Advice needed on sharpening Hignokami/ Knives with NO secondary bevel

[Cyber_Demigod]

So I have had some frustration in sharpening my higonokamis, I have 4 of them and each one does not have a secondary bevel because well... they are higonokamis. But my issue is how do I sharpen them at the same angle without marring up the blade face, only sharpening the cutting edge? I don't want to be unnecessarily removing steel - because why remove steel if you do not have to? Is there a technique to protecting the finish on knives with only the primary bevel grind? These higos are cheap and have a most basic of finishes but I imagine they would make good practice for this, so I can tackle more expensive knives like a Damascus higo, or knives without secondary bevels and with a finish like say Cerakote.

I'm at a loss here, and I do use the Lansky system but can sharpen freehand on a bench stone as well

 

[bucketstove]

Hi

So I have had some frustration in sharpening my higonokamis, I have 4 of them and each one does not have a secondary bevel because well... they are higonokamis. But my issue is how do I sharpen them at the same angle without marring up the blade face, only sharpening the cutting edge? I don't want to be unnecessarily removing steel - because why remove steel if you do not have to? Is there a technique to protecting the finish on knives with only the primary bevel grind? These higos are cheap and have a most basic of finishes but I imagine they would make good practice for this, so I can tackle more expensive knives like a Damascus higo, or knives without secondary bevels and with a finish like say Cerakote.

I'm at a loss here, and I do use the Lansky system but can sharpen freehand on a bench stone as well

What is the angle you're trying to preserve? Is it different from the bevel grind?

To preserve finish, there is a chess move called "the safe queen"

The one other move is called "the high superficial"
which is use angle high enough to clear the "bevel grind" deliberately so as to maintain looks

There is a third maneuver called "the repolisher"
which is when you sharpen however and then use slurry stones (or sandpapers) to put on the bevels a new finishing polish of your choosing

"the hotdog" would be a full flat grind ... maximum performance
"the weenie" would be a adding a relief grind to make a multi-bevel, not as large as a footlong but slips in easier than a single grind

 

[Jason B.]

There is NO secondary bevel with these knives. To sharpen, use Japanese waterstones and lay the whole bevel on the stone. The laminated steel will grind at different rates than the hard steel so while you are grinding the whole bevel you need to vary the contact point of hard or soft metal by slight changes in pressure.

Basically, the same way I sharpen this knife... They have the same bevel configuration.

[video=youtube;5QebqMmhRJU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=5QebqMmhRJU[/video]

 

[cbwx34]

So I have had some frustration in sharpening my higonokamis, I have 4 of them and each one does not have a secondary bevel because well... they are higonokamis. But my issue is how do I sharpen them at the same angle without marring up the blade face, only sharpening the cutting edge? I don't want to be unnecessarily removing steel - because why remove steel if you do not have to? Is there a technique to protecting the finish on knives with only the primary bevel grind? These higos are cheap and have a most basic of finishes but I imagine they would make good practice for this, so I can tackle more expensive knives like a Damascus higo, or knives without secondary bevels and with a finish like say Cerakote.

I'm at a loss here, and I do use the Lansky system but can sharpen freehand on a bench stone as well

For a knife that I've read described as, "a schoolchild's pencil sharpener", these little knives perform very well. I've been tempted to put a better handle on mine, just to see what it's capable of.

My .02, these knives are designed to be thinned a bit, just about every time they're sharpened, so I wouldn't try and "protect the finish". How these are sharpened would be different than a coated or Damascus blade (and also shows why coated/Damascus blades aren't always the best choice). The difference in metals will show a difference in finish.

I sharpen pretty much like Jason's video... particularly at the 6:00 mark, where he shows just an 'ever so slight' adjustment in angle and pressure changes where the stone hits. They are good to practice technique on.

No Lansky for these in my opinion.

 

[115Italian]

How dull are the knives? I would invest in a good strop, maybe two, and some diamond paste.

 

[Jason B.]

For sharpening I would recommend something simple like a King 1k and a loaded strop. These knives are working knives and don't need a lot of refinement. The mud produced while sharpening on the 1k will put contrast back into the soft and hard metals making the soft cladding dark gray and the hard metal lightly polished.

 

[Cyber_Demigod]

I do like to put a mirror edge, but I wanted to learn this as well so if a knife was finished but had no secondary bevel I could sharpen them.
I don't currently own any waterstones to be honest, I will be grabbing a few later this month - I want to get a basic range of them, and worry about getting super fine grits later on.
Could I still retain that laminated contrast with oil stones, diamond plates, and some strops?
Thanks for all the information though.

The knives are unused save for my Blue Steel one, which has ran through some cardboard, paracord, and a few other things.

I do have lansky strops with compounds, and I just got my hands on a full set of Dialux compounds, will soon have some lansky strops to match and will do away with the enkay compounds all together

 

[Jens Schuetz]

Higos are a bit brittle anyways which would be a good excuse to chose the easy way out. Micro Bevel.

 

[J W Bensinger]

They're meant to be laid flat and sharpened that way. If you finish on a fine enough waterstone they end up pretty well polished.