nexus1935
Senior Member
My yanagiba needed sharpening, so I watched several videos on Youtube to start. They all show a similar method in sharpening the wide bevel with a 45 degree approach angle, which made sense since I pretty much hold that angle for sharpening the right side of all my double-bevel knives. Following Jon's video, I sharpened along the shinogi line first, and then at the edge to form the burr, but I still saw some of the original scratch marks from the factory which are parallel to the edge.
Once I was finished, it was as sharp as I needed. However, the scratch pattern on the wide bevel was very messy. Most yanagiba's I've seen have the scratch pattern parallel to the edge, but then the 45 degree approach angle is changing that scratch pattern. That made my wonder, is it possible to maintain the parallel scratch pattern as most new yanagiba's have? Or you pretty much sacrifice that pattern once you need to sharpen the knife?
Some pics illustrating the scratch pattern on new yanagibas being parallel to the edge:
Once I was finished, it was as sharp as I needed. However, the scratch pattern on the wide bevel was very messy. Most yanagiba's I've seen have the scratch pattern parallel to the edge, but then the 45 degree approach angle is changing that scratch pattern. That made my wonder, is it possible to maintain the parallel scratch pattern as most new yanagiba's have? Or you pretty much sacrifice that pattern once you need to sharpen the knife?
Some pics illustrating the scratch pattern on new yanagibas being parallel to the edge: