First Jnat finish
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First Jnat finish
I've spent hours playing with mud in the rabbit hole to refinish the blade road of my experiment knife-the Minimoto blue #2. This is a double bevel knife, so it was not easy to learn on for a newbie.
Prior to the JNats I used a DMT XXC, Bamboo 150, Chosera 400, Kohetsu 800, Kohetsu 2k, and a Naniwa SS 5k ending as a streaked out dirty mirror. I used all trailing strokes with the knife oriented perpendicular to the stone rather than at a 45...painfully slow going.
The first JNat is an Aoto Kouzaki from Ken. Wasn't sure about it the first couple times on edge work, but now I love it. SO MUCH MUD! I started scrubbing at a 45 on this stone moving my fingers from the bottom of the hammered finish down to the edge. I eased up on the pressure once I had a ton of mud and evened things out a little.
The next stone is a mystery stone from ebay with a 6-8k finish. It gives my favorite edge on carbon steel-more bite than 5k, but drops through product like a higher grit stone. I used the same technique as the aoto and was surprised at how fast it was cutting and how much mud it made for a finishing stone. I used a cotton ball to collect the mud rolling off the sides and at the end I buffed the blade road out using horizontal passes with the cotton ball.
Far from perfect, but not bad for a first attempt. I was a little dissapointed that the contrast became so minimal. Not sure if that speaks to the cutting power of the abrasive. The hagane could have been shined a little more by using gentle back strokes perpendicular to the stone at a slightly elevated angle, but doing so would potentially risk stray maddening streaks. I still have cotton balls saturated in aoto mud and may reintroduce some fog to the jigane.
Prior to the JNats I used a DMT XXC, Bamboo 150, Chosera 400, Kohetsu 800, Kohetsu 2k, and a Naniwa SS 5k ending as a streaked out dirty mirror. I used all trailing strokes with the knife oriented perpendicular to the stone rather than at a 45...painfully slow going.
The first JNat is an Aoto Kouzaki from Ken. Wasn't sure about it the first couple times on edge work, but now I love it. SO MUCH MUD! I started scrubbing at a 45 on this stone moving my fingers from the bottom of the hammered finish down to the edge. I eased up on the pressure once I had a ton of mud and evened things out a little.
The next stone is a mystery stone from ebay with a 6-8k finish. It gives my favorite edge on carbon steel-more bite than 5k, but drops through product like a higher grit stone. I used the same technique as the aoto and was surprised at how fast it was cutting and how much mud it made for a finishing stone. I used a cotton ball to collect the mud rolling off the sides and at the end I buffed the blade road out using horizontal passes with the cotton ball.
Far from perfect, but not bad for a first attempt. I was a little dissapointed that the contrast became so minimal. Not sure if that speaks to the cutting power of the abrasive. The hagane could have been shined a little more by using gentle back strokes perpendicular to the stone at a slightly elevated angle, but doing so would potentially risk stray maddening streaks. I still have cotton balls saturated in aoto mud and may reintroduce some fog to the jigane.
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Re: First Jnat finish
Nice!
This kinda time-consuming handiwork is just so rewarding, isn't it?
But oh, the room for wanting more (various abrasives) just keeps growing! Watch out, the rabbit hole may grow larger and deeper before you know it!
This kinda time-consuming handiwork is just so rewarding, isn't it?
But oh, the room for wanting more (various abrasives) just keeps growing! Watch out, the rabbit hole may grow larger and deeper before you know it!
“If we conquer our passions it is more from their weakness than from our strength.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld
― François de La Rochefoucauld
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Re: First Jnat finish
Nice work!!
Those Kouzaki Aoto are a bit hard to come by. Looks like this one found a good home!
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Ken
Those Kouzaki Aoto are a bit hard to come by. Looks like this one found a good home!
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Ken
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Re: First Jnat finish
It is. l think the hardest part is knowing when to stop polishing and the limitations of each stone. Ill reach a point where its good and in an attempt to remove minor imperfections I'll introduce new imperfections. I guess that part comes with experience, the art of mud management and such.
That rabbit hole is already calling me to buy another stone. I'm frequently looking for just the right Aiwatanee, takashima, suita, hakka, or Mizukihara knowing I need to slow down and wait another month at least.
That aoto is really nice. I feel like using it has made me a better sharpener. The auditory feedback is so strong it's like the ghost of an old sharpener is talking me through the process. Was a great finisher for my SS Mercer beater. I use that for rock mincing (no hand on top) and rosemary was a breeze. Got some really thin chiffonade cuts of sage too.
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Re: First Jnat finish
That aoto is really nice. I feel like using it has made me a better sharpener. The auditory feedback is so strong it's like the ghost of an old sharpener is talking me through the process. Was a great finisher for my SS Mercer beater. I use that for rock mincing (no hand on top) and rosemary was a breeze. Got some really thin chiffonade cuts of sage too.
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I didn't get the auditory feeling of connection when I first started using the aoto from Ken but I certainly felt more connected to a tradition of sharpening that I didn't when using the synthetics. It's a large part of what's been drawing me to try more of the naturals.
Also that looks quite nice.
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Re: First Jnat finish
I didn't get the auditory feeling of connection when I first started using the aoto from Ken but I certainly felt more connected to a tradition of sharpening that I didn't when using the synthetics. It's a large part of what's been drawing me to try more of the naturals.Seattle_Ben wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:28 pmThat aoto is really nice. I feel like using it has made me a better sharpener. The auditory feedback is so strong it's like the ghost of an old sharpener is talking me through the process. Was a great finisher for my SS Mercer beater. I use that for rock mincing (no hand on top) and rosemary was a breeze. Got some really thin chiffonade cuts of sage too.
Also that looks quite nice.
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Are you using the aono or kouzaki? There was a sweet spot with the mud to water ratio where I got tuned into a pitch the edge was making against the stone using very light pressure. I worked up a ton of mud doing the blade road of the minimoto, thinned it a bit, and finished the mercer. When I could no longer hear the sound I knew my angle was just slightly off, I needed to add a few more drops, or I had to loosen my grip on the handle. Extremely useful for guiding the process.
Few more pics with a little bit.of natural lighting.
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Re: First Jnat finish
A little harder and a little finer from what I understand. Ken could shed more light on it as I've never used an aono.
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Re: First Jnat finish
That's what I gather also from further reading.metamorpheus wrote: ↑Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:33 amA little harder and a little finer from what I understand. Ken could shed more light on it as I've never used an aono.