I was messing with my Uchigumori last night

Shobudani Aisa. Honyama Renge (two different stones). Takashima Karasu.

None of these stones will put a chrome-like mirror finish on O-1 tool steel. They will, however give you a reflective polish that exhibits a very fine satin scratch pattern.

My Kitayama 8000 synthetic stone WILL do a chrome-mirror polish on O-1. This tells me one major thing, my Uchigumori have a grit range between 6000 (based on my Suehiro 6000 synthetic’s scratch pattern) and 8000 (perhaps). Although, the Kitayama is one of those that they say polishes as well as a 12k. To give a better comparison, I’d need another company’s 8000 grit stone to be sure. (Note to self, generate disposable income for a Norton or a Naniwa Chosera.)

Something occurred to me while I was doing all this. Hazuya and jizuya do not produce a chrome-mirror either. They’re simple X amount harder/softer/finer grit than benchstone size uchigumori. According to the book I own on sword polishing, the mirror polish on nihonto is not produced by stones. They bring that polish up by burnishing the surface of the blade with harder steel tools.

Basically, because I had a disconnect in my head about the process, I’ve been expecting a high mirror polish from stones that can’t do that… or if they can, it is well beyond the range of the stones I own and the skills that I have.

I will say one thing in favor of the rocks that I currently have, when used in order, properly, they make a noteworthy edge on a blade. Yow!

Another fine use for Iyoto

Japanese sword polishers say that the stone must fit the steel, and once in a while I see an example of how that seems to work. I was resharpening my CRKT First Strike, their interpretation of the Steve Corkum design, and I polished the edge right off it.

This particular knife is made from AUS 6-A, if I’m not mistaken, and is a tad softer than blades made from 440-C or AUS 8-A. I picked up an Iyoto fragment I had on my workbench, spat on it (heresy, I know), and gave the edge a little love with that. The results were impressive. It went from too polished to cut anything right over to shaving hair off my arm.

I think I can say that Iyoto fits softer stainless steel blades pretty well. Worth a try to see what sort of results you’ll get!

Sharpening

I wrote this material as a reference for people who have purchased the Iyoto that I’ve sold in the past, and I think it is a decent primer on sharpening knives in general.

It seems odd to me that people would spend large amounts of money on very fine knives that they’re actually planning to use, but NOT learn how to properly maintain the edge. Finding someone to sharpen knives is not easy anymore, unless you’re willing to paw through the internet and send them off to someone you don’t know. That being said, there are a number of people who do really nice work via mail order and are reachable via the web.

Still, you will save money by investing in a decent stone or three and learning to do it yourself. In my opinion, it isn’t the savings that is the real draw. It is being able to put exactly the sort of edge on your knife that YOU want to have. I could write pages on different sorts of edges and the great qualities of each, but that doesn’t do anything for someone who doesn’t sharpen their own knives. All you will do is read my write up on the sort of edge produced by a 220 grit Silicon Carbide stone, followed by stropping on horse leather coated with chromium oxide, and be bewildered at it.

Even worse than that is me waxing rhapsodical about the superb qualities of an edge that was created and polished using Japanese water stones! You’d start to worry about my mental health, how geeky one man can be, and be disturbed by how sensual it all sounds. Then again, it might excite you…Erm. Not my problem, really.

So, go buy a good whetstone (drop me a line and I’ll suggest something for you if you like) and learn how to do this. You won’t regret the education, the geeking, or the savings.

Progress

Hazuya and jizuya finger stones are not as insurmountable as I thought. I am not going to call myself a master of the craft, but I do know that I am learning things. That is one of the best things about hobbies that involve crafting or fine art: you get to observe your progress over time.

Last week, I was working with finger stones and all I was getting out of them were lovely fine scratch patterns on the surface of the blade that I was using as practice. This week, I can start to see how those micro-scratches move toward the indescribable finish on a properly polished Japanese sword. While the polishing that I’m doing is far from perfect, it is vastly better than what I was doing before.

What I learned looks like this:

1. When books and websites discuss this sort of polishing, they tell you that the stones must be ground down to (what seems like) paper-thin chips. It makes a difference. Why? I don’t know. All I know is that when I tried it, the finish started to improve.

2. You can’t just use water as a lubricant in this stage of the process. According to “The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing” (ISBN:978-4-7700-2494-7) you have to use “tojiro paste”. That is like the slurry that nagura stones build up on other stones, but using only the highest quality natural stones that you have. Uchigumori grade, at the very least.

Don’t try to flout 800 years of tradition. This step is absolutely necessary as well.

3. This sort of polishing will take longer than you really wish it would. You may end up needing 3 or more jizuya stones of different hardnesses. You’ll probably want to collect as many specimens of Narutaki (raw material for jizuya) as you can. Every stone and every flake are different.

4. No, this will take a long time. It will tire out your hand and shoulder.

5. Go out and buy that book. It is a good overview, even if it isn’t quite the in-depth examination of the craft as one might like.

6. Get good stones. Use clean water.

7. You have to practice a lot. Don’t be afraid of taking your metal back down to a koma-nagura polish and start over.

The other thing that exploring this is teaching me is this: traditional polishing of this kind is a true art and it adds (and SHOULD) a lot to the price of modern swords.

Sharpening Tip #1

When sharpening knives using Iyoto stone as the whetstone, remember to keep the blade clean. Have a towel nearby so that you can wipe the luscious slurry from the blade as it accumulates.

I say this because that slurry is both the best thing about these stones and it is also quite dangerous to you if you don’t wipe it off. Remember, it LUBRICATES as well as polishes. I discovered this last night while sharpening a friend’s set of Global kitchen knives.

There were quite a few close calls where the edge that I was busy refining came within a gnat’s ass of laying open my fingers. Thank goodness that I was both paying attention and using the ninja reflexes that I’ve gained over the years. Bleeding all over a wonderful person’s condo isn’t a great way to garner repeat business.

On a technical note, for people in search of good kitchen knives. Global makes an impressive knife. Zero ground, convex edge polish. Flexible, light, and capable of a throbbingly keen edge. Low point: COST! They’re pricey.