deteCtIng tHe Burr
To confirm the presence of a burr (see Figure 9) move your forefinger carefully across the
edge in the direction shown. Do not move your finger along the edge – to avoid cutting your
finger. If the last pull was in the right slot, the burr will appear only on the right side of the blade
as you normally hold it and vice versa. The burr, when present, feels like a rough and bent
extension of the edge; the opposite side of the edge feels very smooth by comparison. If there
is no burr continue sharpening in the Stage 1, alternating left and right slots until a full burr
develops. When a burr is present along the entire blade length proceed as below to the Stage 3
Polish/Finish (Figure 8).
fInISHIng a SteeL KnIfe In Stage 3 Polish/Finish
Pull the blade through the left slot and then through the right slot of the Stage 3 (see Figure 8).
Make 2 pairs of pulls, (each pull 4-5 seconds) alternating each pull in the left and right slots of
Stage 3.
Check the blade for sharpness. For a sharper edge, make a few more pairs of fast alternating
pulls (about 1 second each) in Stage 3 and check for sharpness. Repeat this procedure as
needed to create an exceedingly sharp edge. Using a piece of paper or slicing a tomato to test
sharpness is useful for reference.
Figure 8. Polish/Finishing stage of metal knife.
SHarpenIng tHe tradItIonaL (SIngLe SIded)
Traditional Japanese knives such as the sashimi blade are single sided and have a large factory
bevel (Bevel A, Figure 10) on the one side of the blade. There are a large number of manufacturers
of knives of this type used widely to prepare sashimi. The factory bevel (Bevel A) is commonly
ground at about 10 degrees, but there are exceptions as 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
below the large factory bevel and includes a much smaller secondary microfacet along the
back face. Commonly the back side microfacet (Figure 11) can be easily seen only with a hand
JapaneSe SteeL BLade
Figure 9. 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.
8
Burr