Sharpening a kiridashi

[2bit_collie]

So I got a kiridashi recently, have been using it, and of course the edge is starting to degrade in spots.

Do you guys put a micro-bevel on kiridashis? That’s what I usually do on my single bevel kitchen knives such as ajikiris or debas. The other option of course is just to take the entire bevel back to maintain a very acute bevel angle.

 

[Herrenberg]

My opinion: no microbevel. If you have razor honing skills, they will serve you well in dealing with any single-sided Japanese knife. The key for both is torque. Yes, you are sharpening the whole bevel -- but you are torqueing a bit toward the edge. On the flat side, you are doing edge-leading deburring strokes, very gently, but also torqueing toward the edge, just a bit. Keep strokes to the absolute minimum on the flat side, with as little pressure as you can manage. You're just deburring.

 

[Legion]

No micro bevel for me. I lay the bevel side flat and put my finger pressure right up near the edge.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

No micro bevel here as well.

 

[cotedupy]

I’m gonna go against the grain and say - if you’re gonna use it a lot, then microbevel it. There’s no point in not doing so, and you’ll have to sharpen it less often.

I’d also advise taking the tip off, like I’ve done with the bottom three here:

 

[cotedupy]

(Obviously do the main bevel at the same time as well. Don’t just do a microbevel.)

 

[2bit_collie]

So I did sharpen the kiridashi today as part of my progression working on a straight razor. Just used one stone, a King 800 “red brick”. Before and after below. One thing I noticed - the scratch marks from the manufacturer were orthogonal to the spine but I actually sharpened it orthogonal to the edge. So another question.

As expected the King 800 left a very nice contrast between the hard and soft steel. I may try my King 1200 and/or my Belgium Blue in the future as those I have read (from @cotedupy I think) also should be good for that task.

 

[J B Addis]

My experience: If you exclusively use it ura side down, there's no harm in a microbevel and it's convenient. If you use it bevel down, a microbevel is annoying.

 

[cotedupy]

My experience: If you exclusively use it ura side down, there's no harm in a microbevel and it's convenient. If you use it bevel down, a microbevel is annoying.

What are you using your kiri for? Like a little chisel?

(Genuine q. - I know they’re pretty versatile, just that that’s not what I use them for).

 

[J B Addis]

What are you using your kiri for? Like a little chisel?

(Genuine q. - I know they’re pretty versatile, just that that’s not what I use them for).

I have a matched left and right set, unlike with kitchen knives having both is useful. The right handed one is used ura down, the left is bevel down. I usually employ a two handed grip with the right hand doing coarse motions and the left hand, mainly the thumb, steering, similar to a push or paring chisel.

Right is for removing material aggressively and general shaping, and sometimes for outside curves. It wants to steer deeper into the wood as it cuts, meaning that it's easier to make convex profiles. This also makes it harder to resist tearout. If done intelligently, it can be used to pare flat interior surfaces and straight lines, for instance the inside of a saya, employed in the same manner as a skew chisel.

Left is for fine finishing cuts. Taking advantage of the skew of the edge, I can cut minutely thin spiral shavings and get a finish if not so even as one from a plane about as smooth. In this way I'm using it somewhat like a tiny yariganna. This shallow planing effect minimizes tearout when shaping areas with irregular or reverse grain. The left also excels at cutting concave shapes, meaning that it's ideal for shaping interior curves. It's a very maneuverable cutter. In use it feels like an intermediate between a Slojd knife and chisel.

Most of what I'm making with them is handles for tools and knives and wooden sheaths for the same, mainly out of straight grained moderately hard woods like maple, birch, or fruitwoods for the former and cedar and fir for the latter.

I'm not sure what level of detail you're looking for but you'll get the full deal just to be safe.

 

[cotedupy]

I'm not sure what level of detail you're looking for but you'll get the full deal just to be safe.

A perfect level of detail, very interesting!

I rarely (very occasionally but not that often) use kiris for this kind of thing, generally I use them more like a scalpel or small knife. And I'd certainly agree that if using for carving/shaping wood like that - you wouldn't want a microbevel. It'd completely screw things up!

 

[CheyenneZhang]

Thank you so much for shaving the video.