Chipped Shun Blade, what should I do?

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split0101

split0101

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So its a mystery in my house where I have a chipped & cracked blade and a bunch of people who dunno what happened to it. I have my suspects but no one wants to fess up so Im not going to push it, but my wife and in-laws will have to get used to cutting with butter knives since Im putting my kit away :)

So this is my Shun Premier 9 1/2 in slicer. I have had it for a few years and its a solid knife, no real complaints. So today I pulled it out to slice a pot roast and I noticed the following:



There is a pretty significant chip about 1 1/2 in from the tip and what looks like a crack about 3/4 in behind it.

I have fixed minor chips, but this one I think is beyond the scope of my skill/equipment and probably requires someone with more experience with these sorts of things. So the knife is about $190 new and Im not sure if fixing it is going to be worth it. Im sure this knife is going to end up shorter and with a different profile when its said and done, and I have no idea how the cladding is going to look after the repair.

I was thinking someone like Jon would be able to fix it. What do you guys think, do I send it it to get repaired?
 
That's a really really bad chip.... You probably could fix it if you had a stone around 400 grit or so, but it would alter the profile unless you ground the whole blade down equally. Your best bet is to get someone with the proper skills to fix it. If you have someone local, it wouldn't cost you the shipping costs, and it would probably be worth it to get it fixed.
 
I think Jon could fix that in his sleep (which, considering that he has a newborn at home, is probably how he does most things lately). He stopped taking new repair jobs recently, though I don't know if that still stands. Give him a call, if he can't help you I'm sure he can tell you who can.

Be well,
Mikey
 
The chip is no big deal, if that is a crack that is a slightly bigger problem. It goes a little deeper than the chip. But if you have a diamond plate and can thin a knife, you can do this, it just might take you awhile. Or do it over several shorter sessions. You could send it to Jon. I've seen him take cheaper knives with bigger chips and salvage them with very minimal loss or profile change. I don't remember his rates, but I thought they were a bargain actually.

If you want to use this an excuse to buy a new knife...then I am all for that as well. And then your wife and inlaws can continue to beat on the Shun. Just hide the new one.
 
Looks dramatic but is largely within the core. VG-10 isn't too abrasion resistant. Can be done with automotive sandpaper, starting at P120. I would use edge trailing strokes at some 80 degree per side until you've got the profile you want. Then a lot thinning.
 
I have a DMT plate and I think that with a bit of elbow grease I could work it out and then go through my stone progression to thin and clean it up. I'll ping Jon to see what the cost would be. If it ends up being too expensive then I might take a crack at it and see what happens.
 
Reminds me of when I tried to fix a moritaka(I know, I know...) honesuki with a huge chip. I started grinding and the crack made itself evident. I kept trying to chase it but it only got worse, and by then I was enough beers deep that expletives and more beers were needed. I still pull it out of the drawer and scowl at it once in awhile...
 
Honestly, since it's slicer and not a gyuto, I'd be tempted to simply leave it, as it would sharpen out eventually, during normal sharpening/thinning.
 
Thats exactly what Im afraid of. That I'll keep chasing that crack until I drink all the beer in the house, lol. :beer:
 
Just sharpen it out. Personally I wouldn't try and take it all out in one go as it will reduce the knife's useful lifespan obviously. It will eventually work out over several sharpenings.

If you want to take it all out in one go, belt grinder would be the fastest way to go. Just grind most of it out while retaining the profile until a little bit is left which will be removed by hand sharpening. You're more than likely going to have to thin the knife considerably behind the edge, then sharpen as usual.

At least, that's how I would attack it.
 
One of the reasons Shun's are priced high is their "warranty". The cost of replacement is built into their business model.

No doubt this chip was caused by sharpening it on your Shun steel. 1st thing I would do is query Shun about repair/replacement. Only is that failed would I look to punt to Dave M or Jon.
 
If you have a diamond plate you can fix it yourself.Rub the edge in sweeps along blade.Take out 1/3-1/2 of the chip.then thin your edge sharpen your knife as usual.Taking out the whole chip too much profile change all at once.This way with regular sharpening you give it a head start & eventually it will sharpen out.
 
I feel like everybody- except partially Dave- is ignoring the crack? (I've never said that in my life. Ever. Everrrrrr....)
 
brainsausage said:
I feel like everybody- except partially Dave- is ignoring the crack? (I've never said that in my life. Ever. Everrrrrr....)
Click to expand...

I'm not ignoring it. If he just uses it and sharpens as normal, he'll get years of use, crack or not.
 
I'm with Dave. Give them a call. Or email them with pictures. I took a friend's Premier bread knife in for him once that had a chip 2mm out of the tip. Granted no crack. But they reprofiled it and maintained the geometry. You couldn't tell it had work done to it. I think it's worth giving them a ring.

Gavin.
 
I read recently they started back up their free sharpening. Maybe just send it to them and let them find the crack and replace.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I pinged Jon for an estimate, worst case I'll end up taking a crack at it myself.
 
I think that a belt grinder wld cost abt USD 50/- in USA.

It wld be a good experience and fun to do it and a natural step/ journey in your knife sharpening endeavours. Eventually you wld reach there if you are looking for a more efficient way to do things.

Nothing much to lose really as the knife is already damaged but only fun and experience

Crack... I wld reshape/cut the tip to a Kiretsuke tip since it is 1 and a 1/2 inch distance form the tip for food safety reasons as liquids can be trapped in there. ON this note.. recently I had a small project.. 3 worn out 27cm yanagi to be converted to a K-tip petty and as it was too slow on a belt grinder... I used an angle grinder to cut it off . The long cut off tips were sharpened and given to a baker to be used for scoring purposes.

Have fun....

rgds
d
 
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