Posted: 12/24/2012 7:06:44 AM EDT
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I am about to receive my first Japanese knife in the mail today. (Tojiro DP F-808)
After reading the internet (always an interesting endeavor) I have found several who say that Japanese knives should not be honed. (on a ceramic rod) These folks claim that it will "fatigue" the edge, and/or do other equally horrible things to it. I admit to knowing nothing about fatigue and fatigue crack propagation in steel of Rockwell C-61 or so hardness, so I am at a disadvantage. So, my question is .......... "Is this bullshit?" |
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I'm not a metallurgist or anything but that sounds like B.S to me. A ceramic rod doesn't actually remove metal like a stone does. Typically, the ceramic rod is used to remove burrs and/or straighten small bends in the very edge of the blade. I'm sure if you really worked the blade over the ceramic rod with extreme pressure you could probably get it to remove some material...but it's not going to be anything like a stone.
I guess I could see a problem with a sharpening steel that may be less hard than your knife, but I don't see that being a problem with ceramic.How do these people recommend you care for your expensive blade? |
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Well, the argument put forth is that at a hardness above 60 Rockwell C (or a bit less) that the edge really doesn't roll under like it does at a hardness in the fifties.
It may get a bit wavy, but if you try to realign it on a honing rod, you just chip off more because it won't go back into alignment. It is too brittle and you end up with a heavily micro-chipped edge. That argument makes sense, but the counter argument is that major Japanese knife companies sell ceramic honing rods, and they wouldn't if it were easy to damage their knives by using one. (ETA: Shun even instructs you on how to use one.) The counter to that one is that long-nosed western barbarians expect to be able to buy a honing rod to abuse their knives, so we might as well sell them one and have them give us their money rather than those other guys. (slightly paraphrased) So I end up confused. |
| buy a whetstone. soak whetstone in water for 5 minutes, or until no longer emitting bubbles. put knife on stone lift dull side of knife up about the height of a penny on its side. make 5-10 strokes on each side of the blade(blade pointed away from you, and with SOME pressure pull it towards you) |