Japanese Knives

[Rob]

I did try a dremel burring tool and after a fashion it worked but I wasn't happy with it to be fair. Perhaps the various master composers will have to get a hearing another time while I put on another new blade.

[Ken S]

Rob,
Just in case you or anyone reading this is not comfortable changing bandsaw blades, there is an excellent Taunton DVD by Mark Duginske called Mastering the Bandsaw.  I had the opportunity to study with Mark twenty years ago.  Ever since that class changing and setting up my bandsaw is a simple routine operation.  I recommend Mark's DVD highly.

Ken

[Ken S]

Rob, Someone named Rob  from England has already asked and found answers for this question on this forum. Grepper and Ionut had answers.  Do a search for "bandsaw".  Here is a partial quote.
Ken


Rob
Hero Member


Posts: 1023
London, England
   

Can you hand sharpen bandsaw blades?
« on: March 12, 2013, 02:36:02 pm »
Quote
I appreciate this isn't strictly Tormek related but the knowledge re all things sharpening in this forum is invaluable

I find when I'm cutting turning blanks its not long before the bandsaw blades go off the boil and at about £15 a pop, id rather sort them at home than keep shelling out the wedge

[grepper]

To me, sharpening a band saw blade looks like a lot of work! 

http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/100_2010_1.jpg

http://www.garymkatz.com/ontheroad/Hull-Oaks%20Lumber/45-100_2011.jpg

[Rob]

To me, sharpening a band saw blade looks like a lot of work! 

http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/100_2010_1.jpg

http://www.garymkatz.com/ontheroad/Hull-Oaks%20Lumber/45-100_2011.jpg

wow...that's a bandsaw blade :-)

[Rob]

Rob, Someone named Rob  from England has already asked and found answers for this question on this forum. Grepper and Ionut had answers.  Do a search for "bandsaw".  Here is a partial quote.
Ken


Rob
Hero Member


Posts: 1023
London, England
   

Can you hand sharpen bandsaw blades?
« on: March 12, 2013, 02:36:02 pm »
Quote
I appreciate this isn't strictly Tormek related but the knowledge re all things sharpening in this forum is invaluable

I find when I'm cutting turning blanks its not long before the bandsaw blades go off the boil and at about £15 a pop, id rather sort them at home than keep shelling out the wedge

You see that proves senility is setting in....cant even remember my own posts!!!

[courierdog]

You would sharpen a Japanese knife basically the same way as a Western knife.

Here's a discussion of the issue: http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=236.0

It always seems I am late to the party.
I built Herman's HK-50 Jig and have been using it ever since with my Japanese Knives.
Both single and double bevel.
using the manufactures recommended bevel set up the Jig for the appropriate grind angle.
I use either the SG-250 or the SB-250 to establish the Knife bevel and polish the blade bevel with the SJ-250
If you polish the blade using the SJ-250 on a frequent basis you will never need to get out the SG or SB stones.
I have one really hard steel blade FUJIWARA MABOROSHI GYUTO 180MM the SG-250 would not touch the steel but the SB-250 established the blade bevel in two passes and the SJ-250 has been polishing the edge ever since.
Using the Tormek with the HK-50 jig replicates the Japanese water stone sharpening technique with the precision of the Tormek.

[grepper]

Impressive knife you have there!  HRC 64-65.  (That same hardness was listed on all of the sites I could find that had that knife.)

Is this it?
http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=89005

That's up there with the hardest kitchen knives I've seen.   No wonder the standard wheel would not touch it.   I've seen the same thing on a couple of knives, only to find out later that they were very hard steel.  If you don't know what's going on it can be very frustrating.  You can sharpen and sharpen and sharpen and nothing happens!  And, it feels distinctly different on the wheel than knives that have junk for steel that won't get sharp. 

Just curious, how does the edge hold up?  Is it prone to chipping?

[Herman Trivilino]

I have one really hard steel blade FUJIWARA MABOROSHI GYUTO 180MM the SG-250 would not touch the steel but the SB-250 established the blade bevel in two passes and the SJ-250 has been polishing the edge ever since.

What's the bevel angle on that knife?

[gwelsby]

You would sharpen a Japanese knife basically the same way as a Western knife.

Here's a discussion of the issue: http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=236.0

It always seems I am late to the party.
I built Herman's HK-50 Jig and have been using it ever since with my Japanese Knives.
Both single and double bevel.
using the manufactures recommended bevel set up the Jig for the appropriate grind angle.
I use either the SG-250 or the SB-250 to establish the Knife bevel and polish the blade bevel with the SJ-250
If you polish the blade using the SJ-250 on a frequent basis you will never need to get out the SG or SB stones.
I have one really hard steel blade FUJIWARA MABOROSHI GYUTO 180MM the SG-250 would not touch the steel but the SB-250 established the blade bevel in two passes and the SJ-250 has been polishing the edge ever since.
Using the Tormek with the HK-50 jig replicates the Japanese water stone sharpening technique with the precision of the Tormek.

Hi, guys. I'm new to the forum and this seemed an appropriate point to jump in.  I have a couple of "Zen and the art of knife sharpening" kits (Edge Pro, Wicked Edge) and came to Tormek via the WE forum.  I was very surprised (not to say dubious) at how easy it seemed to get great results quickly so I bought one.  I have a set of Tojiro Santoku kitchen knives.  These are Damascus steel with a hard (60-62 Rockwell?) core.  The vegetable knife looks like a cleaver so my wife took it to be one and hacked two huge holes out of the edge.  I had a go at fixing it with the WE but it was going to take forever. I put it on the Torkem + at 200 grit and after a few passes had taken about 1/32" off the whole edge.  I then went straight to the leather wheel and shaved paper immediately.  Very impressive.  I notice on that blade and on a slicing knife I did at 1000 grit that I have scallops into the edge, obviously due to my lack of technique.  Should I sharpen away from the blade, at least until I am used to the Torkem?  I seem to be taking liberties with the metal at the moment .
Gerald.

[grepper]

Welcome to the forum, gwelsby.

Practice, of course, makes perfect.  After a while you will find what works best for you on different type s of steel.

Sharpening into the wheel, as you suggest, is more aggressive than with the wheel rotation.  Give them both a try so you get a handle on the difference.

You can also try applying less pressure.  Smooth strokes across the wheel will give you a fine, even edge.

Get some old, junker knives and have some fun!  Sharpen with and away from the wheel. Press hard, press lightly.  Grind away without moving the blade and watch what happens.  Then maybe try to get the edge flat again.  Use the wheel on both coarse and fine grades of abrasiveness.  Play and experiment!

Steel of HRC 60+ can take a while, even using a coarse wheel.

Spending some time with some junk knives gives you the ability to learn and not care.  You'll probably be surprised at how quickly you get good at it, and will have a much higher confidence level the next time you sharpen one of your good knives. 

[Herman Trivilino]

I notice on that blade and on a slicing knife I did at 1000 grit that I have scallops into the edge, obviously due to my lack of technique.

Try again and see if the imperfections remain in the same spots. If so I suspect that they were there all along. All you did was polish them making them easier to see.

[Rob]

Completely unrelated to the thread but with respect to Japanese knives (global in my case), I received a ceramic "steel" as a xmas pressie.  Absolutely superb for tickling back the edge on global knives...truly excellent.

[gwelsby]

Rob,
  you are right about the search function here.  I saw your post earlier and decided to reply now.  Took me ages to find it again.
Yes, ceramic hones are great.  As long as you use them gently and at an angle slightly greater than the sharpened angle you can put a micro bevel back several times before needing to touch up with the Normek.
Gerald.

[Magnus Sundqvist]

Hi,
I'm replying to this old thread on the original topic of sharpening knives with one sided bevels.
Also, I'm new to the forum and I'll blame Stig for bullying me to join and share my experiences in knife sharpening with the machines.

I've done some experimenting and the sad object is a Global G-14.
First with a standard set up with the longer knife holder and as low angle I could without grinding the knife holder it self. That resulted in an almost 4mm wide sharpening edge. Still this method is carving a quite formidable ditch in the way wider sharped edge and is in no way a good solution.
So, next I tried the side of the stone. Al the time keeping the original angle by hand and trying to stay in the damp. This was not that effective either as the stones are not constructed to be very wear ant tear resistant on the sides so the buildup of stone dust in the water was quite big.
Also I tried holding the knife by hand and sharpen the whole edge and point the knife along the same angle as the stone, again not very easy.

Until further development and experimenting is done i recommend traditional sharpening of knives with a single sided bevel.
Really it is the easiest way of keeping this kind of knives in shape. Do it often and do it properly and you will never have a dull knife.

Right now i'm running the T-2 through some heavy testing. I will come back with more on that in a near future.

Best regards
Magnus