I got a Nakagawa Gyuto. Should I thin it a little every time I sharpen it?

[Gongoozler]

My newest knife is a 240mm Nakagawa Ginsan Gyuto. It’s my first and only wide bevel blade.

The OOTB edge is wicked so I won’t be sharpening it any time soon. However, when the time comes, should I plan on thinning the wide bevels a bit and then sharpening the edge, or would it only need that done occasionally?

My stones are Shapton Pro 320/1000/5000. I’m assuming I’d do the thinning on the 320? Would I just lay the blade at a low angle to get the whole bevel on the stone, thin each side equally, and then sharpen the edge at 1000 and 5000 like normal?

 

[azn_knives_4l]

I'd get some practice (maybe a lot) on some other knives first... There's a lot going on and if the finish matters to you then it will take some time to get good. I personally wouldn't recommend it based mostly on the fact that you're needing to ask.

 

[Gongoozler]

I'd get some practice (maybe a lot) on some other knives first... There's a lot going on and if the finish matters to you then it will take some time to get good. I personally wouldn't recommend it based mostly on the fact that you're needing to ask.

Yeah, that’s fair.

Maybe the best approach for now is to sharpen the edge when it needs it for a couple sharpenings and then send it off to Knifewear or someone for a thinning down the road.

 

[azn_knives_4l]

Yeah, that’s fair.

Maybe the best approach for now is to sharpen the edge when it needs it for a couple sharpenings and then send it off to Knifewear or someone for a thinning down the road.

Well, that's the thing, right? It only matters if it matters and evaluating your tolerances is part of that. Sending out for thinning is totally legit, too

 

[jedy617]

My newest knife is a 240mm Nakagawa Ginsan Gyuto. It’s my first and only wide bevel blade.

The OOTB edge is wicked so I won’t be sharpening it any time soon. However, when the time comes, should I plan on thinning the wide bevels a bit and then sharpening the edge, or would it only need that done occasionally?

My stones are Shapton Pro 320/1000/5000. I’m assuming I’d do the thinning on the 320? Would I just lay the blade at a low angle to get the whole bevel on the stone, thin each side equally, and then sharpen the edge at 1000 and 5000 like normal?

I would personally only thin when you noticed a significant drop in cutting performance. If the knife has a reasonably thin grind, you can go quite a long time without thinning.

There are different schools of thought though. On an already thinly ground knife I think thinning is overrated to me. If I have something that would get thick behind the edge fast I would rather get the whole knife reground.

 

[aporigine]

I would personally only thin when you noticed a significant drop in cutting performance. If the knife has a reasonably thin grind, you can go quite a long time without thinning.

There are different schools of thought though. On an already thinly ground knife I think thinning is overrated to me. If I have something that would get thick behind the edge fast I would rather get the whole knife reground.

I would say this one is subjective.
I’m a low-volume home hobbyist. I’d thin because I can.
Not sure how this translates to the pro world. In that instance, what you said.

 

[jedy617]

I mean it all depends on the knife in question. Most stuff I buy is really thin behind the edge, and takes awhile to thicken up, would need many sharpenings to get thick

 

[sumis]

i don't know ****, so i continuously thin on the crap knifes that i regularly get to sharpen (for the houshold or friends): globals, vics, europeans or cheaper japanese stuff. it works, practice helps, people are happy with the results. but, the knives look like **** afterwards, and i have yet to feel confident enough about it to do heavy thinning my good knives – i just sharpen them and if performance starts to suck, i let a pro fix the geometry for me. what i always do though is mess around with angles. some knives i sharpen really low + microedge (which i guess could be called continuous thinning); other knives (like ’lasers’) i keep a consistent medium low angle on.

bottom line, for me, i want to cook, and occasionally sharpen (even for fun), but not waste my time on removing steel in a way that will take me forever and with not great results. (i know this will change down the line though…)

.

 

[Cliff]

The other issue is that the Nakagawa is likely concave, so it will get thinner first, before it gets thicker. I'd hold off. I wouldn't consider it before hitting the knife with a 320 a few times, which would take me awhile. I'll open up a knife on a 320, but after that I usually only drop down sparingly, unless it just isn't feeling right.

 

[Just a DK]

I think this is for pros who literally don't give a pubic hairs worth of crap into how the knife looks...

otherwise you'll be spending more time / money on finishing the knife more than thinning it.

 

[Cliff]

Sorting out a concave job is no joke. I think thinning is a skill definitely worth learning -- it is not impossible. Just not with this knife.

 

[jacobwilder5]

I may be on the extreme other end but I’d say go for it. There’s only one way to learn!

Either way you’ll need to do this work eventually if you plan on keeping the knife long term. Doing it now will save headache down the road.

If it’s concave, you can grind it to flat and then have a platform that’s easier to work with. After that you could hamaguri style sharpening each time you sharpen like Jon highlights here to keep the knife performing like it should long term.

Wide bevel gives you a nice guide on where to work beneath the shinogi line. If you take your time on the 320, keep the stone flat, and work each side evenly and you should be good.

 

[aporigine]

I may be on the extreme other end but I’d say go for it. There’s only one way to learn!

Either way you’ll need to do this work eventually if you plan on keeping the knife long term. Doing it now will save headache down the road.

If it’s concave, you can grind it to flat and then have a platform that’s easier to work with. After that you could hamaguri style sharpening each time you sharpen like Jon highlights here to keep the knife performing like it should long term.

Wide bevel gives you a nice guide on where to work beneath the shinogi line. If you take your time on the 320, keep the stone flat, and work each side evenly and you should be good.

Grinding it flat can be done at leisure. Imo grinding it until the edge bevel zeroes can be done a few times before needing to wipe out concavity.