watanabe blades

[sudsy909]

hi everyone i recieved my slicer from nenox yesterday boy is it nice it is by far the sharpest knife i have ever seen come out of a box i am almost scared of it i can't wait to see how edge retention is on it i'll let everyone know now on to the questions fred i saw your review of watanabe's gyoto is it sharpened in the traditional manner it doesn't look like there's a bevel in your picture also maybe you could clear up a few things on watanabe's website he has a santoko knife with the option of using kuro-uchi blue steel sandwiched between stainless does this mean that it will not discolor because of the stainless steel used the other question is that below his santuko he has what is called a kaibou knife it's like a bad ass santoku but it has a double beveled blade what's up with that how is sharpening different and do you know why it is double beveled one of my other questions is why do japanese blades normaly come not fully sharpened do most companies do that and for what reason my last question is about sharpening stones i know i have read that you use stones by shapton would you recommend that brand can i buy something cheaper just as good or there's so much information for me to absorb thank you everybody for your opinions ryan

[louisianacook]

Santoku's are almost always double bevel, I never seen a single bevel one, sharpen it like a normal knife. The Kurouchi will discolor. The black patina is left on there after heat treatment to protect against rust, but it will still corrode if you don't wipe it down. I would try Norton waterstones stones, they are cheaper, larger and are as good or better in my opinion. The reason they are partially sharpened is because the manufaturer wants the customer to be able to finish the edge on the grit he wants.
Lee

[Scott]

One thing I just thought I'd point out is that Watanabe will "togidashi" sharpen your blade (http://www.watanabeblade.com/english/pro/togidashi.htm), but it adds 30% to the price of the blade. I don't know if it is worth that much on top of the price of the blade, but it would be interesting to see how that compares to a standard sharpened knife.

However, I would "guess" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif that he can do one heck of a lot better job than I can! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Scott

[Sid Post]

There may be a better place to buy Norton Waterstones then here (http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/norton.htm) but, they generally have the best price and carry good feedback from the limited number of people who have done business with them in my circle of 'net friends. Considering the whole set costs about what one Shapton does, I don't see a better deal around for this size or quality of stone.

King makes some stones that may work for you at a lower price point but, dollar for dollar I think Norton is the way to go even if you only get 1 or 2 waterstones from them.

Togidashi is very good. Is it worth it compared to a skilled sharpener like Fred? In my kitchen I am hard pressed to tell the difference. All I know is Shinichi put one HELL of an edge on my Santoku. Fred did the same to a couple of Gyuto. Dollar for dollar, it might be worth it to send your "average" Shinichi knife to Fred for his skilled touch. Then again, if you have done your homework and practiced, you could take that 30% markup and get some awesome stones and do the same thing yourself /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

[Scott]

Sid,

Fred does sharpening too?!? Where does the guy find time to sleep and enjoy life? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Scott

[Sid Post]

[ QUOTE ]
... and enjoy life? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe that's why he sharpens so well /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Scott]

ROFL!

Scott