Do Not Buy CHEAP Sushi Knives

[Kumofan]

I think the problem here is that, on that cheap of a knife, the grind on the uraoshi isn't properly flat at the edge, and you never were able to apex. I watched this video a while ago and wanted to try it, so I bought a chinesium one from Lucky Cook, and it was sufficiently aweful. When I first sharpened it, I experienced the same problem, so I looked at it under a microscope and it had what looked like a convex-ish microbevel on the uraoshi side, probably caused by a belt grinder belt curving up to form around the blade. Upon learning this, I took it to my diamond plate, and this took a very long time of grinding before I could get it to flat. Unfortunately, I'm sure much of the concave was removed from the knife, but at least it's apexed now, lol. Now all I need to do is take out their massive secondary bevel on the right side of the knife. Is it worth my time? Definitely not, but I have nothing better to do at this point lol. Honestly I have no clue on why I'm dead set on getting a mirror polish on a cheap knife I'll probably never use, but I guess that's just one of the things this hobby and too much free time will do, lol.

[vinylhanger]

This is probably one of my favorite videos you've done. Sure, it's fun to watch you sharpen knives that I dream of owning, but it is more interesting to see how you deal with the really tough ones. Most people wouldn't even make a serious try at sharpening that knife, , let alone put it up on YouTube. Then to take what is, albeit a minor failure, with a smile, that is why we all watch. You are a true craftsman. Keep on sharpening.

[PhilippeCarphin]

Most of my other sources for knife sharpening knowledge have told me to put more pressure on edge-leading strokes than on the edge-trailing stroke.  Murray Carter is like a hybrid because he sharpens with edge-leading pressure on the first stone and does only stropping-like motions on the polishing stone (ie edge-trailing stroke with no edge leading stroke).

I really like your channel by the way.  I started with DMT diamond stones and moved on to this stone combo as suggested by Murray Carter, then I moved on to Chosera stones (the 1000 and 3000) and I love them.

Seeing your stone reviews has pretty much convinced me that I made the right choice.  You are saving me the money I would have spent trying out other stones.

Lastly, I should comment that if the experiment is meant to demonstrate the results that you can get with a budget stone and budget knife, then the choice of a 12$ yanagiba was not great.  With your skill, I'm sure you could have gotten a budget Tramontina knife to cut just as well as your good yanagiba (just not for more than a couple days).

[Jayenh]

I got some cheap Japanese style knives for practice ... one of them is a ~$10 yanagiba. It came with a second cutting bevel and was incredibly dull. So I basically redid the second bevel to be thinner -- that took a long time (2+ hours) -- then started polishing it, ending with an 8k stone. It became very, very sharp and it doesn't seem like a particularly fragile edge. Anyway, I suspect the knife here could have been got to a much sharper state with a proper second bevel, even with the cheap stone. Then, given that these knives should be used only to cut jello-like materials, even if the steel isn't that great, the cheap yanagibas should still be suitable for home use without sharpening for quite some time. Just my $.02.

Haha great video as always Ryky. Your video inspired me to buy a $15 Sekiryu yanagiba and to sharpen it. Its out of the box sharpness was very crappy but I finally managed to make it razor sharp (cutting perpendicularly with the grain of the paper effortlessly) thanks to your video. Please keep it up :)

[Kumofan]

Tempting to take 2 of them and make them into scissors lol

[robertwalker]

I bought a budget Narihira Yanagiba 210mm off Ebay for $21.00 to hone my sharpening skills not expecting too much
turned out not too bad it could cut paper out of the box used it cutting veggies and slicing meat they are tricky little devills
to use, not ready to tackle a Salmon yet, It had a double bevel and a micro bevel making it very hard to sharpen after watching
this video and a couple of others I decided to take out the compound shape that took quite some time using a 300 grit King
stone so now the blade has a nice polished bevel and a micro bevel and is very sharp, A really good learning experience for not a big outlay, The stones I used are the 300 King, 1000 King DX, 4000 Naniwa Hayabusa, 6000 King, 8000 Kitayama and a home made leather strop, Just checked Ebay the price has gone up to $38.00 still a good deal I think,
Thanks for your videos I really learn a lot from them.

[jeffsmith]

I bought a practice yanagiba for $30 and I highly doubt it's rated on the HRC either but as long as you can see where it is or isn't sharpening it is good practice like you said. I bought it mainly because I struggle at the tip of my yanagiba. I get to the edge, but getting high enough to the shinogi line is my downfall so the $30 knife has really helped

[susperia]

iam not sure but in my opinion the surface wasnt completely touched by the stone on both sides + the knive had a microbevel!? that's irritating me, otherwise i really enjoy watching your videos!

[musicman]

I do have a question, in one video you made a set of stones with aluminum and sand paper, my question is can you make a lapping stone with the same set up to flatten a water stone?

[chrisunruh]

I have a single bevel broadhead. I just purchased the kitayama from burrfection store, I think is the name. Being a different steel and use of the edge, should I still create the bur from the flat side first then move to the bevel side?

[Tomekkkk]

Your calmness and composure when subjcted to the... experience of this knife is stunning :)

[aleksandarjovanoski]

Ricky you're the man
Lot of education to the art of sharpening knife's you are the best keep the good work. Grittings from Macedonia.

[sirtblairjr]

Hi there, I like your channel. Very nice. How much is the most expensive whetstone and what's the difference what makes it so expensive?

[gabrielshimanskytrivelli]

When sharperning this kind of knife, should you really lay flat the uraoshi opposite side on the stone? I always watch your videos but i can’t really tell if the blade is flat on the stone

[martinschuessler]

I have the same knife because I wanted to play around with it. I recently sharpened it with a Edge Pro Apex by reprofiling the right side to 15 degrees and a water stone on the back side. It's VERY sharp using this method.

[staginglightingsensation]

I got my self a kit of sharp pebble wet stones and it is so satisfying to sharpen my butchers knifes.they work and they are a budget stones

[michaelspringet]

I just started watching your videos a couple weeks ago. Great stuff, man, thank you! I haven't researched all your videos yet, so I was wondering if you have reviewed any of the Yoshikane chefs knives. If you have, please send me a link. If you haven't I hope you do soon. Thanks again!

[georgecadeddu]

Yes indeed, another humbling experience, what a joy, thankyou

[byhjdjs]

is this technique used on other knives with a single bevel ?