# Inspired



## Andrey V (Feb 15, 2014)

Andrey V said:


> Wow!! That looks cool!
> I use many great knives ( like Shigefusa, Teruyasu Fujiwara, Hattori etc) - but i still love and use my Hiromotos AS - i have a Santoku, a Gyuto 240 mm and a Huge limited edition Gyuto 270 mm made of Shirogami 2 - your work looks just amazing! Great treatment, simply outstanding! Hirimoto uses the soft steel for cladding, so it gets scratched easily - but the job you have done and the new finish... This is an ADDED VALUE!!! And handles.. WOW!! Great! i wish i had it...


You have inspired me so much- i can not make a SPA treatment as you've done- so i started to change my Hiromoto using Ohira Uchigumori Hazuya ( a softer one), then Juzuya ( a harder one), then i added the Takashima slurry - it looks already better, i've got a nice kasumi finish instead of regular mirror polish - it took some time ( 2 days, 2 and 1,5 hours in total) - i have to work around the bolster- but i like the change already! Thank you Dave for having inspired me!!


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## Dave Martell (Feb 15, 2014)

Very nice look!


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## Andrey V (Feb 16, 2014)

Thank you, Dave! I still keep on " ennobling" the finish, using Uchigumori and a certain quantity of fine slurry taken from Takashima and white Ohira Suita. The result is getting better and better, the surface is already so silky and so " slippery" , that fingerstones slide off . The contrast between Jigane and Hagane becomes much more deep and nice..
This is a kind of meditation. When i'll finish one side, i'll start with the other. All this time i work only on this one side to see the progress respecting the other side. I enjoy it a lot  !


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## Asteger (Feb 16, 2014)

Nicely done!


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## foodaholic (Feb 16, 2014)

Very nice


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## Andrey V (Feb 16, 2014)

Thank you guys ! Will show the difference after a week . Is already better


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## Zerob (Feb 16, 2014)

Nice! Can you share some pictures of stone progressions? I'd love to see how each stone finishes like.


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## Andrey V (Feb 16, 2014)

Zerob said:


> Nice! Can you share some pictures of stone progressions? I'd love to see how each stone finishes like.



Sure, Zerob! But: i fly now to Spain for a week ( a friend of mine is waiting for me, that will be the gourmet week, i will cook all the week through for my friends and show how to sharpen etc, i will try to turn my friend into a Jnat fan 
I will come back and try to proceed with the opposite side of the knife : i can not show the progression on this one , already finished side, it us almost done . I'll try to divide the blade into the sectors with different treatment zones- where i'll try to show different combinations. It's not a quick job, i tell you, the nice finish requires a lot of time... As to me, it can be done only for yourself, not as a business. It take really time, but it's such a relaxing and peaceful work! And doing this you dpfeel great, you see how it changes.. So i'll do jy best to answer with some images asap.


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## Andrey V (Feb 26, 2014)

Andrey V said:


> Sure, Zerob! But: i fly now to Spain for a week ( a friend of mine is waiting for me, that will be the gourmet week, i will cook all the week through for my friends and show how to sharpen etc, i will try to turn my friend into a Jnat fan
> I will come back and try to proceed with the opposite side of the knife : i can not show the progression on this one , already finished side, it us almost done . I'll try to divide the blade into the sectors with different treatment zones- where i'll try to show different combinations. It's not a quick job, i tell you, the nice finish requires a lot of time... As to me, it can be done only for yourself, not as a business. It take really time, but it's such a relaxing and peaceful work! And doing this you dpfeel great, you see how it changes.. So i'll do jy best to answer with some images asap.


So- i'm back again and i have worked on the knife for 2 more days:the results
before- in-benween ( ca 2 days 1,5 to 2 hours each)- last situation ( again 2 next days x1,5/2 hours each)
Before -




in-between -




the last result -



,




the final finish was done using the Ohira Uchigumori Fingerstones in conbination with the fine Takashima / Nakayama slurry - i have noticed, then Uchigumori alone could not provide such a silken finish as in this combination. The result is maybe hard to see, but the surface has become so silken, that the food sticks better on the original mirror-polished side.


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## Andrey V (Feb 26, 2014)

Maybe better like this :





as you see- the finish is very even, has become darker, the contrast between Jugane/Hagane is very distinct, and the feeling when touching is so soft as a peach..
i like it, but i have noticed, that the next poloshing gives almost nothing- this is a ready job.
The core in this knife is as Aogami Super- i love this steel- it is quite reactive, as one can see on the first photo- it becomes easily dark. After hours of hand polishing it keeps the Hagane mirror finish, which i like.:idea2:

As i have noticed - it works great on Hiromotos, because they use a very soft SS clad, it gets scratched quick, if you look on the first "original" image. I have tried the same technik on some other knives- the result is different. Not better or worse- just different- on Shigefusa it gives a nice Kasumi finish, on Kato - i had to repolish if after etc etc- so it means one has always to try..
But this is the nice part of the job - especially if you do it as a hobby for your self - you discover something all the time..


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## Andrey V (Feb 26, 2014)

some more remarks : sorry guys  - the matt surface is not that matt as it appears to be : - if you just look on the central picture above ( one of last) you will see that under certain angle the surface starts to reflect the objects very good - i had no time to take my good camera for it- sorry for Iphone photos taken quick.
So it looks like a real Kasumi finish  - nice, i'm satisfied!


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