# Masamoto maintenance.



## Lee Oldfield (Feb 14, 2022)




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## Benuser (Feb 14, 2022)

I got a barely used 270 Masamoto with pre-pakkawood scales, 20 years old or even more. Is becoming one of my preferred knives. 
Any problems with their maintenance?
It's my understanding that recent ones come rather fat out of the box. No reason not to put some work and love into it, it's well worth.


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## Lee Oldfield (Feb 14, 2022)

Benuser said:


> I got a barely used 270 Masamoto with pre-pakkawood scales, 20 years old or even more. Is becoming one of my preferred knives.
> Any problems with their maintenance?
> It's my understanding that recent ones come rather fat out of the box. No reason not to put some work and love into it, it's well worth.


Thanks I’m a new sharpener and don’t want to lose the kanji by overpolising


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## Benuser (Feb 14, 2022)

Lee Oldfield said:


> Thanks I’m a new sharpener and don’t want to lose the kanji by overpolising


Hard to imagine you to come anything close to the kanji when thinning. With maintenance thinning as part of a full sharpening you won't get further than 3/16" from the edge. The double perhaps by heavy thinning operation, and a bit more if your stone is very muddy. The mud leaves traces even when there is hardly a direct contact between face and stone.
And polishing: I wouldn't know why you would polish the entire surface. I know some yanagiba users do it for getting a smoother fish slicing. Hard to imagine with a Western knife in Western cuisine.
Besides that, you may want to keep the patina that got installed and have it feeling perfectly smooth. The patina protects against rust. No need of polishing with stones or finger stones. A linen towel and some pressure is all you need when drying, and you will see that even dark patina may shine.
Others though may like to polish the entire surface. They may be willing to chime in and explain how they do. I guess only fine grits are involved, so I don't expect an engraved logo to disappear. Others may help.


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## Jovidah (Feb 15, 2022)

Kanji shouldn't be an issue as long as it has some depth to it (so it's actually stamped in, not just printed or screened on).

I've occasionally done full blade polishing on some knives by simply taking one of those cotton pads (normally used for makeup removal), putting some polish stuff on them (I mostly just used kitchen steel polish that came in a sort of liquidy form but i guess just about anything works), and just swiping down the whole blade between thumb and index finger. Works pretty well and fast to eat least get the surfaces cleaned up.


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## Benuser (Feb 17, 2022)

Looking better, I must correct: my Masamoto HC logo hardly has any depth. No engraving or stamping as usual. The small logo on the backside can be slightly felt, the one on the right face absolutely not.


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## Lee Oldfield (Feb 17, 2022)

Benuser said:


> Looking better, I must correct: my Masamoto HC logo hardly has any depth. No engraving or stamping as usual. The small logo on the backside can be slightly felt, the one on the right face absolutely not.


I have the same kanji hardly palpable, I tried a rust eraser but dare not kanji’s as both would vanish. I have two others with deep stamp no problem.


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## Lee Oldfield (Feb 17, 2022)

Lee Oldfield said:


> I have the same kanji hardly palpable, I tried a rust eraser but dare not kanji’s as both would vanish. I have two others with deep stamp no problem.


I don’t want a mirror job I just want to remove the scratches and let it develop a patina that comes naturally and protects the lovely steel.


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