# Wedging Takeda



## miketayl0r (Nov 14, 2012)

I've been using my Takeda 240mm Wa-Gyuto as my primary workhorse in a professional kitchen for about six months now. I am still a novice sharpener but feel I can still put a decent edge on a blade. Out of the box I noticed wedging in simple tasks like cutting an onion and lately it has been getting worse. I understand thinning is necessary but at least figured OOTB it would perform like the "great cutters" they've been said to be. Also, the kurouchi finish is beginning to disappear at a quick pace. I'm guessing from the amount of use it's getting. Is this normal in this knife? And if so do you recommend forcing patina in areas where the kurouchi has ran thin. Any advice and direction would be greatly appreciated.
-Mike


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## franzb69 (Nov 14, 2012)

looks like you need to thin it up a bit if it's starting to wedge.


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 14, 2012)

Takeda wedging out of the box sounds abnormal. I will tell you that the Takeda can take a pretty extreme edge. What angle do you presume you're currently sharpening at?


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## EdipisReks (Nov 14, 2012)

can you give us a choil shot? i have two Takeda 240 gyutos, and neither has much of a wedging problem.


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## miketayl0r (Nov 14, 2012)

I know aogami can take a pretty acute angle so I've been trying to sharpen in the 10 to 12 degree range.


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## Dave Martell (Nov 14, 2012)

Most Takedas are very thin knives but once in awhile I see a gyuto from them where the shoulder (transition from bevel to blade face) is left too thick. They should have hammered the blade thinner before grinding the edge bevel in. I can clearly see that this is the case with your knife.

On the kurouchi wearing off, there's not much of anything that can be done. The cladding they use is iron and it will not patina like steel. This could be happening to your knife because of the amount of pro use it's getting but I've seen some high use Takedas without this issue.

IMO you scored a lemon.


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## EdipisReks (Nov 14, 2012)

this is what one of my Takedas looks like:



 click picture to embiggen

The thick shoulders on yours can be ground down to look more like this.


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## miketayl0r (Nov 14, 2012)

Are there any recommended tutorial videos for grinding or is this something I should leave to a professional?

Is it also possible I just received a less than par knife?


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## EdipisReks (Nov 14, 2012)

check youtube for thinning videos. like Dave said, you got a lemon.


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## Marko Tsourkan (Nov 14, 2012)

To improve performance on your Takeda, you got to thin it at the "shoulders" and blend the transition into the rest of the blade, as that is where it wedges. 

Even a thinly ground knife with bevels like on your Takeda will wedge.


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## franzb69 (Nov 14, 2012)

i've thinned shoulders of my knives with some decent success. it's not so hard. you just gotta do it sometimes, specially for me where noone in my country can do it for me. had to do it myself.


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## G-rat (Nov 14, 2012)

Marko Tsourkan said:


> To improve performance on your Takeda, you got to thin it at the "shoulders" and blend the transition into the rest of the blade, as that is where it wedges.
> 
> Even a thinly ground knife with bevels like on your Takeda will wedge.




By "shoulders" do you mean just above the bevel or just below the spine or at the top of the "shinogi line"?


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## GlassEye (Nov 15, 2012)

G-rat said:


> By "shoulders" do you mean just above the bevel or just below the spine or at the top of the "shinogi line"?



Where the face of the knife meets the bevel, the shinogi line. Drop the angle lower and raise the shinogi line, make a less pronounced shoulder, the bevel would get wider.


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## DwarvenChef (Nov 15, 2012)

Wow that is a pretty sharp transition from bevel to the flats (beer negates proper terms). Softening of that angle will help, Dave's services or taking this on yourself will greatly improve that blade. 

That said having a robust edge is not always a bad thing, just depends on what you want the knife to do...


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## G-rat (Nov 15, 2012)

GlassEye said:


> Where the face of the knife meets the bevel, the shinogi line. Drop the angle lower and raise the shinogi line, make a less pronounced shoulder, the bevel would get wider.



thanks for the clarification.


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## miketayl0r (Nov 15, 2012)

Thanks for the advice! I actually took matters into my own hands and had success raising the shinogi line and blending the face of the knife into the bevel. WOW! what a difference!


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## tk59 (Nov 15, 2012)

Congratulations! It's a great feeling, isn't it. :thumbsup:


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## Zwiefel (Nov 15, 2012)

miketayl0r said:


> Thanks for the advice! I actually took matters into my own hands and had success raising the shinogi line and blending the face of the knife into the bevel. WOW! what a difference!



Congratulations! My skills are very meager, but every time I am successful with something like this it's a really nice feeling of accomplishment.


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## Dave Martell (Nov 15, 2012)

Cool Mike, I'm glad to hear that it's working out for you. I'd keep working on it over time and you'll still see even more improvement.


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## makanouchi (Nov 16, 2012)

Any chance of before and after pictures?


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## Sdkkds (Sep 21, 2013)

I would love some after pictures and how you went about doing it. I have a takeda gyuto with the same issues. I can get it hair popping sharp, but if I try to cut a small potato it will wedge something awfull. Now this i my first proper J-knife along with a Masakage yuki gyuto and my first foray into stone sharpening, so the whole concept of having to thin the shoulders is a little overwhelming and any help would be great.


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