Need opinions from my fellow sushi chef about sharpening yanagi

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Ochazuke said:
For me I kept two yanagiba - I would alternate day to day though. The last person I trained with came from one of the bars near where Tsukiji was and I picked up my habits from him. He would always insist that I let my knife rest a day after sharpening but never explained why. My dad did the same thing and explained that the iron taste somehow still lingered. I don’t know though....

I would use a gyuto for pretty much all American style sushi and yanagiba for regular sushi. I built in the habit of sharpening after I finish work everyday but it never required that much work to get back in to serviceable condition. I also polished on a kitayama 8k. Maintaining a decent finish took longer for me than any edge work. You can go everyday on a kitayama and get 10 years or more out of your knife easily. Once every couple weeks or so per knife, I’d drop down to a 2k just to reset things. That’s mostly to make it easier on me though — it’s easier for me to see what needed to be done on a 2k. Anyways, just get good at hamaguriba and you shouldn’t have any problems at all.

I made my comments because if you’re confident with your skills, then maybe hearing other peoples’ sharpening habits would be helpful!

+1 on the Tsukiji Masamoto though! Maybe because it was my first real yanagiba, but I really love it. Especially the deep ura. I don’t get why more people don’t like them in the US.
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Which 2k did you drop down to?
 
SilverSwarfer said:
I generally use 2 300mm Yanagibas every sushi production shift. 1 for fish. 1 for everything else. Sharpen both every day because 1) they need it and 2) I love sharpening. Whatever the steel, whatever the edge profile, knife grind, type, etc.- for purposes of sashimi slicing, you’ve got to have a fine edge. Fine edges erode quickly because they are fine. It’s a high maintenance game and there’s no solution aside from the love of sharpening.

You don’t need full progression sharpening every day. For many many years, I only used Kitayama 8k for my sashimi blades. It’s a great stone and you’d be surprised what can be achieved given adjusted adapted technique.

If you aren’t already familiar with Hamaguri vs. Beta Togi sharpening and understanding of Koba, I suggest spending some time in research. Watch YouTube videos. Experiment. Keep an open mind. And remember which adjustments yielded positive/negative results.

If in doubt, spend more time on the stones!
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If you needed to go to a stone lower than the Kitayama 8000, which one did you use?
 
dafox said:
If you needed to go to a stone lower than the Kitayama 8000, which one did you use?
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Please clarify your question. I could see the intent to ask in either direction-

By “lower,” if you mean <8000 grit or coarser, for Yanagiba finishing then Gesshin 6k I have is great. Even the Gesshin 4k will refine and finish an excellent working edge. Polish won’t be where I want it but performance will not suffer appreciably. We have also tested the Mizuyama stones, which function fine but have a sort of greasy feel and seemingly less aggressive, slower abrasive action- especially the Mizuyama 4k.

If by “lower” you mean smaller grit or less abrasive, my favorite finish is JNAT. Hands down best function and aesthetic but much more difficult and involved process. As for synthetics, I have Glass 16k and Shapton purple (pro?) 30k that I use when I’m feeling extra shiny.
 
SilverSwarfer said:
Please clarify your question. I could see the intent to ask in either direction-

By “lower,” if you mean <8000 grit or coarser, for Yanagiba finishing then Gesshin 6k I have is great. Even the Gesshin 4k will refine and finish an excellent working edge. Polish won’t be where I want it but performance will not suffer appreciably. We have also tested the Mizuyama stones, which function fine but have a sort of greasy feel and seemingly less aggressive, slower abrasive action- especially the Mizuyama 4k.

If by “lower” you mean smaller grit or less abrasive, my favorite finish is JNAT. Hands down best function and aesthetic but much more difficult and involved process. As for synthetics, I have Glass 16k and Shapton purple (pro?) 30k that I use when I’m feeling extra shiny.
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Thanks. Sorry, I mean which coarser stone do you use when the finishing stone is no longer working, which mid grit stone?
 
I use Shapton Glass 500 most. Gesshin 400 is another option. Both work great and I’d recommend either. If i had to pick- Go with a Gesshin stone set! You get a great 400 that feels more like a 5-600, a 2k, and a 6k. Great value compared to purchasing individually.

The Gesshin 2k is a great stone too but I use the Shapton Glass 2k more. The Shapton is easier to use but the Gesshin is bigger and feels better under steel. Shapton is faster.

For under $300 you could have the Gesshin set and a Kitayama 8k. With this setup you can do everything.

I would also recommend the Chosera 3k but it’s expensive. It seems like it might last 10+ years. Which is a lot of sharpening.
 
SilverSwarfer said:
I use Shapton Glass 500 most. Gesshin 400 is another option. Both work great and I’d recommend either. If i had to pick- Go with a Gesshin stone set! You get a great 400 that feels more like a 5-600, a 2k, and a 6k. Great value compared to purchasing individually.

The Gesshin 2k is a great stone too but I use the Shapton Glass 2k more. The Shapton is easier to use but the Gesshin is bigger and feels better under steel. Shapton is faster.

For under $300 you could have the Gesshin set and a Kitayama 8k. With this setup you can do everything.

I would also recommend the Chosera 3k but it’s expensive. It seems like it might last 10+ years. Which is a lot of sharpening.
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Thanks much!
I have a number of stones that I use, but am new to yanagiba use and sharpening. I have: Shapton pro 320, 1000, 2000, Shapton glass 500, 2000, and Chosera 400, 800, 3000. I recently purchased a Masamoto honkasumi w#2 240 and 270 yanagiba, a Suisin inox honyaki 240 yanagiba, and a kitayama 8000 and Naniwa snow white 8000. Which of my stones would you use on the yanagibas?
 
You’re all set!

These days I use SG2k for my edge (only edge!) and the Kitayama 8k to polish the whole blade road then finish the edge.

The Chosera 3k is actually in another city so I would probably use it more if it was accessible.

In your case I’d go with the 3k to 8k progression for full sharpenings and just touch up on 8k.

As for Kitayama vs. Snow White, I can’t say which I’d reach for since I don’t have the SW.
 
SilverSwarfer said:
You’re all set!

These days I use SG2k for my edge (only edge!) and the Kitayama 8k to polish the whole blade road then finish the edge.

The Chosera 3k is actually in another city so I would probably use it more if it was accessible.

In your case I’d go with the 3k to 8k progression for full sharpenings and just touch up on 8k.

As for Kitayama vs. Snow White, I can’t say which I’d reach for since I don’t have the SW.
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Thank you
 
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