Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
One of my favorite threads here, great work!!
I'm Dave. I don't take myself too seriously and you probably shouldn't either.
Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
Your work is stunning! All in, how many hours would it take you to do a knife? The real number, no shorting it . If I want to try this, I want to know what I'm getting myself into.
Danny
Danny
- pd7077
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
Danny, the amount of time it takes really depends on the knife (San mai vs monosteel vs honyaki...single vs double bevel) and what my goal is. Single bevel knives tend to take the most time, primarily because one side (ura) is totally hardened steel. This is especially true if the owner asks for a perfectly mirrored ura. I don’t know the exact amount of time I spent on the Hattori KD 330mm yanagiba that I posted in my other thread, but I think that I spent 50+ hours over the course of 3 months. Other single bevel knives I’ve worked on were probably in the 15-20hr range. Honyaki knives take quite a bit of time as well due to the overall hardness of the steel. Iron/stainless clad double bevel knives tend to much easier to work on due to the softness of the jigane. Below is my Toyama Noborikoi Damascus 240 that I worked on yesterday. Yep, I finally got to work on one of my own knives for a change...lol. I spent a total of about 6hrs working on it from start to finish. The end result is not perfect, and I’m okay with that because it is one of my most used knives. If I were doing this for someone else, I would have spent a little bit more time to make sure that it was perfect.
Condition when received new:
Mirror polished:
Kasumi finish using uchigumori, narutaki, hakka & Okudo suita:
The contrast in the Damascus is much more subtle than the original finish, which I believe was etched. I did this intentionally because I wanted the layers to be less dramatic than the original. I’ve also never used fingerstones on a Damascus clad knife before so this was a fun little challenge for me. It was not as straight-forward as I imagined it would be, but I learned a lot along the way. I hope to do a little more work on it this week to help refine my technique when working on suminagashi blades.
--- Steve
Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
I didn't realize you were doing this as a business. I thought this thread started out recreation. Congrats on finding a niche. Your work is absolutely stunning!
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
Haha...it’s not really a business. I pretty much just work on knives for friends. Sometimes I get something out of it, and sometimes I don’t. I’ve had people ask what I charge, but I don’t think I wanna go down that road just yet. For now, I’ll just enjoy how things are
--- Steve
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
I had the pleasure of working on a pair of Kiyoshi Kato 300mm yanagibas this week. A year ago, these knives would have scared the living piss out of me, but I’ve gained a bit of confidence as of late. Both were received BNIB, and the owners both wanted a full mirrored kasumi. I went with a fingerstone progression of narutaki, hakka & okudo suita because I like the higher contrast kasumi thag it yields versus the other fingerstone progression I normally use. And now for the porn!
And here’s short video I posted on IG
And here’s short video I posted on IG
--- Steve
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
So there are many interesting threads on CKTG, we all know that. This thread is my favorite though. The knives posted throughout the thread and the job you have done polishing them puts them undert “fine art” for me. Those Katos are gorgeous, and the job you did on them is superb. Phenomenal job!!pd7077 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:36 pm I had the pleasure of working on a pair of Kiyoshi Kato 300mm yanagibas this week. A year ago, these knives would have scared the living piss out of me, but I’ve gained a bit of confidence as of late. Both were received BNIB, and the owners both wanted a full mirrored kasumi. I went with a fingerstone progression of narutaki, hakka & okudo suita because I like the higher contrast kasumi thag it yields versus the other fingerstone progression I normally use. And now for the porn!
“The goal is to die with memories, not dreams.”
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
Glad you like them Sean. After all, one of them is yoursnakneker wrote: ↑Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:44 pm So there are many interesting threads on CKTG, we all know that. This thread is my favorite though. The knives posted throughout the thread and the job you have done polishing them puts them undert “fine art” for me. Those Katos are gorgeous, and the job you did on them is superb. Phenomenal job!!
--- Steve
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
True, I may be a little bit prejudice. Didn’t want to detract from the polishing job you did. I know the hours you put into those knives.pd7077 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:53 pmGlad you like them Sean. After all, one of them is yoursnakneker wrote: ↑Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:44 pm So there are many interesting threads on CKTG, we all know that. This thread is my favorite though. The knives posted throughout the thread and the job you have done polishing them puts them undert “fine art” for me. Those Katos are gorgeous, and the job you did on them is superb. Phenomenal job!!
“The goal is to die with memories, not dreams.”
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
Honestly, those knives shouldn't be used at this point. That kind of finish is for all wall hanging and museum cabinets!
~J
Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and have tried dozens of brands over the years.
Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and have tried dozens of brands over the years.
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Re: Kasumi Finish & Fingerstone Polishing
I have to agree with everyone Steve, you have made this an art form! Absolutely stunning!
If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
I’m glad to see this thread consolidated, polishing and etching go hand and hand, just made my life easier, now I only have to follow one thread. Thanks Ray
“The goal is to die with memories, not dreams.”
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
Totally agree. Thanks for combining my threads, Ray
--- Steve
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
My pleasure. This is one of my favorite threads.
Big mahalo Steve!
Many questions to follow
Big mahalo Steve!
Many questions to follow
Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
Steve,
Is there any chance you could post a close up, of your blade road, say 1" x 1" in hi-res and good focus. I'm curious if the finish is as mirror close up as it is from a distance. I am curious about what's left in the scratch patter. Inquiring minds want to know!
D
Is there any chance you could post a close up, of your blade road, say 1" x 1" in hi-res and good focus. I'm curious if the finish is as mirror close up as it is from a distance. I am curious about what's left in the scratch patter. Inquiring minds want to know!
D
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
D, I’ll snap a close-up pic when I get the chance, but unfortunately I don’t have a macro lens so I’ll do the best I can with what I have. The blade road was at a full mirror before I added the kasumi finish. It’s not a perfectly scratch-free mirror (there are a few stray marks that are visible at certain angles), but it’s definitely a cleaner mirror than any of the honyakis I have (when they were new).shevitz wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:18 am Steve,
Is there any chance you could post a close up, of your blade road, say 1" x 1" in hi-res and good focus. I'm curious if the finish is as mirror close up as it is from a distance. I am curious about what's left in the scratch patter. Inquiring minds want to know!
D
Now in terms of how much of the mirror is retained after adding the kasumi, well, that is all dependent upon the fingerstone progression that I use. I’ve honed in on one FS progression that retains a huge amount of the mirror, but it also has less contrast. I’m currently playing around with a different FS progression that has a much deeper contrast, but more of the mirror is lost. That’s what I did for this pair of Kato yanagibas. If you look head on with the blade road, then you won’t see much of the mirror. But when you shift your perspective and view the blade road st an angle, you will see the mirror polish that was retained. Click the IG video link that I posted, and you should be able to see what I’m talkig about.
--- Steve
Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching
I can't believe I missed the IG video above. I don't know what happened there, but my god, your work is incredible!