Advice on natural stones...

[phan1]

I got to examine a brand new never been used shigefusa, and I really fell in love with the finish on the knife. I know natural stone finishes look great, but the feel and touch of the finish was so baby smooth; it was like the knife was coated in teflon. It was so nice to the touch. Do natural stones tend to give this "baby smooth" feeling, or do you think the knife was finished with some sort of coating? Scratched the blade with my fingernail but couldn't tell; it didn't seem like it was coated with anything to me. I'm thinking a natural stone would be great to use with my yanagi and usuba if it could decrease the friction between the blade and the food.

From my experience, the finishes left by synthetics aren't really nice. The ones that give me a mirror polish also give me so much friction that it feels like rubber, and water just beads and rolls off the blade as well. I end up preferring hazy finishes because they at least hold onto water better so I can get less drag when I wipe my knife with a wet towel. Not a big deal for knives like gyuto, but super annoying for yanagi and usuaba.

[thombrogan]

You could use a King 800 and Suehiro Rika 5,000 and have all the smooth haze you want without spending lots of money on trial and error.

[phan1]

It's not about the haze, it's about getting that nice "baby smooth" feel on my knife...

[Pensacola Tiger]

It's not about the haze, it's about getting that nice "baby smooth" feel on my knife...

Japanese natural fingerstones, selected via trial and error, will give you that finish. A few months ago I got a set of three stones from Dr Naka, but only one produces that finish on a Shigefusa. I haven't seen him on the forums of late, but Maksim, of Japanese Natural Stones, can advise you as to which stones may produce that type of finish.

http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com

or drop him a PM on this forum: http://www.foodieforums.com/vbulleti...12365-maxim207

Rick

[blwchef]

Have you tried the Naniwa ss 5k? Leaves my yanangi nice and smooth but still a little hazy. It works best with my 800 king. My 1200 bester does well with it too but not an well as the king. The bester makes it more sticky. I also us different pressure when sharpening the edge of the blade vs the shinogi. This achieves a subtle convex edge. I only use the 5k on the edge as well so the polish stops about half way up the bevel and then fades into the 800 hazy finish.
For naturals I like my Aoto. I don't use it at work anymore because It took up too much space. I've been thinking of bringing it back though.