Knife porn thread

A tardy thank you, washed it out and gave it a squirt of lithium grease. Glad it’s all stainless.

I’ve got a lovely Sakai Takayuki stainless (V10?) knife but I prefer my blue steels. I think you’ll be happy with that purchase, best of both worlds - ebony handles feel special.

Yeah, looking forward to its arrival.

I have a stainless (German) Santoku which I really like, but I can get a better edge on my carbon steel Opinel.

My post hasn't aged well. Sorry.

https://www.heinnie.com/barebones-garden-hori-hori-classic

That's going on my shopping list

Hahaha.

Oh well.

You seem to have an addiction....

A Hori Hori is more of a gardening implement, to be fair.

I tend to buy a few things and then keep them for a long time. Until I bought that little knife from Heinnie, I hadn't bought any knives for quite a few years.

So I wouldn't go quite so far as to say an addiction.

On another subject, my sharpening technique is not working well.

I just spent 40 mins or so on two stainless knives which were only averagely blunt to begin with, and ended up being usable, but a considerable way off razor sharp.

It seems like a pretty simple process to put an edge on a knife, and the scope for doing it wrong must come down to one (or more) of 3 things:

• Sharpening at the wrong angle
  
• Wobbling the knife so the angle is not consistent
  
• Not taking enough metal off to get it sharp
  
  

I'm working through a number of grades of whetstones, probably a couple of minutes per side on each stone.

I dunno what I'm doing wrong.

Better get your technique right before you wreck your new japanese knife...

Cheers, that’s it.

Yes. Fortunately I have a few others to practice on.

I don't think I'm that far away from a good result. The edge looks ok.

I have a lansky system you’re welcome to borrow (we’re close by I think). It’s a little artless but good for getting an edge back and then going on to a steel/whetstone.

Ah, that would be great. I was just then googling edge pro / lansky systems!

I can second the efficiency of the Lansky system, it gets blades as sharp as you need (if not as sharp as you think you do). It is idiot proof, as an idiot I know!

Thirded.

Although I got the AliExpress knock-offs.

Just do them a few times a year then top up with a steel.

I even modded a butter knife into a sharp knife for the office.

It’s just practice. A slight wobble isn’t going to ruin the edge, in fact it’s inevitable without a sharpening system. Sharpen first on a rough grit of around 300 until you can feel a burr all the way along the edge, then sharpen the other side and feel for the burr again. Then shift to 1000 grit and repeat. It will be difficult to feel the burr from a 1000 grit stone but if you repeat the action from the coarser stone you’ll be doing the right thing.

As ever, little by little. It's way down on my list of jobs and free time is limited. Plus I always need a bit of headspace to work on it.

Roughed up the various parts, but still need to clean them all. Trying to work out how to finish the bolster as luckily I watch the knife maker USA video again and they pointed out you need to shape it before you glue.

Slightly constrained by the amount of wood I have at the top, but I've started to square off the top, and profile the back as a reference point. I also started to shape the underside to provide some inspiration for the bolster shape. I will properly square off the top once I remove the lines and scales off the knife - for now it's just a case of marking out the parameters so to speak.

Hard to photograph, but this sort of give an impression of where the finished look is heading.

Still to do:

• shape bolster
  
• counter sink bottom left bolts at bit deeper.
  
• clean
  
• glue
  
• shape
  
  

It's definitely taught me the value of starting with square, even pieces as it's been tough working with an awkward shape. A drill press would have made things a million times easier too.

The one disappointment is that I wanted a 1.5mm brass pin at the base of the handle. I've got the brass stock, just need a smaller enough drill bit, but being honest I need the wiggle room there at the moment. A 3rd fastening would prevent that and require a greater degree of accuracy than I can manage with my current tools and the uneven shape of the scales.

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It's arrived...

girlish scream

Got my refund for that Chinese rubbish and immediately bought this... I'll get a Nakiri next time, I'd rather start my Japanese knife journey with a multi purpose blade... Stainless steel, Damascus, hammered wa gyuto... Ticks pretty much all the hipster knife boxes, looking forward to cutting my fingers off with it! I really need to sit down and teach myself to use a stone, mine has been sitting unused in its box for at least 6-7 years...

TBH I'm already thinking about a stone upgrade... 🤦‍♂️

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The Boker is a lovely looking knife

Plus one for the lansky sharpening system. But be aware, lansky changed the clamping system for a bit and it wasn't as good as before so changed back. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/lansky-deluxe-5-stone-how-i-fixed-my-new-style-clamp-to-sharpen-small-knives.1307537/

People buy the aliexpress version and then the lansky stones.

Being lazy, and search failing me a bit.

Looking to buy one of the Aliexpress knock off Lanksy knife sharpening systems, want to use it to sharpen kitchen knives (Nothing fancy just Victorinox) as well as a few penknifes etc. Which is the recommended one to get?

Had a go with the Lansky system yesterday (thanks @Tenderloin )

Easier to use then I would have guessed from watching the video. Stones are quite aggressive; I started with medium stone and got a good burr a lot quicker than when using a water stone.

Tried it on an old favourite knife, which is a cheap Sainsbury's thing. It quickly showed where I wasn't getting quite the right angle when hand sharpening. Got the knife pretty sharp in about 10 mins, and then cleaned it up a bit on a strop.

So all good. Wouldn't be quite as confident to tackle an expensive 240mm knife with it though.