OkayMode
Jiro apologist
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2023
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#77 Jiro Nakiri with a custom ringed gidgee handle and saya, carefully refinished on stones.
Current specs:
In all, I have put upwards of 30 hours into this knife, and would like to get back what I paid after shipping and customs - £620.
When I bought this it was quite thick behind the edge and very wedgey in most produce including carrots. The previous owner had done some thinning and refinishing of their own, but it was incomplete.
I thinned the knife on bench stones to remove some meat from the blade road, smoothing out lumpy areas and improving the consistency of the grind from heel to tip.
I then used a rotary stone to introduce some pronounced convexity towards the edge, with the result being significantly reduced stiction for a knife with such tall wide bevels. Food release is also much improved - see cutting vids for references on soft and harder produce. It now cuts like a laser without feeling fragile, thanks to a good amount of heft maintained down the blade which tapers in rapidly just above the edge.
I then polished the bevels on bench stones up to naturals, which… was not quite the success I was hoping for! The cladding on this knife is a bit tricky to work with, and I had the best results with my Morihei 4k.
I have applied a fresh coat of boiled linseed oil to the handle and saya to revive it - please note the saya is quite a loose fit and does not have a pin to hold it in place.
Please note that there are some scuffs and areas on the upper part of the blade/neck where they made contact with the stones - because of the way the neck aggressively tapers wide with these knives, this is somewhat inevitable unfortunately.
Despite that, this is the nicest cutting Nakiri I’ve ever used and I would be without doubt keeping it if I hadn’t made a pledge to myself to aggressively downsize my collection by the end of the year if I want to continue chasing a handful of unicorns.
I will also consider trades for other cool WH/midweight unicorns from Western and Japanese makers.
If you have any questions about my work, please ask away!
Current specs:
- 274g
- 57mm heel height
- 180mm edge length
In all, I have put upwards of 30 hours into this knife, and would like to get back what I paid after shipping and customs - £620.
When I bought this it was quite thick behind the edge and very wedgey in most produce including carrots. The previous owner had done some thinning and refinishing of their own, but it was incomplete.
I thinned the knife on bench stones to remove some meat from the blade road, smoothing out lumpy areas and improving the consistency of the grind from heel to tip.
I then used a rotary stone to introduce some pronounced convexity towards the edge, with the result being significantly reduced stiction for a knife with such tall wide bevels. Food release is also much improved - see cutting vids for references on soft and harder produce. It now cuts like a laser without feeling fragile, thanks to a good amount of heft maintained down the blade which tapers in rapidly just above the edge.
I then polished the bevels on bench stones up to naturals, which… was not quite the success I was hoping for! The cladding on this knife is a bit tricky to work with, and I had the best results with my Morihei 4k.
I have applied a fresh coat of boiled linseed oil to the handle and saya to revive it - please note the saya is quite a loose fit and does not have a pin to hold it in place.
Please note that there are some scuffs and areas on the upper part of the blade/neck where they made contact with the stones - because of the way the neck aggressively tapers wide with these knives, this is somewhat inevitable unfortunately.
Despite that, this is the nicest cutting Nakiri I’ve ever used and I would be without doubt keeping it if I hadn’t made a pledge to myself to aggressively downsize my collection by the end of the year if I want to continue chasing a handful of unicorns.
I will also consider trades for other cool WH/midweight unicorns from Western and Japanese makers.
If you have any questions about my work, please ask away!
