Remove chips from knife

The other day, I experimented with my 180mm Deba INOX steel Honyaki knife while filleting fish, and unfortunately, I ended up chipping it. Sharpening it again was quite the ordeal… Even though it’s INOX steel, it’s still Honyaki, after all. I had no one to blame but myself for causing the chip, so it was a lesson learned! But you know, human psychology kicks in—I felt this urge to focus on the chip and try to fix it as quickly as possible, almost like I wanted to hide it or forget about it. And guess what? I ended up over-sharpening that area… Result? It ended up drastically thinner than the rest… Then, I started obsessing over the overall balance once the chip was gone, and in the end, I had to re-sharpen the whole thing from scratch (chuckles). It’s ironic, you know? I’ve been preaching about efficiently sharpening the entire knife in my blog and Suisin Special Feature, and here I am, falling into the same trap… It’s like peering into the depths of human psychology. Anyway, I’ve learned my lesson—preventing chips is the way to go!

• 2008-10-10