Show your work! Uchigumori and co...

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Umajiyama Suita

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1:Naniwa Traditional 1000
2:Binsui
3:Green Brick of Joy
4:Naniwa Traditional 6000
(core steel only)
5: Uchigumori Fingerstone
(cladding only)

Honyama lv4 for the final edge + stropping with 6-3-1μ diamond compound.
Hair splitting sharp XD

still got a little low spot on the front part of the yanagi i cant touch up with the benchstones. (bought it 6 months ago)

My first try polishing with this set of equipment.
Any thoughts, opinions, tipps?

Kind regards, Peter

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Been a minute since I had time to rub some rocks on some metal. It ain’t much but it’s honest work.

Classic overgrind on the heel slightly throwing off the overall aesthetic, but I’ll blend it in with some fingerstones later.

 
Ok__mode_6953 said:
Been a minute since I had time to rub some rocks on some metal. It ain’t much but it’s honest work.

Classic overgrind on the heel slightly throwing off the overall aesthetic, but I’ll blend it in with some fingerstones later.

Click to expand...

I can get these even when I'm super careful and think about it the whole time 😄

Nice overall polish.
 
It’s a very nice result and those overgrinds seems to cover them selves up in the end anyway 😂

I’m practicing using my bench stones the same way I use my fingerstones on these heels.
 
When I work with these knives, it’s sometimes a pain to reach all the rough spots. This is Ikarashi - not nearly done on that stone and maybe Aizu to follow after 🤔

This is not perfect, but in the spirit of the “One upping each other” thread, I’ll show some of the not so picture perfect work.

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Anyone have tips for matching uchi finger stones to a blade? I realize it's trial and error, but how much pressure should I be using, and what should I expect when testing?
 
Veitchii said:
Anyone have tips for matching uchi finger stones to a blade? I realize it's trial and error, but how much pressure should I be using, and what should I expect when testing?
Click to expand...
A short video that shows how I work with finger stones. Maybe you might find this useful :



It's indeed trial and error and this is why I have several type of stone. 85% of the time I do well with a 3/5 Mizukihara uchigumori but it has already happened that I get better results with a softer Shobudani for example.

I use more pressure for the first passes and to harmonize the finish I apply less and less pressure. I let the mud work for me.

It's not magic and it still takes time and your surface must be impeccable before working with the finger stones. If there are scratches left, you will only polish them and it will not be uniform and pleasant to look at. You'll have to experiment on your side and try different approach to find what's working for you!
 
KasumiJLA said:
A short video that shows how I work with finger stones. Maybe you might find this useful :



It's indeed trial and error and this is why I have several type of stone. 85% of the time I do well with a 3/5 Mizukihara uchigumori but it has already happened that I get better results with a softer Shobudani for example.

I use more pressure for the first passes and to harmonize the finish I apply less and less pressure. I let the mud work for me.

It's not magic and it still takes time and your surface must be impeccable before working with the finger stones. If there are scratches left, you will only polish them and it will not be uniform and pleasant to look at. You'll have to experiment on your side and try different approach to find what's working for you!
Click to expand...

I know that video like the back of my hand 😅... I only have a box of large finger stones, though I guess I could take some pieces out of my soft Aiiwatani. I followed your video pretty closely, using more pressure for the first couple of passes before just letting it slide on the bevel, and then using my finger to try and clean it up, but the piece I was using still left the tiniest of scratches on the bevel even after 20 minutes of light pressure. In fact, it feels like there was no difference between a couple harder-pressure passes and the "refined" finish. I know you said your "most beautiful polish" took around 2 hours with finger stones to get a scratchless finish, so could I just be missing patience?

Edit: I'll add that I polished the blade to a scratchless finish beforehand on that aforementioned Aiiwatani, and I just wanted to use the finger stones to remove some patina and test them out.
 
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Cool that you already knew this video 🙂

In this case I think it could be interesting to try different stones. Also, be sure that there's no kawa (skin of the stone) that can scratch your blade badly. Before putting less pressure you have to be sure that all the entire surface is well done and almost perfect. Less pressure will help to homogenized everything but will not cut fast and repair mistakes.

Also yeah, it takes time. The 2 hours you talk was on yanagiba full kasumi and it was a pain to finish. At some point, even after one hour, I could still see small scratches. But with perseverance and attention to detail I managed to have something nice.

You can also let your fingerstone soaking for a good 2~4 hours before working with it. I did some tests back then and I had good results. Not every jnat will behave the same and it might work or not. But give it a try at least!
 
KasumiJLA said:
Cool that you already knew this video 🙂

In this case I think it could be interesting to try different stones. Also, be sure that there's no kawa (skin of the stone) that can scratch your blade badly. Before putting less pressure you have to be sure that all the entire surface is well done and almost perfect. Less pressure will help to homogenized everything but will not cut fast and repair mistakes.

Also yeah, it takes time. The 2 hours you talk was on yanagiba full kasumi and it was a pain to finish. At some point, even after one hour, I could still see small scratches. But with perseverance and attention to detail I managed to have something nice.

You can also let your fingerstone soaking for a good 2~4 hours before working with it. I did some tests back then and I had good results. Not every jnat will behave the same and it might work or not. But give it a try at least!
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! I'm prepping some more stones now, and I'll try soaking them, too. Will post results once I get it down. My ultimate finger stone goal is to one day have something that looks like your usuba restoration. I was showing those restoration videos to my knife-headed friends the other day 😂
 
KasumiJLA said:
A short video that shows how I work with finger stones. Maybe you might find this useful :



It's indeed trial and error and this is why I have several type of stone. 85% of the time I do well with a 3/5 Mizukihara uchigumori but it has already happened that I get better results with a softer Shobudani for example.

I use more pressure for the first passes and to harmonize the finish I apply less and less pressure. I let the mud work for me.

It's not magic and it still takes time and your surface must be impeccable before working with the finger stones. If there are scratches left, you will only polish them and it will not be uniform and pleasant to look at. You'll have to experiment on your side and try different approach to find what's working for you!
Click to expand...

What do you (or others) think of the idea, often presented here, of using finger-stones to blend in overgrinds? I ask because overgrinds are by their nature not free of scratches (unless one tried to grind there, which would make the overgrind worse).
 
Anyone know what knife vendors are using to finish their knives? Specifically, ones claiming to be kasumi or stone finished (not the media blasted stuff). I don't own 100 knives, so my sample size is small, but whenever I get one, the surface reflection is full of ripples (high/low spots).
 
noj said:
Anyone know what knife vendors are using to finish their knives? Specifically, ones claiming to be kasumi or stone finished (not the media blasted stuff). I don't own 100 knives, so my sample size is small, but whenever I get one, the surface reflection is full of ripples (high/low spots).
Click to expand...
1000 grit Silicon carbide powder and a worn micromesh gives a pretty similar finish to something like a Tesujin Kasumi in my experience.
 
noj said:
What do you (or others) think of the idea, often presented here, of using finger-stones to blend in overgrinds? I ask because overgrinds are by their nature not free of scratches (unless one tried to grind there, which would make the overgrind worse).
Click to expand...
If the shape of the blade has flaws, finger stones won't make them better.
That said, using the right finger stones can be quicker than adjusting the geometry.
 
nutmeg said:
If the shape of the blade has flaws, finger stones won't make them better.
That said, using the right finger stones can be quicker than adjusting the geometry.
Click to expand...
My question stemmed from comments such as "your surface must be impeccable before working with the finger stones". That combined with the idea that overgrinds are by their nature not free of scratches.

I was not expecting to change the geometry with finger-stones.

I do have knives with overgrinds so large that adjusting the geometry to fix them would significantly alter some combination of the cutting characteristics, blade height, and aesthetics.
 
noj said:
My question stemmed from comments such as "your surface must be impeccable before working with the finger stones". That combined with the idea that overgrinds are by their nature not free of scratches.

I was not expecting to change the geometry with finger-stones.

I do have knives with overgrinds so large that adjusting the geometry to fix them would significantly alter some combination of the cutting characteristics, blade height, and aesthetics.
Click to expand...
Finger stones allow for imperfections while still producing a kasumi. Sure they don’t fix the issue but still produce the intended result. It’s a great way to work around the wabi sabi
 
noj said:
My question stemmed from comments such as "your surface must be impeccable before working with the finger stones". That combined with the idea that overgrinds are by their nature not free of scratches.

I was not expecting to change the geometry with finger-stones.

I do have knives with overgrinds so large that adjusting the geometry to fix them would significantly alter some combination of the cutting characteristics, blade height, and aesthetics.
Click to expand...
It seems like you don't want to use the overall shape of your blades. You're right, some fast and flexible finger stones will give you a more uniform looking surface.
 
nutmeg said:
It seems like you don't want to use the overall shape of your blades. You're right, some fast and flexible finger stones will give you a more uniform looking surface.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply.

If by "use", you mean "alter", it's not that exactly. I don't want to loose a lot of cutting characteristics, blade height, and aesthetics. I've had a couple knives that were on course stones for 1-4 weeks before most - not all - the problems were corrected. That might be an hour or two per day. Plus the risk of an errant scratch

In any case, I think I got my answer to my original question.
 
Removed stains and patina with very fine sandpaper from Nakagawa x Myojin Blue #1 damascus sujihiki 390mm. I am total newbie at polishing and depressed after all damascus contrast disappeared. Ordered uchigumori powder and hazuya and jizuya finger stones from Namikawa Heibei.

At first I tried uchigumori powder with felt pad and magic happened, contrast were quite good. Then I tried finger stones and more magic happened. I don't know exactly differences between hazuya and jizuya, but there is differences in hardness and grit and contrast became more pronounced. For comparison in the picture is almost unused Hitohira Tanaka Kyuzo B1 etched damascus gyuto 270mm. Sujihiki is far from perfect, but I'm quite happy and on the verge of the rabbit hole :)

Any advice for uchigumori powder and finger stones is much appreciated.
 

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