JanusInTheGarden
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2011
- Messages
- 152
- Reaction score
- 0
Greetings everyone! So I'm looking for some advice on how to (go figure, reading the title) improve edge retention on my carbon steel knives. I purchased a masamoto hc 240 gyuto a few months back and at first I was really happy with it. It gets wicked sharp and performs very well. Unfortunately, it simply does not stand up in the professional kitchen setting as well as even my Tojiro does in terms of edge retention.
To make matters even more irritating, the proposed intentions of this specific knife was to be my dual purpose knife. I had originally been using a two knife system for my gyutos; one for prep (kono hd 27) and one for service (tojiro dp nakiri, then 210 gyuto). What I wanted to do was get a 240, in carbon because I was totally jealous of all those sweet patinas, that would bridge the size gap and function for both uses. Unfortunately, I dont want to sharpen EVERY SINGLE DAY on more than just my highest grit stone (takenoko). If i touched it up on the takenoko, it wasnt enough. I could go down to the suehiro rika and finish on takenoko...which would work for a few days. It still seemed like a lot of touching up to do every day (full lineup sharpening every three) and even then it wouldn't be thrillingly sharp by the end of service every day. Tried resorting to the black mac...hated it. Too scratchy and the edges sucked by comparison. Just not the kind of finish I wanted. Too used to the sleakness of a nicely sharpened konosuke hd I guess. Plus even when I use the kono or the tojiro as the dual purpose knife, the edges last a good deal longer than the masamoto.
My two knife system had me going down to the 500 or 1k only once a week--if that; not every three days and so I ended up reverting back to it. My newly bought masamoto hc is now sitting in the knife block and making me go between feeling lazy and regretting the purchase. So--is there anything else I could be doing to get those sharp edges back and be able to use my masamoto hc as my dual purpose knife like I intended...or am I doomed to the dismay that its edges simply don't last as long as my other knives?
To make matters worse, a friend of mine recently picked up a white steel knife and let me sharpen it. Holy hand grenades that steel is SICK! But I've heard it has even worse edge retention. Ugh, any thoughts? Am I doing something wrong in the sharpening process (my setup is 500 beston, 1k minosharp, 5k suehiro rika, 6 or 8k w/e takenoko, finish on strop...deburr on block and hard felt pad between each stone)? Should I do some serious thinning then add a micro bevel?
Thanks so much for any opinions or advice!
Sincerely,
Wannabe Carbon Lover
To make matters even more irritating, the proposed intentions of this specific knife was to be my dual purpose knife. I had originally been using a two knife system for my gyutos; one for prep (kono hd 27) and one for service (tojiro dp nakiri, then 210 gyuto). What I wanted to do was get a 240, in carbon because I was totally jealous of all those sweet patinas, that would bridge the size gap and function for both uses. Unfortunately, I dont want to sharpen EVERY SINGLE DAY on more than just my highest grit stone (takenoko). If i touched it up on the takenoko, it wasnt enough. I could go down to the suehiro rika and finish on takenoko...which would work for a few days. It still seemed like a lot of touching up to do every day (full lineup sharpening every three) and even then it wouldn't be thrillingly sharp by the end of service every day. Tried resorting to the black mac...hated it. Too scratchy and the edges sucked by comparison. Just not the kind of finish I wanted. Too used to the sleakness of a nicely sharpened konosuke hd I guess. Plus even when I use the kono or the tojiro as the dual purpose knife, the edges last a good deal longer than the masamoto.
My two knife system had me going down to the 500 or 1k only once a week--if that; not every three days and so I ended up reverting back to it. My newly bought masamoto hc is now sitting in the knife block and making me go between feeling lazy and regretting the purchase. So--is there anything else I could be doing to get those sharp edges back and be able to use my masamoto hc as my dual purpose knife like I intended...or am I doomed to the dismay that its edges simply don't last as long as my other knives?
To make matters worse, a friend of mine recently picked up a white steel knife and let me sharpen it. Holy hand grenades that steel is SICK! But I've heard it has even worse edge retention. Ugh, any thoughts? Am I doing something wrong in the sharpening process (my setup is 500 beston, 1k minosharp, 5k suehiro rika, 6 or 8k w/e takenoko, finish on strop...deburr on block and hard felt pad between each stone)? Should I do some serious thinning then add a micro bevel?
Thanks so much for any opinions or advice!
Sincerely,
Wannabe Carbon Lover