Yanagiba restoration

[RRLOVER]

I recently purchased a 270mm Shigefusa Kitaeji that was a little rougher than I expected....I don't have the proper stones to fix it...Is there a shop in the US that does restoration?

 

[Repjapsteel]

Bernal Cutlery, Carbon Knife co, and Strata are all well respected here.

 

[tag98]

District cutlery is also highly regarded, that said I don’t know how much single bevel
Work he does compared to double bevel

 

[heldentenor]

I recently purchased a 270mm Shigefusa Kitaeji that was a little rougher than I expected....I don't have the proper stones to fix it...Is there a shop in the US that does restoration?

Second for Bernal, Strata, and Carbon. Would also highly recommend Jon/Japanese Knife Imports. Have direct experience with all but Carbon as sharpeners and can highly recommend each.

 

[ethompson]

@RRLOVER What’s the extent of restoration needed?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Bernal just installed a large wheel if that helps.

 

[ethompson]

Maybe a hot take, but I wouldn’t let Bernal (or anyone else) mess with the ura on a large wheel. Taken further, the only person I’d trust in the US with a single bevel and one of those large wheels is Jon. Lots of options for good sharpening though.

Edited for clarity

 

[RRLOVER]

Maybe a hot take, but I wouldn’t let them mess with the ura on a large wheel. Only person I’d trust in the US with a single bevel and one of those is Jon

I was going to email him tomorrow.

 

[Rangen]

Maybe a hot take, but I wouldn’t let them mess with the ura on a large wheel. Only person I’d trust in the US with a single bevel and one of those is Jon

This sounds like really good information, but would you unscramble that second sentence to make it absolutely clear?

 

[RRLOVER]

@RRLOVER What’s the extent of restoration needed?

I can send you some pics...Basically just Poorly sharpened, no chips.

 

[ethompson]

.

 

[Barmoley]

Definitely @JBroida is the guy to talk to.

 

[Heckel7302]

I vote for you to hire @ethompson to do it for you. He’s got the stones for the job, that’s for sure.

Besides him I’d definitely trust Jon to do it, but not sure if he is taking on work on knives that weren’t sold by him. He might make an exception for a Kitaeji though.

 

[M1k3]

Single bevel I'd first try Jon at JKI. If not him, then Korin.

 

[Lurkernomore]

I can send you some pics...Basically just Poorly sharpened, no chips.

Can you just post them for everyone somehow?

 

[gabdo]

If you are in or around Mass., Scott (Knife Sharpening | A Cut Above | Brookline) in Boston, is very good and extremely nice.

 

[Choppin]

Can you just post them for everyone somehow?

this. love some restoration porn

 

[RRLOVER]

I will be sending it to Jon this week...Here are some pics of the before and will post some after pics.

 

[Lurkernomore]

Unless the back is seriously wavy or something this is fine. There is a secondary bevel, yes, but do your honbazuke and you’re good. The shinogi line sweeping upwards toward the heel is because of the trademark shigefusa taper. To get rid of that you’d have to take material off the hira and then refinish the whole thing. You are lucky that it’s engraved on the back so it’s easier to do work on the front but it’s still quite a bit of work. It’s a very common occurrence with shigefusa knives.
Let’s see what kind of finish they can do at JKI, I am sure they will deliver.

My own shigefusa kurouchi nakiri has some severe grind issues as well. It looked stunning new but has the mother of all low spots on both sides. Needless to say the beautiful suita finish is now gone.

By the way if the back is actually super wavy which is unlikely then the kanji on the back can end up getting partially ground out. Hand engraving often suffers when polishing and or repairing stuff.

 

[RRLOVER]

Some pics Jon sent me...I need to get a handle on Her and then up for sale!

 

[TB_London]

Always nice to see some frosty bevels and crispy mirror edge