Some of my knifes are unused
Without a retail store nearby, I started buying quite a few different knives, some from online retailers and others from BST. Now that I have a better idea of what I like and why, I've start reducing the numbers, either selling or passing them on to someone who will enjoy them.
One benefit of my doing this is to someone on the KAMON wait list for a 260mm. I've asked to be removed from the top 36 list. The person who was first below the cut line for a 260mm will now get a KAMON! I hope Christmas came early for that person.
I like my TF’s.
'Unpopular Opinions' is another thread.EVERYBODY loves TFs. Just ask him.
Me too!I like my TF’s.
I bought a bunch of stones, synthetic and natural with the hopes of putting a kasumi finish on a knife. Since then I’ve learned
1. this is really hard to do
2. the grind on the knife was surprisingly inconsistent and dealing with flat spots was a huge pain
3. I could have just bought some polishing stone powder and micro mesh pads for $50 and achieve better results in a fraction of the time
4. I bought stone powder and micro mesh pads and now I have a bunch of stones I don’t think I’ll really use too much. I should have just bought another knife
I feel your pain on the first 2 points. I went the other direction and bought even more stones . You know you could possibly turn the whole thing around by going through a massive thinning or 4, and be blown away by how well it cuts after, and the resulting kasumi. I’m still waiting on the second part. My mazaki looks like it went through a wood chipper but it cuts friggin amazing .I bought a bunch of stones, synthetic and natural with the hopes of putting a kasumi finish on a knife. Since then I’ve learned
1. this is really hard to do
2. the grind on the knife was surprisingly inconsistent and dealing with flat spots was a huge pain
3. I could have just bought some polishing stone powder and micro mesh pads for $50 and achieve better results in a fraction of the time
4. I bought stone powder and micro mesh pads and now I have a bunch of stones I don’t think I’ll really use too much. I should have just bought another knife
I feel your pain on the first 2 points. I went the other direction and bought even more stones . You know you could possibly turn the whole thing around by going through a massive thinning or 4, and be blown away by how well it cuts after, and the resulting kasumi. I’m still waiting on the second part. My mazaki looks like it went through a wood chipper but it cuts friggin amazing .
My advice: take it slow, it’s going to suck horribly at first, but each tiny, incremental accomplishment will make you feel like a goddamn wizard. Rinse and repeat x 2 years.
Thank you for the advice here. One of the issues I failed to mention was that my knife of choice has a stainless cladding and I have come to realize that I may never get a good contrast between the jigane/hagane.
I did go thru the thinning process and flattened out the bevel quite a bit, it was a great learning process. Once I failed to get a good contrast I had to walk away from that knife for a bit. I’m thinking about just etching it now and trying this whole process on one of my iron clad knives.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with stainless cladding
Thank you for the advice here. One of the issues I failed to mention was that my knife of choice has a stainless cladding and I have come to realize that I may never get a good contrast between the jigane/hagane.
I did go thru the thinning process and flattened out the bevel quite a bit, it was a great learning process. Once I failed to get a good contrast I had to walk away from that knife for a bit. I’m thinking about just etching it now and trying this whole process on one of my iron clad knives.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with stainless cladding
Thank you for the advice here. One of the issues I failed to mention was that my knife of choice has a stainless cladding and I have come to realize that I may never get a good contrast between the jigane/hagane.
I did go thru the thinning process and flattened out the bevel quite a bit, it was a great learning process. Once I failed to get a good contrast I had to walk away from that knife for a bit. I’m thinking about just etching it now and trying this whole process on one of my iron clad knives.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with stainless cladding
My TF is stainless clad. If you're just looking for good contrast, the King 800 work pretty well to start. But the resulting finish has a lot of drag, so you would want to follow that up with something finer.
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/show-your-work-uchigumori-and-co.29820/post-857313
And here's another of my stainless clad TF. I think this one was finished with uchi fingerstones. Less contrast though.
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/a-small-tf-project.52154/
@Runner_up did some really nice work on a stainless wakui
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/show-your-work-uchigumori-and-co.29820/post-781580
Balsamic vinegar etch perhaps? Here's an example with stainless cladding, semi stainless core.Thank you for the advice here. One of the issues I failed to mention was that my knife of choice has a stainless cladding and I have come to realize that I may never get a good contrast between the jigane/hagane.
I did go thru the thinning process and flattened out the bevel quite a bit, it was a great learning process. Once I failed to get a good contrast I had to walk away from that knife for a bit. I’m thinking about just etching it now and trying this whole process on one of my iron clad knives.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with stainless cladding
Thank you for the advice here. One of the issues I failed to mention was that my knife of choice has a stainless cladding and I have come to realize that I may never get a good contrast between the jigane/hagane.
I did go thru the thinning process and flattened out the bevel quite a bit, it was a great learning process. Once I failed to get a good contrast I had to walk away from that knife for a bit. I’m thinking about just etching it now and trying this whole process on one of my iron clad knives.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with stainless cladding
This knife looks amazing. Would you mind sharing the details behind the etching process? Type of vinegar, temp and time?For stainless, I would just polish the stainless and etch the core.
Here's a TF petty that I polished and then etched with hot vinegar.
At least Balsamic's good for one thing...Balsamic vinegar etch perhaps? Here's an example with stainless cladding, semi stainless core.View attachment 149112
I think I may have to get some finger stones. I did have good success with the king 800 as well but everything after that seemed to undo what I had accomplished with the 800. I tried about 6 other stones and I couldn’t seem find anything that worked. Thank you for the links here, I’m going to do some more research, drop some more $$ and see if I can get this. Funny part is I have now spent more on stones trying to get a kasumi finish than what this knife originally cost (it wasn’t particularly expensive)!
At least Balsamic's good for one thing...
This knife looks amazing. Would you mind sharing the details behind the etching process? Type of vinegar, temp and time?
Thank you for for referring me to this thread. That was an impressive finish! Could I ask you about the sanding process? Why drop back down to 800 after the 1500 grit?One more, this one was just sandpaper and etch with hot vinegar and instant coffee
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/show-your-work-uchigumori-and-co.29820/post-823443
This one was for a friend. I wanted a brushed finish that could help hide scratches from use. Also, 600-800 seems to be my sweet spot for sandpaper finish for minimizing drag and sticking.Thank you for for referring me to this thread. That was an impressive finish! Could I ask you about the sanding process? Why drop back down to 800 after the 1500 grit?
Thank you for the advice here. One of the issues I failed to mention was that my knife of choice has a stainless cladding and I have come to realize that I may never get a good contrast between the jigane/hagane.
I did go thru the thinning process and flattened out the bevel quite a bit, it was a great learning process. Once I failed to get a good contrast I had to walk away from that knife for a bit. I’m thinking about just etching it now and trying this whole process on one of my iron clad knives.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with stainless cladding
That is a great looking finish. Thank you for the suggestion on the stone, it seems like the missing piece of the puzzle (that and a whole bunch of skill)…ok on a more serious note I think it is not that hard to get a nice finish on stainless, you just have to adjust your expectations. and you do not need a super pricey stone, mostly what you need is a softer stone and very pure.
this is from a soft and particularly muddy Shoubudani tomae. the stone had some lines dug out and is only 600ish grams, and iirc it cost me 175 dollars. on iron cladding it makes a very contrasty finish, on stainless, well it is at least even and doesnt tug on the cladding.
View attachment 149151
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