Recommendation? Sharpening Damascus Steel V Gold 10 Santoku Knife

[Harrison Bergman]

First post here, so please bear with me.

I bought my first knife while I was in Japan a few months ago. This is the knife:
http://hamono-net.or.jp/anatano/ginzakikuhide/sc_item/槌目ダマスカス　三徳/

I am now looking for some recommendations for what I should look for in terms of sharpening and maintenance. I read the website, and the "manual" it came with but this did not help much as the translations from Japanese are not great. I just want to be sure before I purchase any whetstones or sharpening materials, that I am doing the right thing.

Would this product work for this style of knife? https://www.amazon.com/Kota-Japan-W...ORTLESS/dp/B01EKU46WI?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_2&th=1

And once this product arrives, is this technique correct for this knife?

There are just some unknowns with whether this blade is a single-side or double-sided blade, and I just want to be sure the product and techniques I'm going to use are proper.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

"Sharp Pebble" and "Kota Japan" stones do not seem to have a good reputation, though I haven't used one. I have read that the "6000" side is not actually that fine. Have you considered the King KW65 1000/6000 combination stone, Amazon item code B001DT1X9O, for not too much more?

 

[Harrison Bergman]

"Sharp Pebble" and "Kota Japan" stones do not seem to have a good reputation, though I haven't used one. I have read that the "6000" side is not actually that fine. Have you considered the King KW65 1000/6000 combination stone, Amazon item code B001DT1X9O, for not too much more?

I'll look at those, thank you

 

[Craig James]

My two cents....

unless you plan on sharpening / maintaining an edge regularly coupled with the fact that you are by your own admittance a beginner then you will not necessarily immediately tune in to a 1000 stone. You can do it, but you will immediately need to be able to home into the apex angle to realise a benefit.

My advice - there are better stones you should look into - read some posts on this forum prior to purchasing. Also read into the basic technique for free handing before putting knife to stone

 

[Mr.Wizard]

I believe the stone I referenced before, despite the Amazon product description, is the slightly undersized 7.25" long version. There is also a larger version, B0034YR016, that might in the end be a better value as the 1000 side is thicker as well. I am assuming from your initial interest in a 1000/6000 stone that you want something that will polish, and the King 6000 is the least expensive polishing stone of good repute that I know of. If you are not seeking the polished aesthetic there are other options in this price range that are worth consideration.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

In support of the point that I think Craig James was implicitly making:

All in all, I think coarse stones are severely under-valued and should really be considered as the foundation of all other sharpening work. A good coarse stone can remove material at high speed, but with good technique can also be used to produce surprisingly fine edges. Meanwhile, fine stones are good for routine maintenance, but if you're a serious user of edged tools, it's just about inevitable that you'll end up with an edge that's damaged beyond what a fine stone can easily iron out. An overabundance of fine stones is a sure path to impatience and rounded edges from trying to cheat and shortcut the sharpening process by increasing the edge angle.

 

[Hurrul]

Something to consider: if the knife has a keen sharp edge, you can maintain that edge with various high grit stones - stones that might be used as a final finish in your sharpening progression.

Basically, these finish stones can maintain a sharp edge, if you use them regularly and by doing so they save you from having to go to lower grit stones as frequently and thus removing more material from your blade over time.

I use a Spyderco fine and ultra fine as well as a Belgian Blue natural stone to maintain a hair shaving edge on my Japanese VG10, Aogami Super steel, Aogami Blue #2, Shirogami #2 steels, Chromax and some others. Typically, if I use the knife a few times in a week, I will spend about a minute or two on the Spyderco ultra fine or Belgian Blue.

However, this practice won't work if the edge is let go for too long or if you spend hours a day in the kitchen with out periodically refreshing the edge.

 

[Harrison Bergman]

Something to consider: if the knife has a keen sharp edge, you can maintain that edge with various high grit stones - stones that might be used as a final finish in your sharpening progression.

Basically, these finish stones can maintain a sharp edge, if you use them regularly and by doing so they save you from having to go to lower grit stones as frequently and thus removing more material from your blade over time.

I use a Spyderco fine and ultra fine as well as a Belgian Blue natural stone to maintain a hair shaving edge on my Japanese VG10, Aogami Super steel, Aogami Blue #2, Shirogami #2 steels, Chromax and some others. Typically, if I use the knife a few times in a week, I will spend about a minute or two on the Spyderco ultra fine or Belgian Blue.

However, this practice won't work if the edge is let go for too long or if you spend hours a day in the kitchen with out periodically refreshing the edge.

I'll check those stones out. Thank you

 

[Harrison Bergman]

I believe the stone I referenced before, despite the Amazon product description, is the slightly undersized 7.25" long version. There is also a larger version, B0034YR016, that might in the end be a better value as the 1000 side is thicker as well. I am assuming from your initial interest in a 1000/6000 stone that you want something that will polish, and the King 6000 is the least expensive polishing stone of good repute that I know of. If you are not seeking the polished aesthetic there are other options in this price range that are worth consideration.

I'm going to buy this one. Seems like a good first stone. Thank you

 

[Mr.Wizard]

And once this product arrives, is this technique correct for this knife?

There are just some unknowns with whether this blade is a single-side or double-sided blade, and I just want to be sure the product and techniques I'm going to use are proper.

Yes, this appears to be correct for the knife you have. The knife appears to have a wider bevel or the right hand side (tip away, edge down), as do most authentic santokus and gyutos, which the sharpener means by 70/30 at eight minutes into the video. Personally I would have had a difficult time learning from that video as it's short on theory. More explicit instruction is found in videos from Jonathan Broida, e.g.