Rounded the heel tip on Yoshi SKD

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justaute

justaute

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As many here have, I seem to catch the heel-tip of my knife on dish towels quite a bit. On my Yoshi SKD, given its super thin grind, I must have caught it hard enough to very slightly bend the heel-tip. Decided to round it. Rolled up 200 and then 800 grit sand papers into cylinders and just repeatedly brushed the heel-tip. I actually quite like the result.

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Mikeadunne said:
I know you did this as a fix, but do you feel that it sort of mitigated the dead-stopness of the Yoshi flat profile?
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Not sure I've used the knife enough since I rounded it to make a definitive assessment. That said, when I tested it using push-cut, the knife did seem to glide easier. Previously, given knife's thinness and sharpness, its heel-tip seemed to want to dig into the board a bit when push-cutting -- is this what you were thinking?
 
justaute said:
Not sure I've used the knife enough since I rounded it to make a definitive assessment. That said, when I tested it using push-cut, the knife did seem to glide easier. Previously, given knife's thinness and sharpness, its heel-tip seemed to want to dig into the board a bit when push-cutting -- is this what you were thinking?
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Yes kind of, tbh the only Yoshi gyuto I've used was a coworkers one time so I don't have a lot of direct experience but it did come to a somewhat harsh dead stop which did prevent I guess you could say 'gliding'
 
My Konosuke ysm have the same problem being a Yoshikane and having the same profile, I'm also interested in knowing if rounding the heel helps mitigate that dead-stop, Please do report back if it helps you.
 
I don’t think rounding the heel will help much. You need to actually lose some steel to make it subtly curve. I lowered the height of mine by maybe 0.5 mm to make it natural now. The redline shows where I lowered the height a little bit (last 4-5 cm). The cost is the last 4-5 cm are now a little thicker right behind the edge than other areas, but it's ok as I don't often use that part for cutting anyway.

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Hz_zzzzzz said:
I don’t think rounding the heel will help much. You need to actually lose some steel to make it subtly curve. I lowered the height of mine by maybe 0.5 mm to make it natural now. The redline shows where I lowered the height a little bit (last 4-5 cm). The cost is the last 4-5 cm are now a little thicker right behind the edge than other areas, but it's ok as I don't often use that part for cutting anyway.

View attachment 148518
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I think I agree with Hz in that Yoshi SKD in general has a flatter profile, which makes it a bit less "gliding". That said, I just did a quick experiment with my Yoshi SKD, Blazen 240mm, and Wat Pro Nakiri -- put the edge flat on my Aomori Hiba cutting board (known to be very soft) and push them across the board and then simulating the rocking motion by pushing down the heel a bit. The now rounded Yoshi definitely glides better because the heel isn't digging in. On my Hasegawa (brown) board, much less "digging" feel because of the material.

Still, Yoshi's flatter profile and very thin edge drag just a bit when the edge is completely flat; this likely affects the push-cutters a bit more. Nonetheless, I think the rounded heel helps. Yoshi SKD sure is a great cutter.
 
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If you struggle with the Yoshi, try loosening up the grip, especially on the rear fingers. It seems to become more of a problem for me when I guide it more forcefully.
 
I've done the rounding trick on a couple if my knives as they do snag including my hand! I typically take my medium Spyderco Sharpmaker stone with the groove and do some light rounding. I have a brand new Yoshi 210mm SDK that just arrived so we will see if it needs a similar treatment.
 
Often done that simply using the side of a stone. Quick and easy. Straightly kill the heel tip first, a couple of light, not too long strokes usually enough. Then use a slight rocking backwards and forwards motion to round it up, very little travel needed. You can easily work out the curve to that it's happening more "into the choil" and less "at the edge" or vice-versa depending what you're looking at.

It sure stops knives with heel digging problems from doing so. But Yoshikane dead spot is another thing entirely; an effect of the very flat profile, relatively narrow blade, and mostly cutting motion/strenght. To some extent, height of the cutting surface vs. how tall you are and where it gets you to naturally work on that surface. Softer/end grain woods also tend to amplify the effect - digging of the edge of course brings additional "friction".

My 0.02$
 
Very light pressure, you even manage the weight of the knife. Gives you a very tiny « 45* » line. Round it up still managing the blade’s weight. If unsure, start « into the choil » a bit and rock on the heel very slightly until it doesn’t want to dig anymore, and from there it’s easy. I tend to do it with Cerax 700. Can get a barely visible yet killed and round « heel tip » fast. Finish with 1-2 strokes of fine sandpaper mostly driven at the choil area of the « tip ».
 
Sure.

I’m just most probably done before you start. Been there done that.

Edit: Additionally can easily be maintained there with every new maintenance thinning/full edge sharpening. Second stone of the progression should work well.
 
ModRQC said:
Sure.

I’m just most probably done before you start. Been there done that.

Edit: Additionally can easily be maintained there with every new maintenance thinning/full edge sharpening. Second stone of the progression should work well.
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Just did this to 4 of my knives. No joke, took a minute per knife. Literally like 3-4 passes on my shapton 1k. Just gotta be careful (of the tip too!)
 
Not to rain on this parade and it’s interesting to see this is a “new” thing or just something not often discussed but it is often seen in professional kitchens. I personally hate it but I get it. The thing I like about is customizing your own things to suit your needs and issues.
 
ModRQC said:
eight of the cutting surface vs. how tall you are and where it gets you to naturally work on that surface. Softer/end grain woods also tend to amplify the effect - digging of the edge of course brings additional "friction".
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why is they height of the surface affect it ?
 
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