# Polishing a shigefusa



## turbochef422 (Apr 3, 2013)

It's a kasumi gyuto with scratches from sharpening as well as a few maybe from a green scrubbie or something. Not deep at all. I don't really want to mirror polish because of shigs famed finish, do I?


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## orange (Apr 3, 2013)

maybe 600 and 800 sandpapers.


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## stevenStefano (Apr 3, 2013)

Send Maxim a PM, he is the expert I'd say. I believe he uses fingerstones


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## wsfarrell (Apr 3, 2013)

I've polished a few. Fingerstones are good on single bevels, but for gyutos I prefer 220/320 grit sandpaper with a lubricant like WD-40, Ballistol, or water with Dawn. Use a separate piece of 220 on each side, and either finish with the (worn) 220 or with a couple of passes with a new piece of 320. This will almost perfectly match the "factory" finish on a Shigefusa gyuto.


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## marc4pt0 (Apr 3, 2013)

your search for the "clouds" begins. it's a wonderful little journey


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## DeepCSweede (Apr 3, 2013)

Ohira Suita Stone to finish with Uchigomori finger stones for polishing is the method recommended by Maxim to me.


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## stevenStefano (Apr 3, 2013)

Boots said:


> Well, I guess a stone seller would seek to push more stones, no? I use some sand paper and natural aoto slurry


 
I think you're being very unfair. He wrote this guide a while ago which is quite extensive.


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## marc4pt0 (Apr 3, 2013)

I concur. Though I may use micro mesh sandpaper myself, I wish I had the time and understanding to give what fingerstones take


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## turbochef422 (Apr 3, 2013)

Thanks for the input I do want to restore the hazy finish.


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## schanop (Apr 3, 2013)

Nick, you probably will need a sand paper to get rid of the scratches, grit-wise like wsf said. Then a good finger stone treatment will restore a nice Shigefusa's style haziness on the body of a gyuto and/or a table of single bevel knives.


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## DeepCSweede (Apr 3, 2013)

I wish I could find it, but I just don't have time to look right now, but Dr. Naka had also done a really good comparison of different methods of restoring the haze to a Shig. Certain polishing agents actually either removed the haze. I believe BKF was ok. He also tested three different stones as a comparison.


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## schanop (Apr 3, 2013)

You meant these pages?

http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitaeji-maintenance-1.html
http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitaeji-maintenace-2.html
http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitaeji-maintenace-3.html
http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitaeji-maintenance-4.html
http://hides-export.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitaeji-maintenance-5.html


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## turbochef422 (Apr 3, 2013)

Towards the heel.


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## schanop (Apr 3, 2013)

That's nothing compared with bieniek's Shig: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/9888-Trade-used-Shigefusa-270-kasumi-chefs-knife

Some descriptions are in the thread.


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## mainaman (Apr 3, 2013)

Boots said:


> Well, I guess a stone seller would seek to push more stones, no? I use some sand paper and natural aoto slurry


But have you considered the possibility that DeepCSweede may have the stone already? Because frankly not only Ohira Suita can do the job, many other stones can too.


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## James (Apr 3, 2013)

DeepCSweede said:


> I wish I could find it, but I just don't have time to look right now, but Dr. Naka had also done a really good comparison of different methods of restoring the haze to a Shig. Certain polishing agents actually either removed the haze. I believe BKF was ok. He also tested three different stones as a comparison.



speaking of, whatever happened to drnaka? he used to come by and post pretty frequently, but I haven't seen him on in quite some time


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## Seth (Apr 3, 2013)

It is also important to use the sandpaper backed by something soft; I use felt, and work in only one direction. I lay the knife on the counter on a towel with the handle overhanging and put gently pressure with my chest (sitting down) so I can use two hands working from the heel to the tip. It sounds labor intensive but it goes quickly. No circles or back and forth, just heel to tip. I find that on single bevels, a soft muddy finger stone works best. I have used chips from the natural that Jon sells, or sold. The finger stones I got from Maxim are mostly hard and they have to be prepared very carefully to avoid scratches.


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## brainsausage (Apr 3, 2013)

I don't think you're really being fair with this statement. Regardless- the finish is up to you Turbo. Do you want those clouds? Or a mirror? Seems rather aesthetic to me.


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## WiscoNole (Apr 5, 2013)

the patina doesn't cover up the scratches? that's one of the reasons I love carbon knives so much.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 5, 2013)

i use stones first (king 800 followed by finger stones), then wet/dry backed with felt. the results look pretty close to what i remember the original finish being like. work heel to tip only, with the sandpaper, and be careful to not catch the actual tip.


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## jimbob (Apr 5, 2013)

just a quick one, do the strokes need to be length of blade, or as long as they are in the same direction?


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## EdipisReks (Apr 5, 2013)

jimbob said:


> just a quick one, do the strokes need to be length of blade, or as long as they are in the same direction?



you really want them to be the full length of the blade, otherwise it looks inconsistent.


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## Jmadams13 (Apr 5, 2013)

Not a shig, but was polishing some ODC, it found if I interrupted the stroke heel to tip, it looked like crap, even with some high micro mesh. The inconsistancys drove my AR personality crazy. Also, make sure you stay away from the edge. Use a marker to play safe.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 5, 2013)

Boots said:


> I've stopped the strokes part of the way through to no great ill-effect, so I 'd say it's just how you pull off of the blade when doing so. But anyway, the cladding is forgiving and you can easily correct any errors. As for watching out for the edge, I'd just fix the kasumi first, and then finish the edge with whatever finishing stone you use, so long as you don't do other damage from polishing along the way.
> 
> Basically it's all pretty simple. I looked at DrNaka's stuff and he refers to Iizuka's 'secret' as to how exactly he does it, which sounds nice and mysterious and adds some mystique to the brand (Dr Naka used to sell them too). However, it's not rocket science.



you want to stay well away from the edge with sandpaper because you can quickly ruin the geometry of the knife, especially if you have applied a very thin edge.


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## bieniek (Apr 5, 2013)

Boots said:


> Well, I guess a stone seller would seek to push more stones, no? I use some sand paper and natural aoto slurry



Well you could say that but these fingerstones are quite difficult to use and just posting them out costs more then the pieces itself. 

I agree that theres no mystery about the whole polishing aspect, what amazes me about Iizuka though, is that they propably did 100 thousand blades and still have the love to polish every single one they make!

Whats most important? Imho time. 
Turbo you might be a turbo chef :tease: but for this job, get all of the sandpapers - from 200 to 800, get a piece of muslin cloth or felt, get some polishing compound [be it fingerstones but might be some mud from king 1k stone],cloths ,water and will, set up section, all in place beforehand. In other words prep your mise en place in advance. Then call it the day.

Next time youre up to the task allow 7 hours to do it, start to finish. Then evaluate blade maybe you should thin some before you put new sparkling finish on? Theres nothing worse than being dissapointed with the first cut when you just polished youre arse off.

Do that then, the technique was explained better than I could by others. 
I am not saying this job should take 7 hours you might be done after 2 but if you are under time pressure [worst pressure of them all] then you will cut corners and surely fuk it up. If one swipe takes 20 seconds then thats the way it is. 

I really believe in what I written and it might sound silly but I like to prepare the assault-plan in my head before I start. Then its just to follow the plan, and have enough time to execute it!


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## turbochef422 (Apr 5, 2013)

I like what you written and thanks for the info everyone


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## turbochef422 (Apr 5, 2013)

Do I have to do the whole blade so it has an even finish or just the bottom 1/3rd or so.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 5, 2013)

turbochef422 said:


> Do I have to do the whole blade so it has an even finish or just the bottom 1/3rd or so.



with sandpaper, doing the whole blade isn't really any more effort than doing the bottom, and you'll get more consistent results doing the whole thing.


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## bieniek (Apr 5, 2013)

Boots said:


> But even 2? 1?



With a good proper thinning? You have fever?


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## EdipisReks (Apr 5, 2013)

it takes me about half an hour to polish my knives up to the standard i'm okay with. most people who have seen them think they look fine.


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## stevenStefano (Apr 5, 2013)

I tried polishing by hand heel to tip before and wasn't very happy with the results, but then I was informed of the stropping on sandpaper method by a helpful fellow forum member and I found the results to be infinitely better. That was with a blade that had vertical grind marks though


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## EdipisReks (Apr 5, 2013)

stevenStefano said:


> I tried polishing by hand heel to tip before and wasn't very happy with the results, but then I was informed of the stropping on sandpaper method by a helpful fellow forum member and I found the results to be infinitely better. That was with a blade that had vertical grind marks though



heel to tip is only for knives with marks running horizontally.


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## brainsausage (Apr 5, 2013)

bieniek said:


> Well you could say that but these fingerstones are quite difficult to use and just posting them out costs more then the pieces itself.
> 
> I agree that theres no mystery about the whole polishing aspect, what amazes me about Iizuka though, is that they propably did 100 thousand blades and still have the love to polish every single one they make!
> 
> ...



Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. The Brits were on to something with that one methinks...


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