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Dave Martell

Dave Martell

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[video=youtube;66z8QY-XZuk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66z8QY-XZuk&feature=player_embedded#at=10[/video]
 
is the first one he sharpens an 11in yanagi?

that thing looks massive!

and the speed he goes at while still maintaining angle! wow.
 
That's what a single bevel was made for. Hauling ass on a stone with a foot long knife. :headbang:
 
What does he have to the left of bridge that he keeps putting the knife edge down on?

I meant his left.
 
what is he hitting it up with at the two minute mark after sharpening? What is the liquid he is applying? Ironic that this is posted right after I posted about rust on my **** :angry2:

Also, is it not important to always keep your pushing hand in the middle of the stone? this dude is everywhere on the stone and with his hand...
 
He also keeps the knives (partially?) submerged in the sink before and after sharpening.
 
AnxiousCowboy said:
...Also, is it not important to always keep your pushing hand in the middle of the stone? this dude is everywhere on the stone and with his hand...
Click to expand...
Yanagis are thick and inflexible. Also, his hand only wanders off the stone when he really isn't grinding much at all. The board contact happens near the tip, at the end of the cut and so that is where the damage is and that is also where the metal needs to be removed and the pressure applied. At that point, his hand is over the stone. The rest of the sharpening requires essentially no pressure.

You only get into trouble if your blade is bending on the stone. In that case, you will only get abrasion where the edges of the stone are in contact with the blade.

What I think is a little wierd is he seems to be rubbing out the rust after sharpening. I always remove rust before the final sharpening step.
 
Super speed man... Anyone gonna venture a guess as to the stone?
 
I tried to do it as fast, and then realized I don't have that many muscles committed to memory yet. My pinky and thumb seemed to have been trying to leave my hand for being stupid enough to try something like that.
 
AnxiousCowboy said:
Also, is it not important to always keep your pushing hand in the middle of the stone?
Click to expand...


Yes this is important but I think that his style is what develops over time as you get better and faster. A year or so ago I saw a video of Sugai (from Korin) sharpening and the first thing that struck me was how he sharpens like this guy does. The next day while I was sharpening I looked at my own hands to see the same thing and it shocked me because I thought that I was being careful to keep my hands over the stone. I think that I started out correctly and slowly over time moved to this style without ever really being aware of it happening. After I discovered this is what I was doing I tried to figure out how I got the results I do if applying incorrect hand pressure and I believe what I'm doing is focusing the applied pressure to the section of the knife that's on the stone by sort of aiming the knife down through the handle hand pressure and only using the off hand as a guide. Does that make sense?
 
I noticed that he keeps his right hand pretty near his body and pushes the tip of the knife with his left hand in sort of an arc forward and across the stone. Is that kosher?
 
Clearly it works for him... I want that kind of muscle memory :(
 
Dave Martell said:
YI believe what I'm doing is focusing the applied pressure to the section of the knife that's on the stone by sort of aiming the knife down through the handle hand pressure and only using the off hand as a guide. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...

i've always done it that way. i just tried keeping my hand over the stone, and it felt weird.
 
its just soap. What would you use to clean your knife after? Clearly its not any kind of oil.

Fellow definitely knows his stuff but I have to say that tip on his yanagi isnt... my favorite.
And the last small knife he does, the moves when the edge fells of the stone, just not my style...
 
Looks to me like he's using hand soap to lubricate the thing while he rubs it furiously with a tiny piece of sandpaper. Probably just using hand soap cause it's what his restaurant has laying around.
 
That is actually similar to the way that I sharpen a yanagi. I dont go quite that fast but the motions are similar. This guy has obiously been doing this for a long time and spent plenty of time on the stones. Really, most yanagi sharpening for me is touch ups on a 5k chosera. I feel like you get better results when moving a bit faster like that. For me, yanagi sharpening isn't all about being presice and exacting on every single bevel. Its more of a feel thing. Each yanagi is different and everybody sharpens differently. I guess that is one of the reasons why I really like sharpening single bevel knives..

Also, I should say that I usually lay off the bevels during these touch up sessions. After a week or so of solid use, I'll sharpen with a 1k stone to bring the edge back to potential. This is usually the only time I work on flattening the blade road much. Most of the time I feel like I'm just honing on a 5k. Anybody else do this?
 
Mattias504 said:
Also, I should say that I usually lay off the bevels during these touch up sessions. After a week or so of solid use, I'll sharpen with a 1k stone to bring the edge back to potential. This is usually the only time I work on flattening the blade road much. Most of the time I feel like I'm just honing on a 5k. Anybody else do this?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I touch up quite often on a 5k rika but then jump down to a bester 2k if it's been a awhile and the knife needs a bit of help.
 
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