White #1 Steel, Mizu-Honyaki
A 270mm Kengata Yanagi in White #1 Steel, Mizu-Honyaki, Honkasumi Plus, finished with Ki-to and polished to a mirror shine.
The blade came back from the craftsman who handled the edge finishing, and I was eagerly preparing for the Honbaduke process.
“Alright, let’s get started!” I thought, just as the master of Honyaki knives himself, Mr. Ikeda, visited the shop!
I had him hold the knife before sharpening, and I even got to snap a photo!
This is truly a special moment—such a request would never be possible while he’s working in his workshop.
A knife with minimal curvature on the blade tends to be challenging to sharpen unless the foundational sharpening is done properly.
The ultimate challenge comes with knives like the Takohiki. Their narrow, long profile leaves no room for error during sharpening. This can sometimes result in uneven surfaces on the bevel, with visible “joints” that disrupt the smooth sharpening finish.
Since this is a Honyaki knife, I opted for a polishing-focused sharpening approach.
The hamon appears to be positioned closer to the spine than I anticipated, creating a wave pattern on the flat surface. (It’s a bit hard to see due to the Kido finish.)
If the tip of the wave reaches the shinogi line, I imagine it might become more pronounced during the final polishing with natural stones!
The cutting edge has a naturally formed Hamaguri profile, offering smooth performance.
Tomorrow, I plan to give it a bit more polishing to really make it shine and then test if the hamon will emerge more vividly using natural stones.
- 2017-06-05
