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EShin said:
Had a few spare minutes so I put it on some coarse stones (80, 120 and 180) to see how it reacts. The shape is really good (as @NickMinton elaborated above), low/high spots are quite shallow, just wish it came quite a bit thinner as removing metal will take forever on stones. Only removed 0.3 grams after playing around 20 minutes. However, the debado 180 revealed a nice hamon!
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Doesn't seem like a job for the novice. One of the most important aspects of a blades performance is geometry and I think with so much material to be removed it might be difficult to achieve the desired goals and do the blade justice, especially on stones. Anyone got a sen? 🤔
 
Corradobrit1 said:
Doesn't seem like a job for the novice. One of the most important aspects of a blades performance is geometry and I think with so much material to be removed it might be difficult to achieve the desired goals and do the blade justice, especially on stones. Anyone got a sen? 🤔
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The left side of the blade is basically flat and when looking at the blade from the tang, the left side is actually thicker than the right side (at least in my case) so keeping it flat and mostly removing steel from the left side could be an option that would be mostly straightforward? Of course, there’s limits to that and it won’t be possible to have a huge taper.
 
I initially thought of asking the original sharpener Mr. Yamaguchi to thin the knife, but I’ll be in Europe for some time and would like to work on this knife so does anyone have some recommendations for an experienced knife maker in Europe who could be interested in the thinning/reshaping work? Only know some of the famous makers who are always very busy.
 
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This is after the first round of re-grinding.

A lot of big issues were fixed here, but the rest will have to be by hand. I’ll be using NSK Oboro Hocho stones to help finalize the geometry and blend.

IMG_4953.jpeg
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Id like to hear more about what choices are being made in terms of taper, asymmetry, convexity, etc since these are all integral to the final performance of the grind. also getting some measurements along the spine and then a final tally of weight reduction would be nice is possible.
 
I think Kaiju’s clocked in around 240g including what would be a 55g or so ebony handle. So 185g blade weight? Similar sized Xerxes workhorse, which is definitely thicker in the back than a Kono kaiju, clocks in a bit higher at about 215g-ish blade weight. I think Kippingtons work pony’s are 200g-ish blades.

These were 285-300ish? Should leave plenty of room for creativity.
 
ethompson said:
I think Kaiju’s clocked in around 240g including what would be a 55g or so ebony handle. So 185g blade weight? Similar sized Xerxes workhorse, which is definitely thicker in the back than a Kono kaiju, clocks in a bit higher at about 215g-ish blade weight. I think Kippingtons work pony’s are 200g-ish blades.

These were 285-300ish? Should leave plenty of room for creativity.
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Does anyone know the blade specs of Kaiju? I’m not looking to hit the nail on the head but curious what specs to aim for, especially grind thicknesses at different blade points
 
NickMinton said:
Does anyone know the blade specs of Kaiju? I’m not looking to hit the nail on the head but curious what specs to aim for, especially grind thicknesses at different blade points
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Personally, I'd recommend finding a knife thats roughly the same size that you like and just work towards copying that. Grind, test cuts, inspect carefully, repeat until happy.
 
ethompson said:
Personally, I'd recommend finding a knife thats roughly the same size that you like and just work towards copying that. Grind, test cuts, inspect carefully, repeat until happy.
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I think that demands a Kaiju Passaround.
 
EricEricEric said:
This is after the first round of re-grinding.

A lot of big issues were fixed here, but the rest will have to be by hand. I’ll be using NSK Oboro Hocho stones to help finalize the geometry and blend.

View attachment 293812View attachment 293813View attachment 293814View attachment 293815
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Looks like a flat hira-type angle was established adding just a pinch of distal taper and maybe a fresh primary bevel cut? What issues did you see and have since been resolved? Is your plan to maintain the asymmetry it looks like these came with? With this much beef at the spine I actually think a full blown hira / kireha with sharp shinogi could be possible. Anyways… since these are being reground I think it would be good to document intent, process, and results given that several people are going to have to attempt this themselves or outsource the job. Thinning a knife following an established grind is one thing, but establishing a fresh grind is another.
 
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NickMinton said:
Does anyone know the blade specs of Kaiju? I’m not looking to hit the nail on the head but curious what specs to aim for, especially grind thicknesses at different blade points
Click to expand...
You cant imitate the most perfectly ground gyuto for full bevel polish with a few measurements lol
 
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It’s back!

Has a good tapper now, and he polished the spine and choil really well, but still has some old low spots and some new low spots. Some pretty deep scratches left over from the belt grinder.

Sadly he made the nakago crooked 🤦🏻‍♂️

Using the NSK OK 200 worked pretty well, but need something more aggressive. I’ll be trying a 120 ceramic grinding belt on a sandpaper holder to try and improve the speed of the heavy lifting, then move back to the NSK 200, really wish NSK had a 100.

5.0mm at the handle, 3.9mm middle, 2.1mm near the tip.

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EricEricEric said:
It’s back!

Has a good tapper now, and he polished the spine and choil really well, but still has some old low spots and some new low spots. Some pretty deep scratches left over from the belt grinder.

Sadly he made the nakago crooked 🤦🏻‍♂️

Using the NSK OK 200 worked pretty well, but need something more aggressive. I’ll be trying a 120 ceramic grinding belt on a sandpaper holder to try and improve the speed of the heavy lifting, then move back to the NSK 200, really wish NSK had a 100.

5.0mm at the handle, 3.9mm middle, 2.1mm near the tip.

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Whats the current weight after the spa treatment? What would he charge for the work to get it to that point?
 
It’s 249g now, I would refer you to another person that I’ll send the knife to have the nakago properly straightened.

He works on a lot of honyaki and I’ve worked with him before. It just takes a little longer since he’s over sees.

He’s able to straighten the tang as well.

I worked on the knife some more as well, but I’ll wait for the ceramic belt to arrive to finish it up.

I would post a picture, but for some strange reason it’s not allowing me to post any pictures anymore.

If anyone else wants to join let me know, send me your knife and we can send them all together express
 
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Here's where I'm currently at with mine, on the convex side I've been mostly flattening the hira and bringing out the shinogi then pushing the grind up and easing the transition into the hira. On the flat side I've been focusing mostly on the hira as well, there's a strip of concavity near the edge left but it used to run along 60% of the blade length. Have about 6-7 hrs into it so far and can imagine spending another 5-10 just on the vit 400, currently at 252-253g according to my taylor scale.


 
Hey. I figured i might as well make a post here. A couple guys have, or will send me their blade for thinning down. I can probably take just a batch and work through them if people are interested. Idk how many of these were in this group order.

My only thing is, i would really like for it to only be within the us, if people send them. Just to make mailing them back out easier.

Haven't worked out the exact price. And i'm sick right now. I think i have the flu or something. Hopefully i should be up and back to work in a day or two. But basically i can probably keep it more affordable if i'm just thinning it down, and sending it back in a condition ready to be polished. So that would be using my grinder. Then probably sending it out after doing coarse stone work.
 
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