New to Japanese knives

[Ruppertsreef]

Bought my first knife. It is a Mazaki white 2 nashiji 180mm gyuto

I am researching and learning about whetstones and was reaching out for advice. Either good YouTube videos or which products would be good for beginner. Stones (which grits) and or a leather strop.

Totally new to this and absorbing more info by the minute just so many options. Thanks

 

[JASinIL2006]

This is a pretty good place to start:

https://www.knifeplanet.net/2017/05/13/knife-sharpening-school-online-course/

 

[Ruppertsreef]

This is a pretty good place to start:

https://www.knifeplanet.net/2017/05/13/knife-sharpening-school-online-course/

Thank you. I will read this tonight

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Welcome.

We have a good sharpening section here loaded with good info and friendly folks.

Good online resources are Japanese Knife Imports, Bernal Cutlery, SHARP Knife Shop, and Korin. Just know that there are subtle differences in all of our approaches so don't get too hung up on details.

Form a burr, flip, form a burr, deburr. That's the very basics.

I would recommend not skimping on a stone flattening plate and most will recommend an Atoma 140 diamond for the task. It seems like a lot at first for something that mostly will just keep other stones flat but they are very important and worth investing in a good one.

Decide on a stone holder you like and get one.

I prefer splash and go stones so often recommend the Shapton Glass or Pro series. A 1k or 2k is a nice place to start for routine upkeep.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Here is the playlist of Japanese Knife Import sharpening videos. Lots of helpful stuff here, too.



I’m still an uber-noobie when comes to sharpening, but I found the Peter Nowlan sharpening school videos and text (linked in my earlier post) to be a really good place to start.

 

[D J]

Some little advice. If you are new to sharpening. Don't try and sharpen your best knife right away. Buy some really cheap knives to practice on. If your knife needs sharpening, please find someone to do it for you. It can take a lot of time to get a skill level to work on an expensive knife. I found out the hard way. Bought a Japanese knife, wanted to sharpen it, damaged it. Realized I need to learn. still learning.

 

[Walla]

+1 on the Peter Nowlan and jki videos...you cannot go wrong with either of those gentlemen's videos.

I personally wouldn't buy the cheapest knives possible to learn sharpening on... crappy knives are well... crappy...a less expensive knife...no problem...but when you get into some of the really horrific dollar store type steel...it can lead to frustrations when learning to sharpen...if possible start with some sort of European knife...softer and more forgiving than Japanese knives...and not dollar store crap...

Best of luck, remember to de burr and maintain angle control...any questions you can't find answers to on the forum, don't hesitate to ask...

Take care

Jeff

 

[Ruppertsreef]

Some little advice. If you are new to sharpening. Don't try and sharpen your best knife right away. Buy some really cheap knives to practice on. If your knife needs sharpening, please find someone to do it for you. It can take a lot of time to get a skill level to work on an expensive knife. I found out the hard way. Bought a Japanese knife, wanted to sharpen it, damaged it. Realized I need to learn. still learning.

I had figured I would give it a go first few times on random ones at my work or my chicago cutlery knife block ones in my home kitchen

 

[Feiii]

Slightly off topic but why did you choose to go with a 180mm gyuto? Not that it is a bad thing but for me japanese knives were/are a spiral into 240mm+ knives haha.

Wish you good luck with your knife!

 

[tostadas]

Slightly off topic but why did you choose to go with a 180mm gyuto? Not that it is a bad thing but for me japanese knives were/are a spiral into 240mm+ knives haha.

Wish you good luck with your knife!

That's like asking a junkie why they chose meth over heroin or cocaine.

 

[Ruppertsreef]

Slightly off topic but why did you choose to go with a 180mm gyuto? Not that it is a bad thing but for me japanese knives were/are a spiral into 240mm+ knives haha.

Wish you good luck with your knife!

I had chosen this knife a few months back or the misino Swedish. The mazaki was hard to find and wanted it order for myself before summer hit. Choices I found available were 180 or 240. Being my first I wanted something small before ultimately ordering the 330 suji I would like

 

[Ruppertsreef]

That's like asking a junkie why they chose meth over heroin or cocaine.

I’m sure it will become an addiction

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I had chosen this knife a few months back or the misino Swedish. The mazaki was hard to find and wanted it order for myself before summer hit. Choices I found available were 180 or 240. Being my first I wanted something small before ultimately ordering the 330 suji I would like

No worries on your choice. I'm a proud member of Team 180.

 

[JASinIL2006]

+1 on the Peter Nowlan and jki videos...you cannot go wrong with either of those gentlemen's videos.

I personally wouldn't buy the cheapest knives possible to learn sharpening on... crappy knives are well... crappy...a less expensive knife...no problem...but when you get into some of the really horrific dollar store type steel...it can lead to frustrations when learning to sharpen...if possible start with some sort of European knife...softer and more forgiving than Japanese knives...and not dollar store crap...

Best of luck, remember to de burr and maintain angle control...any questions you can't find answers to on the forum, don't hesitate to ask...

Take care

Jeff

I agree about not buying a super cheap knife for practicing. I bought an early DaoVua gyuto for practicing, but the grind is so uneven that it is difficult to tell if I am having problems because I’m not holding my angle consistently or because of wonkiness in the blade.

 

[mc2442]

You quickly adapt to longer blades. 210ish to 240 for home and. 240+ for pros seem most common, space dictating otherwise. Even as a home cook the larger flat area on a longer knife is good, less accordion cuts