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bigbob7777

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Just getting into good Japanese knives and I’m not very comfortable sharpening. Don’t quite trust youtube yet. Can anyone tell me who a good US sharpener is? I live in South Carolina, but will ship knives to a reputable sharpener.

BTW, I have a 240mm Moritaka AS Kiritsuke, a 210 mm Denka Gyuto, a 165mm Denka Nakiri, a Watanabe Pro 165mm Nakiri, and a Maboroshi 120mm Petty.

I have all these so I can evaluate what I really want in my inventory and will be selling the others.

Thanks all.
bob
 
You will scratch up your knives learning regardless of the source. In my opinion sharpen away with care before sending away for a retailer to correct. It will cost more than just an edge sharpening, but this way you get to learn on tools you like with good steel instead of spending more $$ on “practice” knives. There are precautions you can take like some painters tape over the KU and handle to protect the look. It doesn’t have to be a scary experience because there is almost nothing you can do that is irreversible. Especially if you stick to higher grit stones.
 
Tokushu Knife recently did a handle install and light thinning / sharpening for me that I am very happy with. (Good selection of "stuff" as well))

Understand your reluctance to take it on yourself but like others, encourage you to do so. You have to do something very wrong, for a long time, with a lot of pressure, to screw up a knife.
 
i agree with the others, learn to sharpen your own stuff asap.

watch the jki playlists, use a sharpie to see where you are removing steel and practice on a beater a few times just to get a feel for it and give it a go on one of the nakiri's since there is basically a flat edge profile, its a lot less daunting than people make it out to be.

not really a requirement but you could start with a stone a bit higher grit, say 3k+. it will remove steel slowly but if the edge isnt in bad shape you dont need to start w/ low grit stones. starting with a higher grit will help you develop muscle memory without removing a load of steel and causing a problem as you learn.

i see so many videos where people will breadknife an edge on a brick or the side of a stone and start on a 200-400 and do a full progression. it just seems so wasteful.
 
runninscared said:
i agree with the others, learn to sharpen your own stuff asap.

watch the jki playlists, use a sharpie to see where you are removing steel and practice on a beater a few times just to get a feel for it and give it a go on one of the nakiri's since there is basically a flat edge profile, its a lot less daunting than people make it out to be.

not really a requirement but you could start with a stone a bit higher grit, say 3k+. it will remove steel slowly but if the edge isnt in bad shape you dont need to start w/ low grit stones. starting with a higher grit will help you develop muscle memory without removing a load of steel and causing a problem as you learn.

i see so many videos where people will breadknife an edge on a brick or the side of a stone and start on a 200-400 and do a full progression. it just seems so wasteful.
Click to expand...
One important thing to do when sharpening is to remove fatigued steel. This is quickly done by bread knifing. I don't do this for my own knives, as they are well maintained and I don't have issues with fatigued steel. When sharpening for others though I often start by bread knifing as it removes fatigued steel and I can sharpen quickly that way.

For a beginner I'd not recommend starting with a +3k stone for multiple reasons. First is that such a fine stone gives slow feedback, so it's difficult to know what's going on. If the beginner is unstable it is easy to damage the edge, and it will be difficult to restore since the stone is so slow. For this reason I've heard lots of people complaining about knives getting duller when they use polishing stones. But additionally, lots of people never use such fine stones for sharpening. Personally I mainly use a 800-1200 grit natural stone as the only stone for my knives. When sharpening for pay I usually only go to 500 or 1000.
 
Neveradullmoment on IG is in SC. He may be up to taking on your knives.

Ryan from District Cutlery does great work.
 
bigbob7777 said:
Just getting into good Japanese knives and I’m not very comfortable sharpening. Don’t quite trust youtube yet. Can anyone tell me who a good US sharpener is? I live in South Carolina, but will ship knives to a reputable sharpener.

BTW, I have a 240mm Moritaka AS Kiritsuke, a 210 mm Denka Gyuto, a 165mm Denka Nakiri, a Watanabe Pro 165mm Nakiri, and a Maboroshi 120mm Petty.

I have all these so I can evaluate what I really want in my inventory and will be selling the others.

Thanks all.
bob
Click to expand...

Find a good vendor that specialized in Japanese kitchen knives, and offers a sharpening service. Here's an example: Sharpening Services
 
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