Recent content by EShin

Got some diamond pastes so I polished it a bit more, etched it with hot vinegar, put on a handle and an edge. I see that one could be a lot more perfectionist with the finish but happy with how it turned out and the performance is nothing short of spectacular so I think I’m done for now.

There’s a webpage with most places that offer visits or knife making experiences in Sakai: https://sakai-openfactory.jp/category/shokushu/hamono/ It’s in Japanese, but with google translate or so you should be able to translate it. I’m not sure how much English is spoken, but I think at least...

Depends on what “so good” refers to. Performance? Performance for what task? There’s knives that can do a lot of different tasks really well but specialized knives will always be better for a specific task. And no matter how good the knife is it will need the proper maintenance. Also, you can...

Yep, tested them and they're fine for softer clads etc. but not for this kind of steel. From my understanding, the hard part falls mostly on the maker? Another misconception is that diamond stones only make sense for high-alloy steel. Actually, they can make your life much easier for thinning...

There was a learning curve and there was quite some work for the 300 grit films so I ran through more than 2 sheets. Still nothing compared to sandpaper though and especially, it’s easy to control what you’re doing instead of just trying to make the sand paper work. Once I had finished with 300...

Yeah that’s the honyaki i was talking about. Also used the stone on a couple of other knives and it’s such a pleasure to use, but I’ll write about it elsewhere. I had it thinned by Murray Carter after which it was 182 g or so. The bench stones only came in after that and were necessary because...

It’s been quiet here. Any updates? Really curious to see how all the other blades are progressing. I’ve wasted many many hours using sandpaper and while trying out different lines and brands taught me a lot, even the good ones that work well for regular knives just don’t do much on this...

From what I read here, many western makers make the bevels stone-ready so you have to be much more careful than if you just make a cosmetic finish that covers overgrinds etc. No surprise there. Many seem to charge surprisingly little for all that work though.

This is a nice documentation of why it’s adviced to buy knives from reputable shops in Japan, because they take care of exactly these issues which are very common in knives. There’s many factors at work but it’s not something a maker could avoid completely. Best thing to do is to wait for a year...

The ginga Swedish stainless (aeb-l) series might be a good option, the edge should last a lot longer with brined meat, value is great and you don’t have to adjust anything cause it’s basically the same knife… As for the general question, it’s surprising it hasn’t been mentioned but TFTFTF...

Additionally, there’s the line of black cutting boards that @ReiHamono mentioned above. They’re not just for show if you have customers in front of you, but have a different composition and feel than the yellow pro line. A bit less friction of the rubber and more wood-like. I like them a bit...

Wouldn’t have thought about using a rectangle for cutting bread if it wasn’t ARM but once you try it, there’s no going back.

a rice of the japonica type is a must for onigiri, as the indica types have too high amylose contents and won’t be sticky and become hard when cold. Even among japonica types there’s varieties with low (8-15%) amylose content that were bread especially for eating cold such as onigiri, so they...

This little slicing rectangle was sitting lonely in a corner on BST, crying that it wanted to join the party so I just couldn’t refuse. Super thin and light (205x118, around 1,8 mm at the spine, 395 g) so kind of like a bigger brother of my migoto mini cleaver. Should be a lot of fun to use...

Didn’t know they exist but basically made one of these out of a very rusty nakiri I’ve found around 10 years ago. The only nakiri I’ve ever found useful so it’s part of the ARM lineup. A big rectangle hopefully arriving later this week. Does ARM also apply to stones? Not sure if using a koppa...