# Need help sharpening a Fujiwara...



## stereo.pete (May 26, 2011)

Hey everyone,

I recently posted about a Fujiwara 270mm Suji I purchased from Koki for my Father-in-Law. The knife seems to be a faux single bevel and has me very confused on how to sharpen it. I've looked it over in detail and I am still at a loss as to whether or not there is a bevel on each side. The face of the blade cleary has a secondary (shinogi) bevel and a primary bevel. The back of the blade appears to be flat but without the hollow grind that a true single bevel has. There appears to possibly be a very tiny, as thin as a hair bevel on the flat side but I am not sure. It could very well be a micro-bevel but I do not have a jeweler's loop on hand to tell for sure. 

Do any of you have any experience with this particular suji or can you tell from the pictures exactly how I am supposed to sharpen it? Do I follow the standard practice of double-bevel sharpening or go places I have never been and sharpen it single bevel style? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Pete


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## Seb (May 26, 2011)

Nice knife.

I would follow the factory angles for that microbevel and put a 70/30 or 80/20 on it. I wouldn't mess with the secondary bevel at all - looks like it's there to push the slices away from the blade - you don't want to blend it or round it off or anything like that.


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## stereo.pete (May 26, 2011)

Thanks Seb!


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## Seb (May 26, 2011)

stereo.pete said:


> Thanks Seb!


 
Welcome!

Nice pix, btw.


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## UglyJoe (May 26, 2011)

I'd go 99/1. Sharpen only the outside of the blade and deburr on your finest stone with stropping on the back side of the blade. Done.


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## Seb (May 27, 2011)

Remember, this one is for Pete's father-in-law who may not be a knifenut so a more durable configuration might be preferable (to start with, anyway).


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## Benuser (May 27, 2011)

Seb said:


> Nice knife.
> 
> I would follow the factory angles for that microbevel and put a 70/30 or 80/20 on it. I wouldn't mess with the secondary bevel at all - looks like it's there to push the slices away from the blade - you don't want to blend it or round it off or anything like that.


About following the factory angle:
my suji arrived with an angle of 7 degrees which the steel can't hold. I changed it to 12.


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## Seb (May 27, 2011)

Benuser said:


> About following the factory angle:
> my suji arrived with an angle of 7 degrees which the steel can't hold. I changed it to 12.


 
On a FKM suji? Well I'll be durned! 

However, I would guess (just from eyeballing the pix) that the r/h factory bevel on Pete's is about 20-degrees to start with anyway.


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## Benuser (May 27, 2011)

Seb said:


> On a FKM suji? Well I'll be durned!
> 
> However, I would guess (just from eyeballing the pix) that the r/h factory bevel on Pete's is about 20-degrees to start with anyway.


No, I'm sorry. Mine is a FKH.


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## NO ChoP! (May 27, 2011)

As a lefty, I would be disappointed if I purchased this knife, being sold as suji.... the flat side makes it more yanagi, no?


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## UglyJoe (May 27, 2011)

Not at all. Yanagi has a completely different profile, different thickness, and a concave ura. But it is still definitely a right handed knife.


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## tk59 (May 27, 2011)

It's clearly not a yanagi but a yanagified suji, lol. Regardless, the easy way to do it for the time being is to only sharpen the primary bevel. However, at some point, you will need to work the secondary bevel to keep it performing optimally. I would recommend actually doing that sooner rather than later, as long as you are comfortable with that sort of thing.


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## Dave Martell (May 27, 2011)

tk59 said:


> It's clearly not a yanagi but a yanagified suji, lol. Regardless, the easy way to do it for the time being is to only sharpen the primary bevel. However, at some point, you will need to work the secondary bevel to keep it performing optimally. I would recommend actually doing that sooner rather than later, as long as you are comfortable with that sort of thing.




That's what I say too. Plus I will add that you will likely want a small bevel on the back side, which the knife probably already has but can't be seen because it's been buffed over.


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## stereo.pete (May 27, 2011)

I appreciate all of the support guys, thank you.


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## NO ChoP! (May 27, 2011)

I guess, being a lefty, I have zero interest in yanagis; therefore zero knowledge. I find it hard to swallow paying so much more (but understand) for a lefty. I have actually seen it as high as 100% and 150% lately! 

And, in JCK post, it clearly states its a right handed only knife, so I guess my statement of being unhappy if I received this isn't valid (good job Koki); but I'm still surprised that a company such as Fujiwara, which has high accessibility to the masses, is selling righty-biased sujis.


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## Lefty (May 27, 2011)

I agree. 70/30 is understandable, but 99/1 is a pain!
However, they can do what they want, and if we want lefty friendly-ish knives, we can just get their FKH. It is dint that they don't have a lefty friendly stainless available, though.


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## Cadillac J (May 27, 2011)

Hmmmm, the pics of the Fuji suji on JCK show the 'shinogi' line just like the one you have--but both of my FKH and FKM sujis that I owned did not have this...I figured it was a design they used to do and just an out-dated picture, but guess not. Strange.

Both of my Fujiwara sujihikis came with maybe an 80/20 ratio on them, so less aggressive asymmetry versus yours. But I don't think it will hurt at all if you want to change the stock bevels a bit to get away from a 'single bevel' suji, as your father might not like it or be used to it.


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## Benuser (May 27, 2011)

My recent FKH has no shinogi line but is still very asymmetric with a convex front a and a flat back. Even if you readjust the edge it will remain a geometry for the right handed.


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## Lefty (May 27, 2011)

Why are the doing this? So much for my next possible purchase!
I guess I'll just have to hit up Pierre! Haha


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## Dave Martell (May 27, 2011)

Think 90/10 with this knife.


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