Rob Babcock
Head Chef
Last week one of the guys on the line asked me about a certain knife I have. I opened the case and pulled out my Hattori HD 150mm petty to show him and the new guy's eyes lit up. "Cool, I've got three of those!" he said. Well, it's not every day that you meet a cook that has even heard of Hattori, let alone actually owns some. At least where I work, that is.
He said they were in rough shape, having been bunged up by some previous coworkers, and the tip was broken off of his santoku. Then he mentioned that he'd heard thru the grapevine that I sharpen...you see where I'm headin' with this?
"Sure, I'll take a look" I told him. After all, how bad could they be, right?
Well, here's how bad:
My photos suck and it doesn't show up that well, but maybe you can see the edge is chipped and bent/rolled:
I could have worked on these all week on my DMT, but I decided this called for my 30x1" HF belt grinder; it just doesn't make sense to keep fixing badly damaged blades entirely by hand. I started with a reeeal course one for the tip. I've fixed broken tips before but not one quite this bad. For a first effort it came out pretty well.
Before:
After:
The gyuto was in such bad shape that I decided I'd use the belts on it while I had the HF set up. This is the first time I've ever used powered gear on a J-knife, so I was very, very careful. Switching to a 15 micron 3M & getting a pitcher of cold water for dunking, I let 'er rip.
The results:
It would have been better had I not got a tad careless and cut my belt. While I was doing the grinder work I started soaking my Shapton 320 & a slew of Chocera stones: 1k, 2k, 5k & 10k. I sharpened the santoku first, starting with a 15 degree bevel cut by the 320 Shapton Pro. Once I achieved a good, solid bevel & an edge that would cleanly shave, I went thru my progression all the way to 10k, deburring on felt between each stone. At this point it practically falls thru food and will easily cut a tomato in half with just the weight of the knife.
The gyuto was pretty easy after my HF grinder did the "heavy lifting." With all the chips and bent/rolled spots ground out I went thru the same stones, hanging a 15 degree edge on it as well.
I returned his knives today, and "pleased" would be an understatement! He was thunderstruck, I think...for a moment I don't think he believed they were the same knives. The best part- I had him pay me by making a donation to The American Red Cross, earmarked for the relief effort in Haiti.
He said they were in rough shape, having been bunged up by some previous coworkers, and the tip was broken off of his santoku. Then he mentioned that he'd heard thru the grapevine that I sharpen...you see where I'm headin' with this?"Sure, I'll take a look" I told him. After all, how bad could they be, right?
Well, here's how bad:
My photos suck and it doesn't show up that well, but maybe you can see the edge is chipped and bent/rolled:
I could have worked on these all week on my DMT, but I decided this called for my 30x1" HF belt grinder; it just doesn't make sense to keep fixing badly damaged blades entirely by hand. I started with a reeeal course one for the tip. I've fixed broken tips before but not one quite this bad. For a first effort it came out pretty well.
Before:
After:
The gyuto was in such bad shape that I decided I'd use the belts on it while I had the HF set up. This is the first time I've ever used powered gear on a J-knife, so I was very, very careful. Switching to a 15 micron 3M & getting a pitcher of cold water for dunking, I let 'er rip.
The results:
It would have been better had I not got a tad careless and cut my belt. While I was doing the grinder work I started soaking my Shapton 320 & a slew of Chocera stones: 1k, 2k, 5k & 10k. I sharpened the santoku first, starting with a 15 degree bevel cut by the 320 Shapton Pro. Once I achieved a good, solid bevel & an edge that would cleanly shave, I went thru my progression all the way to 10k, deburring on felt between each stone. At this point it practically falls thru food and will easily cut a tomato in half with just the weight of the knife.
The gyuto was pretty easy after my HF grinder did the "heavy lifting." With all the chips and bent/rolled spots ground out I went thru the same stones, hanging a 15 degree edge on it as well.
I returned his knives today, and "pleased" would be an understatement! He was thunderstruck, I think...for a moment I don't think he believed they were the same knives. The best part- I had him pay me by making a donation to The American Red Cross, earmarked for the relief effort in Haiti.
