# Crazy burr on new Tojiro bread knife



## kartman35 (Mar 13, 2013)

Hi all

I recently purchased a new Tojiro bread knife (the one with the scalloped edge). It came to me with a significant burr on the right side at the peak of almost all the scallops. I was able to actually lift the blade up with my fingernail as i dragged it across the edge in a "checking for burr" motion.
I took the burr off by dragging/stropping the blade across the corner of my Rika 5k using the technique from a video I saw on how to sharpen scalloped knives (and actually sharpened my exact bread knife in the vid). It seems to cut better now.

Anybody else notice this on their Tojiro bread knife? I was not all that impressed by the out of box edge on this one and I think if anyone asked me I'd recommend they save up 20 bucks more and get the Mac superior instead.

Any thoughts? This knife came highly recommended by members of this and other forums.


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## WildBoar (Mar 13, 2013)

Picked one up ~15 months ago and had no such issue with it. :dontknow:


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## panda (Mar 13, 2013)

should have just gotten the mac


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## Johnny.B.Good (Mar 13, 2013)

I got the Mac, and it's flawless, but I've never head a negative review of the Tojiro.

Glad you were able to sort it out, and hopefully you'll have fun with it moving forward.


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## Justin0505 (Mar 13, 2013)

That's annoying that it came from the factory like that. I got one of the very first of the Tojiro ITK bread knives and it was flawless. Factory edge was good, totally adequate, but not crazy sharp. I've sharpened it a few times and it's capable of taking a very sharp edge, but it does form a burr like crazy. I used a split leather strop loaded with 2micron paste and strop on the back side to remove as much burr as possible. I also used the "edge" of smooth oval steel to flip the burr back over to the back side. Then I used a felt block and edge of a block of scrap wood to remove what remained of the burr.


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## kalaeb (Mar 13, 2013)

Funky, I have used three and never seen it, maybe just a fluke.


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## panda (Mar 13, 2013)

you can actually sharpen these things!?? doesn't it destroy your stones?


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## Justin0505 (Mar 13, 2013)

panda said:


> you can actually sharpen these things!?? doesn't it destroy your stones?



Don't use stones:
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/4262-Sharpening-Serrated-Edges

Ceramic or diamond steels work well for quick touch-ups too.


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## kartman35 (Mar 13, 2013)

It seems to me that that technique while perfect for pointy serrated knives, might sort of turn our nicely scalloped edges into pointy serrations...

Note that the knife Dave is sharpening is not the same as the scalloped Tojiro or Mac Superior...His before pictures have teeth that have been rounded from use and his after photos shows them nice and pointy, like most other bread knives.

In fact, in post 13 of the same thread Dave says using the corner of a stone works well for our scallops.


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## wenus2 (Mar 13, 2013)

I've used two, one of them had this issue new. It's been a couple years since mine, but I'm not surprised. I assumed there were more like this and we were all just 'dealing with it,' as seems to be the case with projects from _that place_.

As noted, they are quite prone to this when sharpened as well. 

If only I could find a Gude...


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## NO ChoP! (Mar 13, 2013)

As a Mac fan and former owner of several Mac breads, I will say my Tojiro is at least comparable. The price difference makes it a winner...mine also had no flaws.


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## EdipisReks (Mar 13, 2013)

My Tojiro had no flaws. I use dowels and emery paper to sharpen it, most of the time. will it eventually change the scallops? sure. will it take a long, long time? yes. will i likely have bought a new bread knife long before that happened? never say never.


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## JohnnyChance (Mar 13, 2013)

I have one from the first batch, it didn't have a burr straight from the factory. It does however like to hold on to the burr once formed when sharpening. A couple of kids at work just bought some because they loved mine so much. Theirs had significant burrs straight out of the box. I used a ceramic rod, strop and a bunch of corks and cleaned up their edges for them.


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## Justin0505 (Mar 13, 2013)

kartman35 said:


> It seems to me that that technique while perfect for pointy serrated knives, might sort of turn our nicely scalloped edges into pointy serrations...
> 
> Note that the knife Dave is sharpening is not the same as the scalloped Tojiro or Mac Superior...His before pictures have teeth that have been rounded from use and his after photos shows them nice and pointy, like most other bread knives.
> 
> In fact, in post 13 of the same thread Dave says using the corner of a stone works well for our scallops.



A corner of a stone would work fine, but so does a cylinder or oval (I used the edge of my oval steel wrapped in sand paper). If you just think about what you're doing, the difference between sharpening the scallops and the "pointy" serrations is that you're TRYING to round off the bumps on the tojiro. You sharpen the "valleys" the same way and then just follow over the curve of the bumps.




wenus2 said:


> ..If only I could find a Gude...



Took me a few years, but I got one. It's indescribably awesome, but it's meant for fighting though really crusty stuff (think saw/ bread deba). The tojiro actually cuts 95% of baked stuff much better and more cleanly. They are really 2 different types of knives.


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## Meals (Mar 13, 2013)

Stinks you got that out of the box!


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## slowtyper (Jun 28, 2013)

Does anyone have a video showing a good way to sharpen this knife using the corner of a stone? I slice about 15-20 hard crusty loaves every day now and my knife has been taking a beating.


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## ThEoRy (Jun 28, 2013)

No video that I know of but I think Dave posted a tutorial thread with pictures somewhere.


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## Colorado_cutter (Jun 28, 2013)

ThEoRy said:


> No video that I know of but I think Dave posted a tutorial thread with pictures somewhere.


That'd be good to find. Mine had a hellacious burr out of the box, and I haven't done anything about it yet other than sigh.


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## Mdnef (Jun 28, 2013)

slowtyper said:


> Does anyone have a video showing a good way to sharpen this knife using the corner of a stone? I slice about 15-20 hard crusty loaves every day now and my knife has been taking a beating.



Watch the last video on this page: Oh Hell No this link ain't working.com

It's kind of long, as it's a review of the stone, but the last part of it is a tutorial on sharpening the Tujiro ITK bread knife.


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## Crothcipt (Jun 28, 2013)

wow the censer didn't get that one. Or am I just a little fast today?


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## Keith Sinclair (Jun 29, 2013)

There are diff. ways to sharpen scallop edges.I use slip stones same as for wood chisels.Easy to find stones wt. thin rounded edge.Look at it this way you got experience sharpening it & the fact that it burrs easy to me can indicate that the steel is of good quality.


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## slowtyper (Jun 29, 2013)

Mdnef said:


> Watch the last video on this page: Oh Hell No this link ain't working.com
> 
> It's kind of long, as it's a review of the stone, but the last part of it is a tutorial on sharpening the Tujiro ITK bread knife.



So confused...


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## chinacats (Jun 29, 2013)

slowtyper said:


> So confused...




:rofl2:


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## Mdnef (Jun 29, 2013)

Ha! Seems I broke a rule of some sort? Maybe if I link directly to the video instead of to the store page where it was embedded? I'm pretty sure the video itself is entirely non-commercial, so hopefully the censors won't mind. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


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## Crothcipt (Jun 29, 2013)

mdnef sorry to say, but any video he makes is sales. You just got in the middle of some bad juju. Altho there is a few of his in the you tube idiots section.


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## Dave Martell (Jun 29, 2013)

Mdnef said:


> Ha! Seems I broke a rule of some sort? Maybe if I link directly to the video instead of to the store page where it was embedded? I'm pretty sure the video itself is entirely non-commercial, so hopefully the censors won't mind.
> 
> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX




Mdnef,
Sorry but that guy (Ken) is a [email protected]^#&*!()_! so his links aren't allowed here....that includes his BS videos as well.


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## ThEoRy (Jun 29, 2013)

Dave Martell said:


> Mdnef,
> Sorry but that guy (Ken) is a [email protected]^#&*!()_! so his links aren't allowed here....that includes his BS videos as well.



Dave, where's the serrated tutorial post you made??


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## Dave Martell (Jun 30, 2013)

ThEoRy said:


> Dave, where's the serrated tutorial post you made??




I think it's in the Knowledge section but it doesn't cover this type of serration though. 

FWIW, I just use the corner of a stone. Pick the angle and roll the corner through the scallops. I go from heal to tip and then back to the heal again and repeat until a burr is formed. Now the confusing part is deburring, I chose a buffing wheel since that works great but obviously most people don't have this so traditional methods have to be used. Felt pads are pretty good here, use the back side (where the burr is seen) and strop hard at an increased angle (5deg? or so) and then cut in felt too if possible. There's also a method pro sharpeners use (myself included) for stubborn burrs - a wire brush used at 90deg across the edge.


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