a Misono Chefs Knife

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loki993

loki993

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A few years ago my girlfriend bought me a Misono chef's knife..its a basic Misono, I think the Molybdenum. It sat for a while because I was a bit "afraid" to use it, but I'm using it a fair bit now and I'm starting to notice it losing its edge a bit. She got me a stone for it too but it's a 600/1k combo stone. I was going to basically give the knife a bit of a touch up because that's all it really needs, but I was afraid 1k was may be a bit too coarse for that.

I was always under the impression that 600/1k would be perfect for German knives, which we have too but something a bit higher was appropriate for a japanese knife.

What should I be looking for in a touch up / finishing stone for the Misono.

Also I've been seriously considering getting a high carbon steel knife recently so something that would work well for something like that would be nice too.
 
1000grit is perfectly fine for normal sharpening and touching up a Misono Moly
 
Personally I polish a little higher on the Misono Moly with whatever 2000-ish stone I have around. I find 1k a little toothy but that's a personal preference. You can pick up a 5-6k stone if you add more carbon knives to your collection. JNS 6K, Gesshin 5 or 6k are good stones. My fav is the Suehiro Rika 5K. All good choices. A 2k stone is also nice to have in a carbon progression.
 
tripleq said:
Personally I polish a little higher on the Misono Moly with whatever 2000-ish stone I have around. I find 1k a little toothy but that's a personal preference. You can pick up a 5-6k stone if you add more carbon knives to your collection. JNS 6K, Gesshin 5 or 6k are good stones. My fav is the Suehiro Rika 5K. All good choices. A 2k stone is also nice to have in a carbon progression.
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Couldn't agree more. I would add a Chosera/naniwa pro 2k, it will soon become the only stone you will use. But I happen to live in Europe where they are much more affordable.
 
I also have a Misono Handmade Molybdenum but I've been finishing it with a 6k. Can you all tell me why you only go up to a 2k or 3k instead of all the way up to a 6k?
 
The moly steel is HRC 57. About the same as a German Chef knife. I’ve gone higher than 2-3k but the relatively soft steel doesn’t support a high polish as well as most of my other knives. I also just prefer the feel of a lower polish on this particular line of knives. This is for my use. If a higher polish works for you and you like it by all means stick with it.
 
Ah ok I thought Moly steel was still harder than Germans. This makes me feel cheated by the guy who sold it to me. I was looking to get my first Japanese knife and to learn to sharpen. I was under the impression that this steel was hard enough to see results immediately and to have enough tactile feedback.
 
It's a bit harder than most German stainless, steel has a finer structure and the blade a much better geometry. In any respect a much better knife at a reasonable price. No reason to feel cheated.
 
Agreed, more than decent knife much funner steel to sharpen than any soft Euro to boot
 
StonedEdge said:
Agreed, more than decent knife much funner steel to sharpen than any soft Euro to boot
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Ok thanks to the two of you. Being a novice in sharpening with no real face to face guidance can be so daunting! Loads of questions and no one to look at your work for feedback.

I've been using my 6k on this Misono but maybe I've been rolling my edge because of its softness? I also have a 3k so maybe I should play with that a lot more and see how everything feels.
 
My guess would be that it isn't because of soft steel, but because of a lack of consistency in holding the same angle along the entire blade when you sharpen and/or a burr. Have a look in the sharpening section of the forum it's a wealth of information
 
Yeah I try to read this section daily but it gets overwhelming as a lot of information is way past my experience level I think.

A few weeks ago I watched Peter Nowlan's first lesson and it grounded me a lot. I'm trying to focus less on all the extra bells and whistles and more so on my technique
 
I feel you, when I first started free hand sharpening I didn't even know about KKF. The first thing I set out to learn was consistent angle holding, how to feel for burr formation, and deburring. After these basics the rest kinda falls into place as you gain hands on experience. My knives have taught me a great deal through trial and error.

Also remember, there is no single correct way.
 
The very first time I learned about sharpening I didn't even know what a burr was let alone knife forums. My grandfather got me a buck 110 and a soft Arkansas stone for my 12th birthday to use for hunting and showed me what he called honing. This was basically a single edge leading stroke in either direction one after the other about 800 bazillion times or when the edge was the way you wanted it, whichever came first. Okay, a gross exaggeration but that is how it felt. Now I use a scrubbing motion with pressure on the edge trailing strokes only and switch to single stropping sweeps as it come to the end of my progress on each stone.

The point, as StonedEdge said, is that there is no one way to do this. You just find what you are comfortable with and go with that. Over time you try to perfect that method. Sounds like you have a good understanding of the basics. Just have fun with it and go at your own pace.
 
Are misono moly’s really that touch up-able? Usually whenever I work with knives of that nature I just drop back to a 2 or 3 stone progression. I haven’t actually used this knife but usually whenever I touch up an edge it’s made of a steel type that can bounce back to sharpness with some ease.
 
labor of love said:
Are misono moly’s really that touch up-able? Usually whenever I work with knives of that nature I just drop back to a 2 or 3 stone progression. I haven’t actually used this knife but usually whenever I touch up an edge it’s made of a steel type that can bounce back to sharpness with some ease.
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The steel is relatively soft and the geometry is fairly thin. Dealing with the edge is easy for touch ups or full sharpening. Knowing a little about the knives in your collection I find it unlikely that you’d consider this one a keeper.
 
labor of love said:
Are misono moly’s really that touch up-able? Usually whenever I work with knives of that nature I just drop back to a 2 or 3 stone progression. I haven’t actually used this knife but usually whenever I touch up an edge it’s made of a steel type that can bounce back to sharpness with some ease.
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My mother has a Misono moly and I keep a Shapton pro 2k at her place which I use to touch up the knife about once a month. I will bring over the 400 about once or twice a year as needed. It seems to still have life left in the edge before I touch it up and it comes back to life easily. That is in a home kitchen that prepares meals for 2-4 people 3 times a day about 5 times a week. For whatever it is worth.
 
labor of love said:
Are misono moly’s really that touch up-able? Usually whenever I work with knives of that nature I just drop back to a 2 or 3 stone progression. I haven’t actually used this knife but usually whenever I touch up an edge it’s made of a steel type that can bounce back to sharpness with some ease.
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What do you mean by touch up? It may be worth highlighting for the OP
 
Touch up: returning a serviceable edge to a knife that is no longer sharp but not quite dull using just one stone... Yes, there’s grey area there. And a lot of variables. Personally I like to touch up things that sharpen easy like simple or pure carbons but we all have diff ideas about what sharpens easy. I do possess a few stainless at the moment and I just happen to prefer using a 2 stone progression for them. But hey, whatever works for someone else is what they should stick to. And like I’ve said I’ve never used a Misono moly.
 
Not speaking for anyone else, I would say: strop and deburr. If you don't get a smooth edge with just a few light strokes, go to a coarser stone and try the same. I do it often on dry stones, Snow-white 8k, Chosera 3 and 2k. When it doesn't work with the 2k any longer it's time for real sharpening.
 
Benuser said:
Not speaking for anyone else, I would say: strop and deburr. If you don't get a smooth edge with just a few light strokes, go to a coarser stone and try the same. I do it often on dry stones, Snow-white 8k, Chosera 3 and 2k. When it doesn't work with the 2k any longer it's time for real sharpening.
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That is about how I do things too except my go-to is a Kitayama or a natural.
 
K813zra said:
The very first time I learned about sharpening I didn't even know what a burr was let alone knife forums. My grandfather got me a buck 110 and a soft Arkansas stone for my 12th birthday to use for hunting and showed me what he called honing. This was basically a single edge leading stroke in either direction one after the other about 800 bazillion times or when the edge was the way you wanted it, whichever came first. Okay, a gross exaggeration but that is how it felt. Now I use a scrubbing motion with pressure on the edge trailing strokes only and switch to single stropping sweeps as it come to the end of my progress on each stone.

The point, as StonedEdge said, is that there is no one way to do this. You just find what you are comfortable with and go with that. Over time you try to perfect that method. Sounds like you have a good understanding of the basics. Just have fun with it and go at your own pace.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. I feel like I do have a decent grasp and understanding of things. I like what Peter Nowland said about managing my expectations. I think that's the most important part for me in my current stage. At times I feel like I'll never get to where I want to be. But after his video, I've been grounded more and feel good about where I am.
 
StonedEdge said:
I feel you, when I first started free hand sharpening I didn't even know about KKF. The first thing I set out to learn was consistent angle holding, how to feel for burr formation, and deburring. After these basics the rest kinda falls into place as you gain hands on experience. My knives have taught me a great deal through trial and error.

Also remember, there is no single correct way.
Click to expand...

It's good to read this. It's often I struggle between the flashy stuff and just getting the basics down. With your reply, I'm glad you say that things kind of fall into place. That's important for my faith and confidence. Thanks!
 
I feel going high-polish on the microbevel works well on soft stainless. Tomato skin still opens up with a little pull.
 
I think I saw Jon once replying to a thread saying he puts micro bevels only on really hard steel?
 
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