Forged Japanese chef knives can take an amazing edge and hold it for quite some time. The steels used and the hardness achieved are part of what makes these blades take and hold such a keen edge. The one downside to this is they are more brittle than the traditional western kitchen knives. A twisting motion on the cutting board can cause micro-chipping or chopping into a bone fragment can result in a large piece of your edge chipping off.
Getting a chip in your chef knife can be devastating. Hearing the “tink” noise the metal makes when chipping causes a roller coaster of emotions, made even worse if you don’t hear it and have to ditch the product you were prepping. Don’t worry though, that chip doesn’t mean your knife is now useless. Any skilled sharpener will be able to grind it out and get you back to prepping with your favourite knife.
I have a couple recommendations if you have a chipped knife and need it fixed:
Find a sharpener who specializes in doing high-end kitchen knives. Not the hardware store who will sharpen whatever you need done.
Let the sharpener know things you like about the shape of the knife, how it rocks, the shape of the tip, etc.
It doesn’t hurt to also let them know what types of food you will be using it on. This can help determine a few things that will improve performance of the blade.
Lets take a look at some of the steps to fix the chip in this Masashi Koi 210 mm gyuto:
This knife has a rather pronounced belly and the owner holds the knife in a choked-up pinch grip, utilizing the rocking motion most western chefs are accustomed to. This means I will want to try and maintain a similar profile with the tip approximately in the middle of the blade height. Having belly on a blade makes for easier rock chopping but there is no need to go overboard. If there is too much belly and the tip is really high it makes it more difficult for the user to utilize the tip for detail work.
As always the goal is to remove as little material as possible from the height of the blade. So when marking out the new profile you want to just barely touch the top of the chip.
Now it’s just a matter of grinding up to the line. I like to use a stationary block of wood with 120 grit sand paper adhered to it. The technique I use is a sweeping motion from tip to heel, while moving along the length of the sanding block. I hold the knife at a 45 degree angle on both axis while doing this. Making sure to slowly grind up to the line.
The tip was starting to look a little weak so I decided it made more sense to grind down from the spine to form the tip.
Sometimes when grinding out a larger chip from a blade you will reach the point where the cladding is down into the edge. Technically the cladding will never actually be right at the cutting edge if ground properly but it’s best practice to thin the blade if the cladding is down into the bevel.
After thinning I run through my progression of stones finished by stropping on leather to put a razor edge on the blade.
Before
After
The profile of the blade has changed slightly but we have removed minimal material and kept the profile as true to original as possible. With a fresh coat of wax on the chestnut handle, this blade is ready for action.
If you have any questions please feel free to comment. If you are in the Victoria, BC, Canada area and need your chipped knife fixed, please contact me for a free quote.
I discovered some Japanese style handle makers out there use a method of construction involving a dowel insert. Essentially the handle and ferrule are drilled out to receive a matching size dowel with a slot cut from the dowel to fit the tang of the blade. I found this method has a few advantages for assembly and makes tang fitting a little easier.
I decided to try it on my Tojiro knives that needed some upgrading.
Knife Specs
Type: Tojiro Shirogami Gyuto Length: 210 mm Steel: Shirogami #2 (white #2) Handle Shape: Octagonal Handle Material: Claro Walnut, Wild Apple wood Handle Length: 135 mm Ferrule: 30 mm Ferrule End Width: 18 mm Ferrule End Height: 23 mm Butt End Width: 21 mm Butt End Height: 26 mm
Type: Tojiro Shirogami Petty Length: 150 mm Steel: Shirogami #2 (white #2) Handle Shape: Octagonal Handle Material: Claro Walnut, Wild Apple wood Handle Length: 120 mm Ferrule: 28 mm Ferrule End Width: 15 mm Ferrule End Height: 18 mm Butt End Width: 18 mm Butt End Height: 21 mm
Saya – Knife Covers: Poplar
Walnut and Apple squared up and ready for drilling.
To mark the dowels I start by marking the end with the thickness I want. Then I lay it flat along the mouth of my vise and use the jaw as a ruler. Rotating the dowel as required.
Holes drilled to receive dowel insert. The tang slot in the dowel will be paired down with a chisel to better fit the tang. The ferrule will be rough fitted to the tang before assembly.
Using two clamps during glue-up allows you to insert the knife tang to ensure the dowel is aligned correctly.
I find it easier to mark out my chamfers so I know exactly what I’m aiming for. I do this on both ends because grain direction can change and it requires planing from either end.
I lightly sand with 220 grit to break sharp edges.
First coat of Tung oil on the gyuto handle.
First coat of Tung oil on the gyuto handle.
Six coats of Tung oil applied with cheesecloth. A dry piece of cheesecloth is used to burnish in between coats.
Dry fitting handles.
Making a saya without the handle is easier to do when possible. This way you don’t have to cut out the notch for the handle first, making it more stable against the stop when chiselling out the waste.
Marking and cutting out the retaining pin hole is best saved for near the end.
It is always better to have the blade spine and cutting edge in one solid piece opposed to directly over a glue line.
Finished Claro Walnut and Wild Apple handles with Poplar saya – knife covers.
Fujimoto Nashiji knives are made exclusively for Knifewear, a Canadian importer of high end Japanese knives. The core of the blade is Aogami #2 (blue #2) carbon steel clad in stainless steel. This gives all the benefits of a carbon steel knife with less maintenance since the only part that can rust is the exposed cutting edge.
The request for this knife was to make it stand out from the crowd. After some dialogue back and forth the only real request was that I use some funky figured wood. Here is what I came up with.
Knife Specs
Type: Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto Length: 243 mm Steel: Aogami #2 (blue #2) Blade Height: 47 mm Tang Thickness: 6 mm Handle Shape: Octagonal Handle Material: Maple Burl, African Padauk, Ebony Handle Length: 143 mm Ferrule End Width: 19 mm Ferrule End Height: 23 mm Butt End Width: 21 mm Butt End Height: 26 mm
I particularly like the size and dual taper on this octagonal handle. It is a good size for a workhorse knife but is still nimble for finer work. The ferrule has been sealed around the tang of the knife with epoxy to prevent moisture from entering into the handle. The blade road was lightly polished out to give the knife a bit more of a refined look. I think the contrast with the hand hammered finish goes nicely. The knife was then hand sharpened on a progression of synthetic Japanese water stones and finally stropped with 0.5 micron compound (30,000 grit).
Original Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto
The original burnt chestnut handle with plastic ferrule
The handle appeared to be burned in but then epoxied after.
Maple Burl block being ripped to thickness for the new handle blank.
One face of burl contains eyes and the perpendicular face shows radiant lines.
Ebony spacers. Helpful tip when using multiple woods for one handle is to try and have the grain of each wood going the same direction.
Handle blank mock up.
Marking out the tang slot. So far I’ve found I get cleaner results on the front ferrule face if I do these separately
Marking out reference lines on the outer faces ensures the tang slot is lined up even if the different stock is slightly different widths.
Epoxy is used for clear glue lines.
I have used the top as my reference face and marked out everything for my dual taper based off that.
Chamfers were cut by hand using my trusty taiwanese style hand plane. 5 mm marked in from the corners.
First coat of Tung Oil shows how deep red the Padauk can go.
The client asked if I had enough of the burl left to make the saya. I did technically but it required ripping and book matching.
Layout of the retaining pin and cut out for the ferrule.
The saya was proving difficult for relief carving out the slot for the knife so I opted for a laminated construction.
Rehandled Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto
Maple burl saya with Ebony pin.
Colton Organ stamp!
Rehandled Fujimoto Nashiji Gyuto with Maple burl saya
Shun knives are quite popular in commercial kitchens. They’re very durable and usually treated as such. This early model Shun Classic 10 inch chef knife has seen hard use and better days. The blade is pretty badly curved and has seen frequent sharpening. The resin impregnated wood part of the handle is also twisted out of it’s seat. Let’s see what kind of shape we can bring this knife back to.
I had a different idea initially but due to the design of the “tang” the plan is to re-handle this knife using the existing D shape bolster and end cap as a guide. This knife has been retired for a while now and the owner doesn’t like how high the tip has been ground over it’s life. So in addition to thinning this knife behind the edge I will also re-profile the blade.
I marked out my stock for the handle and started drilling the holes to fit the “full composite-tang.” A method of tang construction I’ve never seen before. I imagine this is how all of Shun’s knives are constructed. I roughed out the D shape of the handle before assembling with epoxy.
Using a metal file I flushed up the wood and steel of the handle. Opposed to using a sandpaper block which just grinds the metal dust into the wood. Once I was happy with how the handle felt in the hand I moved on to finishing. I’ve been trying out Boiled Linseed Oil finish on my handles and with lots of coats it seems to hold up very well. It is not a film finish so you still get the feel of the wood in your hand. Unlike mineral oil, it is a drying oil so it does cure and this particular stuff is food contact safe.
I sharpen all my knives on a progression of Naniwa Professional Stones. Followed by stropping with 0.5 micron honing compound. That’s taking it to approximately 30,000 grit. Totally unnecessary since it won’t hold it very long but does it ever sing.
Shun Classic 10 inch from 2002. This knife has had approximately 4mm removed from sharpening over the years.
If you look closely you can see the lamination line, where the damascus cladding meets the VG-10 core. Note how the tip has been ground well above the original profile grind.
Hard to make out in the picture but the blade is curved in the middle in addition to being bent at the bolster.
I believe the story of how this handle was ripped out of alignment involved a frozen turkey during the holiday season. Sometimes you just need to make it happen haha
This was my initial idea for the re-profile. Making it more of a 210mm line knife.
After some thought, it made more sense to make it 240mm (9.5″). This would bring down the tip making it more useful but still keep the extra length for crushing prep tasks.
I was unsure of how Shun constructs their handles. My first thought was incorrect so I cut a couple notches and chipped away some of the handle. I was not expecting the hardware inside.
The threaded bit of the end cap was adhered into the handle. Once that bond was broken I was able to unscrew it and disassemble the handle.
Another view of the “Full Composite Tang” featured in the Shun Classic line.
Here is the blade after re-profiling down to 240mm. White Oak handle rough-shaped and ready for assembly.
After considerable sharpening a knife will start to get thicker as the cutting edge gets closer to the spine. Thinning will reduce the wedging effect and enhance the performance of the knife.
I marked out where I would ideally thin up to, removing all the marked lines. I made it about half way up to that point and was happy with the results.
Thinned behind the edge. Looking closely you can notice the hamon line now running 4mm parallel with the cutting edge. This is approximately what it would have been originally.
The finished product. The blade has been lightly hand sanded to remove most of the scratches and give it a more uniform look. Also rounding over the spine slightly to be a little easier on the hand while in the pinch grip.
The finished product. The blade has been lightly hand sanded to remove most of the scratches and give it a more uniform look. Also rounding over the spine slightly to be a little easier on the hand while in the pinch grip.
This Poplar saya is for a Shun Kiritsuke 8 inch. I was playing around with thicknesses on this saya to dial in exactly how thick will give good protection but not look too bulky. This is an example of the Poplar sayas I will be offering for sale.
This is before thinning out the walls with a hand plane.
