Part 1 – Origins
Once upon a time… a Moritaka.
Zip it, we know the story: it came with somewhat of an ill geometry (that’s a euphemism), but at least, without major faults to the grind.
Other than the geometry though, I had a bit of another problem with it: Kurouchi fading each time it was washed, and I didn’t even use it often, wash it often, for it to get from black with somewhat gray patches to grayish with somewhat beige patches.
I kind of liked the knife though, after some adjustments. Food separation/release, flat profile, slicing abilities and general work, balance for weight worked well. My thoughts: refining that geometry by taking off enough of the shoulders while trying to smooth out the beveling and slightly convex the V grind to the edge. The goal was to stop wedging – but try to hold on to the good behavior it provided with food separation/release.
The culminating point that set this journey in motion came when I used tape to cover the KU and started to work towards sanding off that thick shoulder. Knife was left with the tape on a couple of days before I had some time to be done with that first strike against the geometry… and obviously when I removed it the kurouchi was almost gone in patches where the adhesive did its worst.
A wool dishrag, and back of a scrubbing sponge, removed the rest of it within short order – a first step through the gates of hell.
Once upon a time… a Moritaka.
Zip it, we know the story: it came with somewhat of an ill geometry (that’s a euphemism), but at least, without major faults to the grind.
Other than the geometry though, I had a bit of another problem with it: Kurouchi fading each time it was washed, and I didn’t even use it often, wash it often, for it to get from black with somewhat gray patches to grayish with somewhat beige patches.
I kind of liked the knife though, after some adjustments. Food separation/release, flat profile, slicing abilities and general work, balance for weight worked well. My thoughts: refining that geometry by taking off enough of the shoulders while trying to smooth out the beveling and slightly convex the V grind to the edge. The goal was to stop wedging – but try to hold on to the good behavior it provided with food separation/release.
The culminating point that set this journey in motion came when I used tape to cover the KU and started to work towards sanding off that thick shoulder. Knife was left with the tape on a couple of days before I had some time to be done with that first strike against the geometry… and obviously when I removed it the kurouchi was almost gone in patches where the adhesive did its worst.
A wool dishrag, and back of a scrubbing sponge, removed the rest of it within short order – a first step through the gates of hell.