Kenji Togashi Custom Honyaki

[Blank Blades.]

Polished a bit more. And the banding is starting to show.

It still has scratches, but im done for tonight.

When i polish more, and use some acide to bring out detail. It will look pretty nice I think.

 

[ReiHamono]

I really hope that tempering spot doesn’t show up

 

[blokey]

The banding is really nice

 

[EShin]

Polished a bit more. And the banding is starting to show.

It still has scratches, but im done for tonight.

When i polish more, and use some acide to bring out detail. It will look pretty nice I think. View attachment 301892

Love it. Hopefully I’ll get there as well, pretty deep scratches on mine, guess I’ll have to start at 60 grit or so to get them out.

 

[KasumiJLA]

Love it. Hopefully I’ll get there as well, pretty deep scratches on mine, guess I’ll have to start at 60 grit or so to get them out.
View attachment 301903

That’s what I love about polishing, seeing the blood of determination all over the project

 

[Blank Blades.]

Not perfect yet, but its starting to get close.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Sorry for blowing up the thread.

But still getting closer. Not perfect yet (and has smudges)

 

[superworrier]

Oh baby

 

[Logan A.]

Sorry for blowing up the thread.

But still getting closer. Not perfect yet (and has smudges)
View attachment 302272View attachment 302273View attachment 302274View attachment 302275

What grit have you taken it up to in this?

 

[ReiHamono]

I have a solution for this

 

[Blank Blades.]

I particularly like the idea of finishing with bkf because it means the person using it can restore the finish pretty easily

 

[Blank Blades.]

I have a solution for this

View attachment 302279

What is that? I mean the only thing i can think of is polishing that area differently.

 

[panda]

are these western debas?

 

[Blank Blades.]

Got both sides polished. But the etch is a bit splotchy so im gonna have to retry it.

Took a choil shot and all that too while i was at it. Gonna need to weigh these.

The banding really is crazy on these. Truly something to behold. Makes me want to get some aogami, or another alloy i can get this look on. Idk m2, and a2 have a lot of banding. But not this specific look.

 

[EShin]

Got both sides polished. But the etch is a bit splotchy so im gonna have to retry it.

Took a choil shot and all that too while i was at it. Gonna need to weigh these. View attachment 303739View attachment 303741View attachment 303740View attachment 303743

The banding really is crazy on these. Truly something to behold. Makes me want to get some aogami, or another alloy i can get this look on. Idk m2, and a2 have a lot of banding. But not this specific look.

View attachment 303738View attachment 303742

Thanks a lot for the update. Gave me back some hope that hours of rubbing 40 grit sandpaper on this steel actually leads somewhere. Most of the scratches from regrinding are finally gone, but getting out the scratches from the 40 grit sandpaper will take time so I’ll need more updates to keep the motivation. Wonder what other knives are doing?

 

[ethompson]

Got both sides polished. But the etch is a bit splotchy so im gonna have to retry it.

Took a choil shot and all that too while i was at it. Gonna need to weigh these. View attachment 303739View attachment 303741View attachment 303740View attachment 303743

The banding really is crazy on these. Truly something to behold. Makes me want to get some aogami, or another alloy i can get this look on. Idk m2, and a2 have a lot of banding. But not this specific look.

View attachment 303738View attachment 303742

I might have some aogami 1 in my closet… not a ton, but some

 

[Corradobrit1]

I might have some aogami 1 in my closet… not a ton, but some

A ton of B#1 anywhere, let alone the closet, would be a real stash.

 

[Blank Blades.]

I might have some aogami 1 in my closet… not a ton, but some

How thick?

 

[Blank Blades.]

Alright i buffed it a bit today. And I'm happy enough with it. Still not perfect. It has some areas that are a little off. But really i think if someone just manually rubs some flitz or other metal polish on them it would take care of it.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Idk maybe i'll buff more tomorrow to get those areas even too.

 

[ethompson]

How thick?

Measly 3mm. really not that big of stock

 

[ethompson]

Alright i buffed it a bit today. And I'm happy enough with it. Still not perfect. It has some areas that are a little off. But really i think if someone just manually rubs some flitz or other metal polish on them it would take care of it.View attachment 303990View attachment 303991View attachment 303992

Gonna look great with a heavy dose of patina

 

[jedy617]

Look at all dem fuzzies

 

[Blank Blades.]

Measly 3mm. really not that big of stock

Ooo. Would be hard to do any kind of honyaki with that. Unless its a laser.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Ok. I'm leaving it here i think. Not 100% perfect still. But i mean, for a voluntary polishing job i thinks its more than good enough

 

[EShin]

Ok. I'm leaving it here i think. Not 100% perfect still. But i mean, for a voluntary polishing job i thinks its more than good enough

Not sure if mine has incredible banding as well, curious to find out?

Fantastic work. Wish I could polish mine as nicely so I'll need to learn, but probably I'm not patient enough. Are there huge differences in sandpaper? Maybe I should try different brands but there's not so many options for the really rough grits. And how did you etch the knife?

 

[Logan A.]

Not sure if mine has incredible banding as well, curious to find out?

Fantastic work. Wish I could polish mine as nicely so I'll need to learn, but probably I'm not patient enough. Are there huge differences in sandpaper? Maybe I should try different brands but there's not so many options for the really rough grits. And how did you etch the knife?

Polishing is actually really easy. Just takes an inhuman amount of patience and a lot of downtime. Sandpaper goes vroom, grit goes up, sandpaper goes vroom the other way. Repeat for 30 hours.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Not sure if mine has incredible banding as well, curious to find out?

Fantastic work. Wish I could polish mine as nicely so I'll need to learn, but probably I'm not patient enough. Are there huge differences in sandpaper? Maybe I should try different brands but there's not so many options for the really rough grits. And how did you etch the knife?

3m, norton, and rhynowet are the main brands i recommend. Dont bother with others.

With this stuff, honestly diamond helped a ton. Probably has something to do with the bit of mc type carbide in aogami. Because I recently did a blade in a2 (as in the american air hardening die steel, i believe the same grade in japan is sld12), and with regular sandpaper it was much much easier to polish. And they're both at or around the same hrc. I would need to check but the a2 might have been slightly higher.

All this is to say, diamond microfinishing films can save you some time and effort. That or just have a lot of sandpaper, and be ready to get fresh pieces as soon as it stops cutting which is pretty fast.

 

[ethompson]

Diamond paste on hard felt works well for Aogami in my experience

 

[Homechef]

Some shiny pics coming but first a couple thank you’s to Eric three times/ @ReiHamono for setting this all up and to @Blank Blades. for taking what was nearly a blank slate and finding this lovely knife within as well as a stellar polishing job!

I added a handle with some wood from @ashy2classy recent sale and this thing is ready for use.

Togashi/Blank Blades specs:
Blade weight: 206g
Total weight: 279g
Balance just forward of the heel
Height: 57mm
Length: 230mm
Spine thickness
-handle: 5.7mm
-heel: 5.2mm
-mid: 3.2
-10cm from tip: 1.3

And finally the pics. No patina yet. Trying to give the handle stain 24 hours to dry…no promises

*Last pic is next to the HF that I stole the little slant idea at the bottom of the handle from.