# Help with making a Kasumi finish



## BJE1 (Mar 11, 2018)

Hi looking for the best way to create a nice kasumi finish on my single bevel knives. I have looked at Jnats and got crazy lost. Hoping that someone here could help. Open to different suggestions. Would like to spend no more than say $200 on what ever the answer may be.

Thanks,
Byron


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## LifeByA1000Cuts (Mar 11, 2018)

Start with a 1K king. Unlike many 1K stones, it does a good job of building a basic contrast all by itself. However, you better have some even coarser and faster stones handy - uneven blade roads can turn such an attempt into a sequence of thought bubbles full of skulls, spirals, thunderclouds, exclamation marks, pistols and swastikas.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Mar 11, 2018)

LifeByA1000Cuts said:


> Start with a 1K king.



Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't it the King 800 that is good for kasumi? At least in my experience it is.


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## StonedEdge (Mar 11, 2018)

King800 deluxe


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## inzite (Mar 11, 2018)

kassummii and contrast are not the same thing.... but they can or may not be together.


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## ThEoRy (Mar 11, 2018)

Yeah 800. 1000 sucks for faux Kasumi AND sharpening.


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## Grunt173 (Mar 12, 2018)

I am more then happy with my King 800 Deluxe. My King 1000 Deluxe just didn't do it for me.


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## Barclid (Mar 15, 2018)

I prefer cerax 1k for fauxsumi finish tbh. More enjoyable than the king to use and leaves a nice contrast.

In response to OP, your cheapest method for a good Kasumi with naturals is without a doubt finger stones if you just care about the surface finish. Sharpening through your normal progression up to about 6k and then switching to finger stones should yield pretty good results.

That is of course a grossly simplified explanation. Different finger stones are going to polish differently and it depends on the base you've built through your sharpening before you use them. Experimentation is half the fun in my opinion, though.


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## bosco (Mar 22, 2018)

I just picked up a Jinzo Aoto from JKI. Johnathan told me this stone is excellent for kasumi finish


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## bosco (Mar 22, 2018)

Here is the link for it as I forgot in post above 

https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...shi-medium-stones/products/gesshin-jinzo-aoto


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## lesslemming (Mar 23, 2018)

Achieving a kasumi finish on any knive is tedious and always requires a lot of work on the initial stage.
It is crucial to lay a correct foundation by flattening the bevel which is not an easy task. Many knives come with a bit of a hollow grind due to the manufacturing process. If you dont spend enough time here, youll get uneven results. 

I typically start with an Atoma 400 for that but there are other options. A king 800 might do the trick, but it takes time and you need to re flatten it during the process. 
Once you have that out of the way and the bevel is flat, the first step is to bring out the contrast.
A king 800 is good for that, generally muddy stones are preferred as they tend to bring contrast. 
Sigma select stones have done that for me in the past. The 3k is a mud monster and gives great contrast, but its really coarse for its grit. 

Thats where I switch to Japanese naturals. A soft and muddy uchigomori is the way to gay here. Depending Ton the stone and the finish you like, that might already be it. You can finish with a finger stone and be done

Be advised, though. This is not something you get right immediately. I still havent gotten to the point that Im satisfied


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