About the rough whetstone…
Today, I sharpened a Yanagiba knife. Usually, I start with a #500 diamond whetstone, but today I began with a rough GC (Green Carbon, the common green one) whetstone that I found while tidying up. This rough whetstone sharpens well! It wears down quickly, though. I managed to create the primary edge very quickly, but it took 1.5 times longer than usual to finish with the medium whetstone. The GC whetstone might grind more coarsely and aggressively! The sharpening marks were hard to remove (＞＜).
Today, I took photos of the whetstones I used. I was thinking of writing, ‘If it takes too long with the medium whetstone, starting with the rough whetstone makes it faster!’ but in the end, the time was about the same. When you need to raise the Shinogi line quickly, the rough whetstone might be faster and more convenient. I had planned to write a feature on the various techniques for raising the Shinogi line, but I seem to have forgotten. Was it the whetstone’s influence or the knife’s nature? Today, the edge seemed exceptionally sharp. Maybe the coarse grit left some beneficial impact? Or perhaps the steel shed a layer? Either way, knives with a keen edge tend to require more precise handling. For optimal use, a bit of play (or slip?) might make the knife easier to handle.
- 2009-12-15
