Moritaka - Journey through hell

[ModRQC]

I'm going through a similar process with a since 2014 on Masamoto KK KU nakiri that had a horrible asymmetric grind and huge belly on one side. I've probably spent 10ish hours on the stone and still haven't fixed the asymmetry. The KU is all gone, but I want to remove all the pitting too, which requires at least 1mm of thinning.

At this point, i'm thinking of buying a belt sander or orbital sander to do the rough sanding. That or just crying.

While I wouldn't rely on my own information just because I fooled around with a Moritaka, it's been more than one advice by more knowledgeable members than me that says you ought to go with sandpaper, especially where soft cladding doesn't respond so well to most stones - more work and ackward too if the grind is not perfectly straight.

 

[ModRQC]

Wow, that’s a lot of work, kudos for not giving up!

Most my iron clad has attractive blue patina, except my two Mazaki gyutos that give out poopy yellowish patina.

From the choil shot, the bevel is still pretty low, can’t make the behind edge thin enough unless you either go concave or raise the shinogi line much higher. It’ll be hard to compete with Toyama IMHO, but the food release should be better.

True. I don't know that I wish to yet. I have some "lasers". This one has its purpose where some heft behind the cut is still appreciable. Of course, next sharpening will probably mean to thin up a bit more. It's lurking in a near future for sure. I just hope normal progression on stones can do it.

 

[ModRQC]

Still on lockdown eh?

Thanks for posting.

Nope. Back to work since the beginning of May. This project pretty much began when I was back at work.

 

[ModRQC]

Wow! Impressive!! Nothing for me though, patience is a virtue I have yet to learn... Imagine the hours you had to put into that knife!!!

Thanks for documenting the process.

Can you estimate how many hours you have sunk into it?

Anyone who has not done a serious thinning and is wondering why good knives cost so much should read this. Anyone who has done a serious thinning already knows. It's mostly skilled labour that you are paying for. Sure, pro knifemakers have power tools, but they also have the skills to use them without wrecking the knife.

Hmmm... I truly could not say precisely enough that it would mean anything, really. About 20 hours for sure in all, not counting resharpening the knife like 4 times in the process. There was a "f*** it" period too where I didn't touch it for about two weeks, and considered putting it aside in the "unfinished project" sector of my mind... the one where things usually STAY unfinished. I kicked back... Some of it has become foggy since - so much repetition of the same processes.

Edit: Sorry, yes, you are right @Nemo... it's a work I'm glad I did, and surely I would do it again if I felt it was needed, and resell value would be considered too low. But yes, entirely, 200$ more for a knife with a more desirable geometry is nothing. It's not just the work, as you say, but also the insurance the work was done well - surely, better than mine.

 

[Taz575]

That is a lot of work done! Have you tried etching it with Ferric Chloride? I did that to several of the knives I removed the KU from and had the bare mild steel exposed and it really tempered the patina a lot. Gave it a light grey look and the edge a dark almost charcoal color to it.

 

[ModRQC]

Thanks everybody else for replying so kindly and enthusiastically. As I said to @Benuser I thought not much people would find the work interesting or worthy of me doing a post about it. But as a newbie I would have liked to have access to something like that myself, so here it is, and I'm surprised so many members responded with awe to it.

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I posted this the night before I was moving to a new appartment, where I didn't get Internet before July 10th, and by then I had forgotten all about this post. I'm a bit ashamed of myself for not seeing this sooner.

 

[ModRQC]

That is a lot of work done! Have you tried etching it with Ferric Chloride? I did that to several of the knives I removed the KU from and had the bare mild steel exposed and it really tempered the patina a lot. Gave it a light grey look and the edge a dark almost charcoal color to it.

Heard about this for re-etching Damascus for instance. Could be an idea, but truly @esoo vinegar method works to do just that without discoloring the core all that much. Once with a better polish than tests I showed here, a forced patina works fine, but on this cladding nothing prevents most of the patina getting a brownish look that's not so attractive.

 

[ModRQC]

So that is why I'm only mildly interested to re-etching the knife... I settled on going back on the mirror polish.

After one week of unpacking boxes, I needed a project that I love. Like I didn't give this knife enough love, decided to re-sand one more time - that was last week. I had added automotive #3000 pads to my arsenal too, so I guess there was the expectation for even better results playing into this.

Indeed...

There's a vanity to this finish. Not mine, though I don't lack any of that ****, I'm not stupid: it is steel, and steel gets that way when you sand through a progression until fine. Vanity here is the knife's own. It's gorgeous this way. If I get it out, people are exclaiming all over it. I can then feel proud for being stubborn. For a while, I wondered if I had made a mistake buying it - regretted it quite strongly even. Now it cuts so well and looks above its pay grade. Value is intrinsic to how we attach ourselves to things - or not. I'm attached to this knife now; that people finds it beautiful augments its value, not because of vanity, but because of possessiveness: it is MINE, and they are never gonna get one like this.

Of course, re-sanding always has this most happy ending...

 

[Taz575]

Wow!! That looks great!

Kono Fujiyama Blue #2 that I belt thinned and acid etched for a friend many years ago.

It was all polished, but the patina was a splotchy orange and looked ugly, so I ferric chlorided it instead.

 

[ModRQC]

Lovely looking too!

 

[curreel]

Them gates opened wide!