240_Gyutos_Only
Well-Known Member
I hope this constitutes "handiwork" and not "knife abuse".
I bought a Kanehide TK 180mm Santoku to see if this is a good small-task knife to compete with my 165mm nakiri or 210 Ashi gyuto. It turns out I don't like santokus. The Kanehide itself is a pretty good value for the money, it's a very thin flat ground knife w/ great semi-stainless monosteel and nice F&F for the price. I figured it might be like a nakiri but with a useful tip, but it lacks the advantages that make a nakiri the ideal quick veggie chopping knife such as scooping ability, flat cutting area and blade-heaviness. And the tip isn't very useful because of the exaggerated sheep's foot shape making it very thick, far worse than a gyuto tip.
I tried to sell it on ebay but no bids. So, I decided to try my hand at fixing what I don't like. After all, the knife does have a fairly nice flat push-cut profile for the short 178mm length, and good 47mm height. Just needs a better tip.
First I marked the area of the knife to be ground off w/ a marker.
After grinding this out on a 60 grit grinding wheel, it didn't look good, so I ground it out a gradual curve all the way back to the bolster. I dunked it in a bucket of ice water in between each grind to keep the heat treat intact, otherwise the blade already starts at 112F ambient temp out here in Phoenix!
I then belt sanded down 120 grit -> 240 -> 400 -> 600 -> 800 -> 1000 grit, and quickly hand sanded at some higher grits to finish off. Finished product below, there is some patina on the semi-stainless steel that I'll polish another day.
Next to my 210mm Ashi gyuto for comparison. It is 3mm taller at the heel, I think it might be better for small chopping tasks now.
All in all, it took only about 2 hours of work and I'm happy w/ how it turned out. The knife's tip feels much more useful and the balance hasn't moved back too much, still roughly at the bolster. I shaved ~0.3oz off the weight from 6oz -> 5.73oz. It feels quite nimble.
Next I think I will try to give it a convex grind on the right side with something like 70/30 at the edge, to help with food release. There isn't much material to take away since it's so thin, but I might be able to get a subtle Ashi-like grind in it.
I bought a Kanehide TK 180mm Santoku to see if this is a good small-task knife to compete with my 165mm nakiri or 210 Ashi gyuto. It turns out I don't like santokus. The Kanehide itself is a pretty good value for the money, it's a very thin flat ground knife w/ great semi-stainless monosteel and nice F&F for the price. I figured it might be like a nakiri but with a useful tip, but it lacks the advantages that make a nakiri the ideal quick veggie chopping knife such as scooping ability, flat cutting area and blade-heaviness. And the tip isn't very useful because of the exaggerated sheep's foot shape making it very thick, far worse than a gyuto tip.
I tried to sell it on ebay but no bids. So, I decided to try my hand at fixing what I don't like. After all, the knife does have a fairly nice flat push-cut profile for the short 178mm length, and good 47mm height. Just needs a better tip.
First I marked the area of the knife to be ground off w/ a marker.
After grinding this out on a 60 grit grinding wheel, it didn't look good, so I ground it out a gradual curve all the way back to the bolster. I dunked it in a bucket of ice water in between each grind to keep the heat treat intact, otherwise the blade already starts at 112F ambient temp out here in Phoenix!
I then belt sanded down 120 grit -> 240 -> 400 -> 600 -> 800 -> 1000 grit, and quickly hand sanded at some higher grits to finish off. Finished product below, there is some patina on the semi-stainless steel that I'll polish another day.
Next to my 210mm Ashi gyuto for comparison. It is 3mm taller at the heel, I think it might be better for small chopping tasks now.
All in all, it took only about 2 hours of work and I'm happy w/ how it turned out. The knife's tip feels much more useful and the balance hasn't moved back too much, still roughly at the bolster. I shaved ~0.3oz off the weight from 6oz -> 5.73oz. It feels quite nimble.
Next I think I will try to give it a convex grind on the right side with something like 70/30 at the edge, to help with food release. There isn't much material to take away since it's so thin, but I might be able to get a subtle Ashi-like grind in it.
