Left Handed Knife?

[Scott an Edge]

G'day All,
I have just returned from a family holiday to Japan where amongst heaps of amazing experiences I went to Tower Knives in Osaka and purchased two "left handed" knives (Petty 150mm & Gyuto 210mm, both Damascus patten).
To find the knives I liked I tried right-handed, both-handed & left-handed knives. Being left-handed the L knives provided the best feel and precision for my left handed attack on the innocent tomatoes and carrots. I had to ask, and the only difference in all the knives was how the final bevel/edge was shaped.
The both-handed knife had as you would suspect a perfectly symmetrical edge.
The L/R handed knives had to an asymmetric bevel with the long and short bevels reversed between the knives. See crude illustration below.
Has anybody seen this before and does anybody sharpen their knives like this?
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Cheers Scott

[Ken S]

Interesting topic, Scott.

Single bevel (left or right handed) knives are more common than people realize. I have used them as marking knives in woodworking; mat cutting knives in mat cutting; and I converted one of my kitchen knives to be left handed. The Lion Trimmer, used in trim carpentry and picture framing, is single beveled (sharpened on the Tormek with the planer jig). As I recall, knives for making reeds for oboes and bassoons are single beveled.

My wife and I often have a simple supper of apples and cheese. She likes very thin slices of apple. That is why I reground one of my chef's knives to single bevel. Like you, I am left handed. Based on my not terribly scientific small sample (one) testing, I like the left handed knife.

I do the knife work for our cooking at home. I believe it is important for a sharpener to be a user. It añso provides an opportunity to experiment with things like different bevel angles, honing methods and grinds. I encourage you to explore these, both with your Tormek and with your cutting board and cooking.

Ken

ps I am a chisel sharpener at heart (another single bevel tool). I trust some of the knife people with more background in Japanese knives will reply.

[cbwx34]

G'day All,
I have just returned from a family holiday to Japan where amongst heaps of amazing experiences I went to Tower Knives in Osaka and purchased two "left handed" knives (Petty 150mm & Gyuto 210mm, both Damascus patten).
To find the knives I liked I tried right-handed, both-handed & left-handed knives. Being left-handed the L knives provided the best feel and precision for my left handed attack on the innocent tomatoes and carrots. I had to ask, and the only difference in all the knives was how the final bevel/edge was shaped.
The both-handed knife had as you would suspect a perfectly symmetrical edge.
The L/R handed knives had to an asymmetric bevel with the long and short bevels reversed between the knives. See crude illustration below.
Has anybody seen this before and does anybody sharpen their knives like this?
|  |   Or  |   |
| /          \  |
\/            \/

Cheers Scott

I believe the knives you're referring to aren't chisel or single bevel grinds... they're asymmetric grinds.  There are two "schools of thought" on these... one... that they're ground at the same angle on each side, but ground more on one side than the other, or two... that they're ground at different angles on each side.  (I personally believe it may be either one... depending on the maker).

One of the better posts I've seen written on the subject is here... Asymmetry--- The Real Deal.  The short version... lay a straight edge from spine to edge and observe the profile on each side of the knife... this should tell you how it is ground.

As for sharpening, the best way is to probably use a flat waterstone.  You can start with one at a fine grit (6K-8K) range, and use it to maintain the current edge, and get an idea of how it is sharpened.  I actually dabbled in sharpening them on the Tormek a long time ago... (one of the reasons I got the King waterstones)... but in all honesty, while I could get a knife sharp (has to be done freehand)... a regular waterstone is better and easier to use IMO.  You can use the leather wheel to maintain the edge of one for a while, without affecting the blade profile.

Post some pics if you can of the knives.

p.s  Here's a picture that might help with some of the knife grind types...

[Scott an Edge]

Thanks for the replies Ken & CB, very informative.

Ken: the use of a L/R handed single bevel knives makes sense, but I was surprised by the double bevel L/R knives. The use of a single bevel is very common in traditional Japanese knives - the octopus knife was very impressive.
I agree that shaping/sharpening, cutting and eating are key to understanding what you were doing in the first step. There should always be a level of feedback to facilitate improvement.
My wife is a chef and I have lost count of how many times I have marveled at her knife skills. However, we share the home cooking duties enough for me to justify the left handed knives 😉

CB: Thanks for the picture, the Assymetrical V was exactly what I was trying to describe. From what I could understand the knives were ground with the two different bevel angles so the cutting edge stayed true to the centreline of the blade. I'm sure there were more details, but the sharpening guy didn't speak English and much of what he said was lost in translation. 
The first knife I bought was from tiny knife shop in a remote back alley of Kyoto. The owner sharpened to order with a brief machine wet grind followed by waterstones (800 & 8000 grit). I have a video of him doing this - the speed and precision that he did this was amazing. I agree that the only way to  respectfully sharpen these knives is with a waterstone.
I've used the Kyoto blade with much delight, but I'm yet to use the Osaka Damascus knives

[Scott an Edge]

Tried to upload a photo of the knives from my iPad, but the file is too large. How do I resize the image on an iPad?
Thanks
Regards Scott

[cbwx34]

Tried to upload a photo of the knives from my iPad, but the file is too large. How do I resize the image on an iPad?
Thanks
Regards Scott

You can crop it, that might help... but the easiest way I've found is to email it to myself... it usually arrives smaller.

As Apple would say... There's an app for that... and there is one called "Image Size" that works pretty well.  (I'm sure there's others.)

Of course now, I want to see the video... 

[Scott an Edge]

Thanks CB.
150mm Petty
210mm Gyuto

Cheers
Scott

[Ken S]

One of my many areas of knowledge deficiency is the design, manufacturing and use of Japanese knives. A well educated sharpener should not be limited to knowledge of his own culture.

Ken

[cbwx34]

Thanks CB.
150mm Petty
210mm Gyuto

Cheers
Scott

Wow... very nice!  Thank you!  👍 👍