Do I want a kiridashi (or kanna) for stone testing and polish practice?

[Einco]

Lately I've been thinking it would be nice to have something for testing stones and practicing polishing that feels easier than a big gyuto. I'm guessing something with both hard steel and soft iron would be nice, but what do you all use and enjoy for this purpose? TIA!

 

[refcast]

Kanna is definitely very helpful

 

[tostadas]

I got a kiridashi for that exact reason. But it doesn't feel the same as on an actual knife. I'd also consider a cheap iron clad nakiri

 

[ethompson]

One thing to note is that the iron on kanna tends to be exceptionally soft compared to clad kitchen knives. That said, I still enjoy using mine for this purpose. It’s a quick and easy way to see what a stone has going on generally and I find the feedback valuable. I’ve got a spare kanna blade I use just for stone testing I’d let go of, can PM me if interested.

The absolute best case scenario is a small tester knife in my opinion though. Difficult and more expensive to find a decent one than a old kanna blade however.

 

[Einco]

Thanks to everyone for the info so far. I've got a couple of offers that I may take people up on. As far as a small tester knife, would something like this 65mm Zakuri be a good option? Description claims blue #2 and damascaus cladding.

 

[McMan]

Thanks to everyone for the info so far. I've got a couple of offers that I may take people up on. As far as a small tester knife, would something like this 65mm Zakuri be a good option? Description claims blue #2 and damascaus cladding.

That's a beautiful little knife, but it's going to be a challenge to evaluate polishing potential well because the cladding and core are so close. The benefit of a Tosa nakiri or some such is that you'll be able to more easily see the cladding line.

 

[deltaplex]

I've probably got something I can part with for a tester, if you're interested.

 

[Greasylake]

I have a takobiki which might be a good option for you, it polishes nicely and should be good for practice

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/old-stock-forged-to-shape-230mm-takobiki.60152/

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Just in the FWIW's category, @ew_ut is a good dude so if you're one of the folks offering to help him out, know you're offering to good people.

 

[Einco]

Aww, thanks HHC. Right back at ya, buddy!

 

[refcast]

Yep lotsa options, choose one you'd like

 

[tostadas]

@refcast always has interesting stuff that's well priced and would fit your need perfectly. That would be where I'd look first.

 

[Pie]

Both kanna and kiridashi are awesome for testing. It may not be a direct 1:1 to knife steel/iron, but they’re incredibly useful if you have stones, progressions, etc to test

I like wrought iron kanna because they’re cool, and the finer capabilities of some jnats can be exposed with how it affects the banding. Kiridashi actually has high utility as an everything blade, and every time you destroy a box with it you get to repolish .

Having a polish mule is the best case scenario of course, and yes, @refcast has these in spades. He’ll even fix your kanna and put an absolutely killer edge on it.

Cheapie kiridashi exist at knifewear and other retailers too! Maybe not ground perfect, but good enough for our purposes.

 

[Olsen]

Or if you have a knife with a flat bevel. Preferable a san-mai with soft iron cladding so you can test the stone on jigane and hagane

 

[refcast]

It always takes me longer than you'd might expect to fix old Kanna I sell... Usually an hour or so, sometimes more, and I'm not good with grit so usually I get abraded fingertips, haha

 

[Se1ryu]

Lately I've been thinking it would be nice to have something for testing stones and practicing polishing that feels easier than a big gyuto. I'm guessing something with both hard steel and soft iron would be nice, but what do you all use and enjoy for this purpose? TIA!

Kiridashi is great for testing the stone finish since they are single bevel and small in size. We can see the finish produced by the stone easily.

Myself I use my old Yanagiba to see the stone finish on the blade and how the knife perform after sharpening and polishing.

 

[Einco]

Thanks to everyone that chimed in here, and also to the kind forum members that messaged me to offer knives/kanna/etc. I'm in conversation with a few of you and think (hope? lol) I'll be set for a bit. Cheers!

 

[DanielC]

I have used both over the years. Both are good, but both will generally tell you the same thing. Both are relatively flat bevels. It's response will be a little different than a wide bevel on a knife but you will be able to see how fine the stone is and how it acts with banding if you get a kiridashi or kanna that has iron that displays banding, or either clad in wrought to show the layered iron and slag.

 

[refcast]

Here's the one he got from me