Stone practice and comparison knife.

[KenjiF]

Looking for recommendations for good knives to practice polishing on… I’d love something where I can judge how much detail im getting out of cladding.

I have a Kiridashi on way that’s described as wrought iron clad. I’ve seen recommendations to get Kanna’s but they are uncomfortable to polish for me (I’ve only done small ones). Watanabe has some nice kintaro-ame clad knives im looking at…

https://www.kitchen-knife.jp/special/petiteknife.htm#
Im on Milan’s and Roberts (the nine) waiting lists but looking for something to practice on in the meantime.

What do you all use for testing?

 

[Blank Blades.]

Anything san mai will work realistically, and get you an idea at least.

If its literally practice you want. You don't need it to be something that looks as visually interesting as wrought clad san mai. Though those are nice.

You can get a very good idea of your polish by using something like any of the more affordable current recommendations people give for hand made kitchen knives (i dont keep up with the list of knives people recommend too much myself).

 

[Pie]

Gotta be kiridashi or kanna for me. The flat bevel is key to not end up with a streaky mess while mucking around with a new stone. Plus it takes about 15 seconds to get a decent first impression.

If I want a bigger picture I use an old takobiki sharpened beta togi style, or a single bevel honesuki if I want to see how it behaves hamaguri sharpening. Neither are banding monsters, but have very agreeable iron.

SK monosteel (4? 5?) used in Higonokami surprisingly shows a ton of detail off jnats, less of the burnishy detail and more of the etchy/banding/impurity stuff. This was a surprise to me, but very useful if you’re gauging acidity and “unique” capabilities.

 

[Blank Blades.]

I will say. If its for actual practice polishing. I think you want something convex. Because that will give you realistic practice on a good performing knife. And show what you need to get better at. (I know milans knives will be convex).

But if you just want to test stones. Then getting something flat will be fine.

 

[KenjiF]

I will say. If its for actual practice polishing. I think you want something convex. Because that will give you realistic practice on a good performing knife. And show what you need to get better at. (I know milans knives will be convex).

But if you just want to test stones. Then getting something flat will be fine.

Yeah I have plenty of knives w a convex that I have been practicing on. It was definitely a learning curve to get decent results w longitudinal and bevel convex especially w large distal taper.

I’m looking more for cladding that has texture in it to more easily see how my technique and stone choice is effecting how much detail I can pop out of it. Milan checks all the boxes but looking for something to use while I cross my fingers every month.

 

[KenjiF]

Gotta be kiridashi or kanna for me. The flat bevel is key to not end up with a streaky mess while mucking around with a new stone. Plus it takes about 15 seconds to get a decent first impression.

If I want a bigger picture I use an old takobiki sharpened beta togi style, or a single bevel honesuki if I want to see how it behaves hamaguri sharpening. Neither are banding monsters, but have very agreeable iron.

SK monosteel (4? 5?) used in Higonokami surprisingly shows a ton of detail off jnats, less of the burnishy detail and more of the etchy/banding/impurity stuff. This was a surprise to me, but very useful if you’re gauging acidity and “unique” capabilities.

Thanks @Pie! I want to get some single bevels, all I have is a deba atm. I’ve been using my honesuki (double bevel) and a Kiridashi now to test. Higo is a great recommendation and won’t break the bank.

 

[mockit]

Second the kanna and kiridashi recs. I think they are way more useful than just testing stones! BST value finds would be by other suggestion.

 

[cotedupy]

I will say. If its for actual practice polishing. I think you want something convex. Because that will give you realistic practice on a good performing knife. And show what you need to get better at. (I know milans knives will be convex).

But if you just want to test stones. Then getting something flat will be fine.

I was about to say exactly ^this^.

If it's technique practice then you should be using something tricky. If it's just testing the *potential* of a stone then kiridashi, kanna, or something zero-bevelled is what you want.

Maybe for a combination of the two - try looking out for a cheap old yanagi or deba project knife, they often have interesting steel/iron.

 

[Pie]

This thing!

A new toy from @refcast - been giving it a couple swipes on synthetics before bedtime to make sure my fingers stay stained. Didn’t spend enough time somewhere early so the super deep scratches remain, but it’s nice and flat up to my own shinogi, getting ready for easy mode core polishing. Gotta get more in tune with some of my stones.

Ngl, I’m pretty sure I won’t like what’s hiding under that haze.

 

[KenjiF]

This thing!

A new toy from @refcast - been giving it a couple swipes on synthetics before bedtime to make sure my fingers stay stained. Didn’t spend enough time somewhere early so the super deep scratches remain, but it’s nice and flat up to my own shinogi, getting ready for easy mode core polishing. Gotta get more in tune with some of my stones. View attachment 244744View attachment 244745View attachment 244746

Ngl, I’m pretty sure I won’t like what’s hiding under that haze.

Ok that thing is a tiny usuba or you have a gigantic renge suita there buddy…

 

[Pie]

Ok that thing is a tiny usuba or you have a gigantic renge suita there buddy…

The kawamuki is pretty small, but the stone is… wider than most.

It’s a koppa compared to @ethompson ’s Stonehenge block

 

[ethompson]

A couple notes on this topic.

Kiri's and kanna are great for stone testing, but typically the iron on these is much softer than what would be used on a knife so it's not a perfect 1:1. And as others have mentioned, polishing is mostly an exercise in control over geometry, so for practice I definitely recommend something with a mildly upswept tip. I think a 165-210 low-bevel gyuto or santoku is ideal. A kiri is a good way to quickly get an impression of a stone and flatter yourself in terms of polish, but nothing can substitute putting a proper kitchen knife on the stone for testing.