# finally got bragging rights.



## sachem allison (Mar 7, 2013)

I have never considered myself a great sharpener, I do well and I have a pretty consistently sharp edge on my knives. I have never tried to push cut paper or anything like that, I don't do the the three finger test or use a strop, hard felt or any of those oxides or diamond sprays. I pretty much use a king 1000 and my jadeite stone , I used to use a king 1000/6000 combo until my guys managed to destroy the 6000 side. I always wonder when you guys sharpen and talk about using 10k or 30k stones if the edge is that much better then mine. 
Well, I don't have to worry if my edges are sharp enough anymore. The other day I was at the Restaurant show with Jon, Sara, Theory and his chef friend Kevin. I was showing Jon my Forgecrafts 10" and nakiri I had Mike Henry convert for me. I had been using them all this month. I sharpened them up a couple of days before the show because, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the guys.. While we were talking a little elderly Japanese fellow was talking to Sara and asking her questions, she in turn asked me if I would like this gentleman to sharpen my knives, at first I wasn't sure because, I didn't quite understand what he was asking me and Jon says he wants to know if he can sharpen your knife. I said, what do you think? Jon says, uh, well he is a certified master craftsman sharpener. I say's to myself ,oh crap and well hell yeah! Turns out the very soft spoken little Japanese guy was Master Shigehiro Kasahara.

Shigehiro Kasahara is a professional kitchen knife craftsman, who is certified as a Master of Japanese Traditional Crafts (dentoukougeishi) for blade grinding and sharpening by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. He has participated in competitions and has won several awards including All Japan Knife Show in 1993, Sakai Blades International Design Competition in 1996, Kinki/Chugoku/Shikoku Traditional Craft Fair in 2006.

Master Kasahara really was intrigued by the forgecraft wanted to know if it was Japanese. I told him no it was a 60 year old American carbon knife. I think he was very surprised. He looked at the edge, tested it and then placed it on top of his head and dragged it gently against his hair and says to me I don't think I can do any better than what you have done here. You have done a great job sharpening it and it has a perfect micro bevel. I cant sharpen it any better. He went ahead and tried and when he handed it to me I couldn't tell the difference, our edges were the same. I held it up to my ear and listened to the edge and it sings the way mine does. You see I sharpen by sound and I know when my edges are right when I hold them to my ear and the whole length makes the same sound. I handed him the nakiri because, I never felt like I could bring it to its full potential and I got the same response from Master Kasahara. He was impressed and a little surprised. He asked me what stone I used and I told him a king 1000 and my Jadeite. He sharpened my knives with a king 1000 and a 4000 yellow stone. I don't know who the maker is.
What I do know is I now have some bragging rights because a master Craftsman told me my edges were as good as his.:razz:


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## Zwiefel (Mar 7, 2013)

Good on ya Son!


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## jazzybadger (Mar 7, 2013)

That's awesome mang, warms the cockles of my heart it does.


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## chinacats (Mar 7, 2013)

Yeah, that's freaking cool! :doublethumbsup:


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## franzb69 (Mar 7, 2013)

props to you!


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## don (Mar 7, 2013)

That's awesome, Son.


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## Lefty (Mar 7, 2013)

Nice! Take that, yellow stone!


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## DevinT (Mar 7, 2013)

Good job guys.

I'm glad to hear that the Japanese master thought that the knife looked Japanese, I thought the same thing.

Hoss


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## Mrmnms (Mar 7, 2013)

Gotta be a good feeling Sachem. Even when you're confident, it's great to have someone validate what you're doing.


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## DeepCSweede (Mar 7, 2013)

That has to be some great validation to your skills and you even have JB as a witness. Also, speaks very highly of forgecraft quality.


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## Dave Martell (Mar 7, 2013)

:doublethumbsup:


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## GlassEye (Mar 7, 2013)

Congrats on the bragging rights.


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## Miles (Mar 7, 2013)

THAT is VERY cool! :doublethumbsup:


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## wellminded1 (Mar 7, 2013)

Can you explain the sound trick a little more in depth, I am interested in what you listen for and how this works.
KP


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## sachem allison (Mar 7, 2013)

wellminded1 said:


> Can you explain the sound trick a little more in depth, I am interested in what you listen for and how this works.
> KP



That is very hard to explain, The edge sings to me. I hold it up near my ear, place the finger next to my pinky up against the part of the ear in front of the hole, not the outer part of the ear if that makes sense, then I run my thumb across the whole entire edge an listen for consistency in tone. If everything sounds right, I go the opposite direction using my index finger if the tone is the same, I shouldn't have any burrs or wire edges. Everyone of my knives has a different tone, like a fingerprint. It isn't fool proof but, it works for me. Master Kasahara does something similar but, he drags it across his hair, if it catches there is a burr if not there isn't.


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## sachem allison (Mar 7, 2013)

now I gotta get as good as Dave Martell and I can be king of the worls.lol


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## DeepCSweede (Mar 7, 2013)

sachem allison said:


> now I gotta get as good as Dave Martell and I can be king of the worls.lol



You know Son, he does have classes so if you really want to up your game you could always go that route. :tease:


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## mano (Mar 7, 2013)

Son, this is a sign you're no longer Angelita Negroe and the karma scale is back where it should be.


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## Benuser (Mar 7, 2013)

Great story Son, well told - as always. Thanks for sharing! And for explaining the singing edge myth.


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## sachem allison (Mar 7, 2013)

Still Angelito Negroe.
Well guys, I don't have anything to brag about. What I thought I heard and what was really said was lost in translation amongst the many participants. I really should learn Japanese before I let my alligator mouth overload my hummingbird ass. I recieved a gentle note from the ever gracious Jon, clarifying what was actually said and it wasn't what Theory and I thought was said. Here it is. far be from me to claim glory that was not won. perhaps one day, perhaps one day. hangs head in shame.



Son-
Hopefully i'm not being too much of a dick, but i think you misunderstood what kasahara-san was saying about your sharpening. It wasnt bad by any means, but what he said was more along the lines of this:
he didnt expect people in the US to even care about sharpening, much less sharpen their own knives, so to see that you cared for your knives and sharpened them yourself was impressive to him. He said the edge you had was still sharp and didnt really need sharpening, but if you wanted, he could put a better edge on it... then he asked if you wanted a toothier or smoother edge.

A little lost in translation... sorry about that. Still though, it was a nice edge on the forgecraft.

-Jon

Thanks, Jon
at least I got to have my knives sharpened by a master and got to spend time with my friends.
sorry, guys.
son


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## Benuser (Mar 7, 2013)

What were you guys drinking that night? That may explain the initial translation.


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## JBroida (Mar 7, 2013)

sara and i were a bit overwhelmed and our translation work was a bit shoddy... that being said, many people here would be proud of their edges if they were like the edge son had on his forgecraft


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## sachem allison (Mar 7, 2013)

Well, Kevin and I were at the sake and plum wine booth right before.lol thanks Jon for the bone.lol


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## stevenStefano (Mar 7, 2013)

It's still a pretty cool story


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## Benuser (Mar 7, 2013)

Even better, I would say.


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## mano (Mar 7, 2013)

Son, after reading Jon's note and your response, you went up even further in my esteem, if that was possible.


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## brainsausage (Mar 7, 2013)

Definitely worth bragging about! Congrats!


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## PierreRodrigue (Mar 7, 2013)

Well done my friend! Well done...


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## mr drinky (Mar 7, 2013)

Awesome, Son.

k.


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## ThEoRy (Mar 8, 2013)

After Kasahara San tested the back of his hair a few times, I asked him if that's what happened to all his hair in the front. Lol :lol2:


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## JBroida (Mar 8, 2013)

everytime i see guys do that, i wonder what the back of my head would look like if i did the same (its already bad and i dont do that)


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## franzb69 (Mar 8, 2013)

i'd rather keep shaving off hairs off my arm lol


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## Miles (Mar 8, 2013)

Regardless, I still think that's high praise indeed!


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## Miles (Mar 8, 2013)

JBroida said:


> everytime i see guys do that, i wonder what the back of my head would look like if i did the same (its already bad and i dont do that)



If it's not asking too much, maybe you could include that in one of your next videos??? I'm sure a lot of the guys would like to be able to see how to employ the technique. ;-)


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## apicius9 (Mar 8, 2013)

Dave M. must have done this many times 

Stefan


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## sachem allison (Mar 8, 2013)

JBroida said:


> everytime i see guys do that, i wonder what the back of my head would look like if i did the same (its already bad and i dont do that)



So., I take it that is a fairly common practice?


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## franzb69 (Mar 8, 2013)

> So., I take it that is a fairly common practice?



i've seen japanese sharpeners on youtube do it. =D


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## JBroida (Mar 8, 2013)

yeah... pretty much everyone does it


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## brainsausage (Mar 8, 2013)

ThEoRy said:


> After Kasahara San tested the back of his hair a few times, I asked him if that's what happened to all his hair in the front. Lol :lol2:



Heh!


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## Zwiefel (Mar 8, 2013)

lus1:


mano said:


> Son, after reading Jon's note and your response, you went up even further in my esteem, if that was possible.



Immensely respect you for both posts in this thread Son. Again: good on ya.


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## Crothcipt (Mar 8, 2013)

Very nice Son. It seems that you are still on the right track.


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## DevinT (Mar 8, 2013)

Never ruin a good story by telling the truth.

Hoss


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## Lucretia (Mar 8, 2013)

DevinT said:


> Never ruin a good story by telling the truth.
> 
> Hoss



+1.

Still pretty darn impressive. If I tried to test sharpness like that, I'd lose a handful of hair and half an ear.


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## Chef Doom (Mar 9, 2013)

sachem allison said:


> A little lost in translation... sorry about that. Still though, it was a nice edge on the forgecraft.



BWAHAHAHAH, this may be the secret to almost every martial arts and samurai myth I have ever heard. 



DevinT said:


> Never ruin a good story by telling the truth.



+1, even after finding out the truth, I would have taken it to the grave. If Jon had posted the truth on the forum himself, I would have called him a liar, a cheat, and a thief. And put a curse on his knuckles to grow overly thick hair causing a hindrance to his sharpening skills.


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## mr drinky (Mar 9, 2013)

DevinT said:


> Never ruin a good story by telling the truth.
> 
> Hoss



You just have to tell it in such a way that others will embellish the truth for you. Then you never tell the story again. 

k.


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## perneto (Aug 14, 2013)

Do you know of any videos that show how the burr testing on hair is done?


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## tk59 (Aug 14, 2013)

perneto said:


> Do you know of any videos that show how the burr testing on hair is done?


It looks just like testing it on your arm hair only it's the back of the head. I think a lot of Japanese folk just don't have enough arm hair to make it work, lol. They take the knife to the back of the head and run the blade down lightly so that it catches some hair.


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## boomchakabowwow (Aug 14, 2013)

awesome story..nice little mid-way twist. hahah.

thanks.

if any japanese knife master gets a hold of my knives..he will snatch them from me, slap me on the back of my head..and leave me with something from Target.

i am a work in progress..i have that 1000/6000 king stone.


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