Hi Folks,

 

I had a question regarding sharpening of some 'Japanese knives' and I thought I'd ask the local experts... These were purchased from the knife shop at the Tokyo fish market and she doesn't feel up to doing it herself. They live locally (Mornington Peninsula), but I thought I'd ask how to find a good person to handle such knives. She has someone coming to sharpen her other knives, and they will let her know if they think they can do her Japanese steel.

 

What was it they called these people in the Yoshikawa book - 'soul polishers'?

 

Chef's Armoury in Church Street, Richmond sell a lot of Japanese knives.

They also offer a sharpening service.

https://www.chefsarmoury.com/pages/knife-sharpening-service

I haven't used their services but heard that they were the place to buy knives from a chef on the radio.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Herby

 

And here I am buying wet stones on Amazon then watching jokers on YouTube.

 

Sorry not much to contribe. 

 

Goodluck

31 minutes ago, wasabijim said:

And here I am buying wet stones on Amazon then watching jokers on YouTube.

 

Sorry not much to contribe. 

 

Goodluck

LOL - that's about my speed also. Which is why I asked.

 

P.S. I also ask for directions!

As to who should do the sharpening, it depends on the level of hardness of the blades she purchased. Everyday use knives she can sharpen by buying 2 different grit water stones and reading the process. The next grade up is possible but a lot more work involved and with the hardest grade steel, the knife maker generally recommends returning to them for sharpening.

The Chefs Armoury would be quite competent to do the first 2 levels and maybe the 3rd providing they have the right equipment and it’s possible they have. I do my own sharpening so never used there services.

1 minute ago, klm said:

As to who should do the sharpening, it depends on the level of hardness of the blades she purchased. Everyday use knives she can sharpen by buying 2 different grit water stones and reading the process. The next grade up is possible but a lot more work involved and with the hardest grade steel, the knife maker generally recommends returning to them for sharpening.

The Chefs Armoury would be quite competent to do the first 2 levels and maybe the 3rd providing they have the right equipment and it’s possible they have. I do my own sharpening so never used there services.

https://www.chefsarmoury.com/pages/knife-sharpening-service#sharpening-service - they sound like they know what they're doing. I don't have anything in that league - I can keep an edge on the Globals and take them down to the local if I think they need it.

Chefs Armoury are excellent. I send my Japanese knives from Perth for them to sharpen. Highly recommended.

Regards,

Rob

6 minutes ago, Cloth Ears said:

https://www.chefsarmoury.com/pages/knife-sharpening-service#sharpening-service - they sound like they know what they're doing. I don't have anything in that league - I can keep an edge on the Globals and take them down to the local if I think they need it.

Reading the link, I’m sure they would be able to look after the knives. If she kept the boxes the knives came in it would have the manufacturers name on the paper work and if it matches to their list then no problem.

quite often, the levels of steel hardness is clearly reflected in the pricing structure so generally if she paid between $80-$160 it the softest everyday steel, $180-$300 the general chef level hardness and $700 and above is the hardcore level but generally not cash and carry, order and wait 4-6 months. That’s buying local in Japan, not here.

If the knife sharpener does not know already that he can sharpen them don't let him near them.  "I'll take a look at them" means he can't sharpen them but he might have a go at em...  Noooo!   I've bought knives and stones and accessories from Chefs armoury but haven't tried their sharpening service but would expect them to know exactly what they are doing. call them first as they won't sharpen non jap ( Chinese knock offs which surprisingly are sold in japan as well as every where else) or rubbish knives. There should be a makers mark on blade which they will know. 

1 hour ago, Mrkropotkin said:

If the knife sharpener does not know already that he can sharpen them don't let him near them.  "I'll take a look at them" means he can't sharpen them but he might have a go at em...  Noooo!   I've bought knives and stones and accessories from Chefs armoury but haven't tried their sharpening service but would expect them to know exactly what they are doing. call them first as they won't sharpen non jap ( Chinese knock offs which surprisingly are sold in japan as well as every where else) or rubbish knives. There should be a makers mark on blade which they will know. 

I may not have made the intent clear. He was also going to sharpen some other knives - and was going to see if he was able to sharpen the others. I read this in the best way, not the worst way.

1 minute ago, Cloth Ears said:

I may not have made the intent clear. He was also going to sharpen some other knives - and was going to see if he was able to sharpen the others. I read this in the best way, not the worst way.

Fair enough. hope it all works out. 

On 01/04/2022 at 10:21 AM, Mrkropotkin said:

If the knife sharpener does not know already that he can sharpen them don't let him near them.  "I'll take a look at them" means he can't sharpen them but he might have a go at em...  Noooo! 

I'm going to agree whole-heartedly with this. Sharpening high quality Japanese knives is a real skill and can't be done on the usual equipment that a mobile sharpener carries.😧 They are quite different from German/European cookware.

 

Careful manual sharpening on either Japanese water-stones or high quality diamond hones only, please. It's a multi-step process and can be time consuming if the knives are really good and quite dull. If really dull then a complete edge restructure is needed. That's 4 or 5 different grades of abrasive and at least two different angles.

 

If she can't find somebody local who has this experience and KNOWS they can sharpen them then keep them locked away.

 

If all that fails put her in touch with me—I can sharpen them but whether I will depends on what level of dull they are and how many there are. Sharpening is a hobby now and I've been doing it for over 50 years and routinely sharpen my own collection, some of which are in the $2-3K price range.

Edited April 2, 20223 yr by GregWormald
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