b. If there is no burr continue honing in Stage 1, alternating left and right slots until a light burr develops.
When a burr is present along the entire blade length proceed as below to polish again in Stage 2.
return to StroppIng/polIShIng Stage 2
a. Make 3 pairs of pulls, alternating pulls in the left and right slots, taking 3 to 4 seconds per pull for a
5” blade. Make 3 pairs of faster pulls, alternating left and right slots, taking 1 second per pull. Test the
blade for sharpness.
b. If the edge is not shaving sharp, make a few more pairs of fast pulls in Stage 2 until the edge is
shaving sharp.
re-SharpenIng the ContemporarY euro/amerICan and aSIan StYle Blade
Re-sharpen by following the procedure above starting with Polishing in Stage 2 as described.
Depending on its use, you should be able to resharpen to a razor edge 5 or more times using
only Stage 2 before finding it necessary to again hone in Stage 1. Hone in Stage 1 only when
you find it is taking too long in Stage 2 to bring the edge to razor sharpness. In that event, follow
the sharpening sequence, using Stage 1 and 2, described above.
SharpenIng the tradItIonal (SIngle Bevel)
JapaneSe Blade
5
Figure 2. Santoku knife in left slot Stage 2 (double facet
Santoku blade).
Figure 3. Santoku knife in right slot of Stage 1.
Traditional Japanese knives are single sided and have a large factory bevel (Bevel A, page 9,
Figure 9b) on one side of the blade. There are a large number of manufacturers of knives of this type
which are used widely to prepare sashimi. The
factory bevel (Bevel A) is commonly ground at
about 10 degrees, but there are exceptions and
that angle is not standardized at the factories.
Designs of the traditional Japanese knives
and the detailed structure of the cutting edges
likewise varies widely from one manufacturer
to the next, however there are some similarities.
The cutting edge consists of a small primary
facet on the front face of the blade and a much
smaller secondary microfacet along the back
face. Commonly the back side microfacet
Figure 4. When you create a distinct burr along the
blade edge, it can be detected by sliding finger across
and away from the edge. Caution! See text.
Burr