Hissatsu Sharpening

[whitey529]

Hey everyone,
I was reading about sharpening the Hissatsu and noticed that it tends to be rather difficult or unnecessary to some. I have one of the coated ones and do not want to ruin the coating by stropping it. The creator, James Willaims says he used a rough diamond stone. Any advice would be appreciated and if anyone has experience sharpening these with that stone, I would also like to know. Thanks again!

 

[john w]

I worked on mine in two stages, this seemed easier for me as the long tanto angled point sharpened differently than the straight edge area. Ya' know, I am not pleased with the edge I have so far achieved (more so in the long point area) but I do plan to work on it more. It is not as delicate a knife as it appeares, the blade spine on mine is 5mm and the recasso(sp?) is very wide making it a VERY strong penetrating type blade. Not "spooky sharp" but "spooky penetrating"...

WOOK

 

[Cougar Allen]

 

[me2]

I have an uncoated one, and I tried nearly everything to sharpen it by hand. I finally gave up and used a belt sander, and erased the line at the point/edge junction. I works great now, but this probably wont work w/ a coated one. I suggest a stone at about 25 degrees per side. Thats about what I was having to use before yelling "screw it, I'm going to the garage."

 

[SIFU1A]

so a hair poppin edge on a hissatsu is hard to come by lol.

i've been mulling over getting one, if its too difficult to sharpen though.........

i looked at one a few weeks ago and it did have thick grinds IIRC.

 

[Berdar]

The creator, James Williams says he used a rough diamond stone.

After working with James and taking a few classes with him, the reason he uses a rough stone is because of the agressive cutting edge and near immediate pain caused by the rough edge. A cut with a razor edge may not cause immediate pain and may actually seal itself. It not bleed profusely. Feeling the cut then seeing one's own blood is enough to break the momentum of 99% of all attacks.

James' idea of sharp is being able to cut copy paper easily, not shave.

 

[Loken]

From what I've seen ordering one of the first production rounds and another one recently (both uncoated), the grind has changed a lot and is now much higher than before. I gave the new one to a friend so I can't be sure but I guess it would be easier to sharpen.