Is roughness important for the cutting edge?
Today, I’ve been sharpening knives in the sharpening room since morning. With the sharpening stones I’m using having been leveled yesterday, I feel good about the work and have some mental space to think things through while sharpening.
Right now, the sharpening room has been taken over for shipping preparations due to incoming orders. (Why? Well, because there’s a stockroom right next to my sharpening area, you see…) Until the noise settles down, I decided to write a blog post.
Returning to the topic of sharpening, at Suisin, we sharpen knives before shipping. However, we don’t sharpen the cutting edge. Instead, we primarily perform a sharpening technique that involves adjusting the back and creating a secondary edge.
Especially, if the back is initially well-pressed, the knife can be used comfortably for a long time. So, using diamond sharpening stones, we refine the intricate details that sharpeners couldn’t touch.
We finish it off by shining the back against a finishing stone, then inserting the secondary edge from the front and checking the sharpness. It might sound like a lot of work, but it allows us to thoroughly check for any blade imperfections.
I might have mentioned this before, but jumping from a diamond stone to #5000 results in a clean finish. However, jumping from a diamond #500 to the finishing stone creates a sharper and smoother edge!
The “smooth and sharp” mentioned in the Suisin special feature refers to a slightly different method from this one, where a series of coarse and fine stones, including rough and finishing stones, can achieve a “sharp and smooth” edge.
I tested the sharpness against INOX-Honyaki, thinking it might rival Suisin Hayate like carbon steel… but Hayate proved to be stronger. Still, they’re on par!
In the afternoon, I plan to sharpen white steel and blue steel. The rougher stones seem to work better for INOX knives only, I reckon (^^;
Well, now that the sharpening room is free again, it’s time to get back to work!
Hibishugyo
- 2007-08-09
