My Fiancee and I will most likely spend some time in Japan on our honeymoon next year, and as part of that if I managed to pick up a Takada it could be a really nice keepsake to bring home from the trip to cook for us with
Given this is over a year away and I have time to reach out and plan, what are the best avenues to explore?
I'm weighing my options for a convex do it all (non-unicorn) endgame gyuto
Ignore reactivity in this discussion, i can go either way for the right performance. Height is important, i want minimum 53ish mm heel height.
Obviously the two sanjos are much heavier weight so there's a heft / laserish tradeoff here playing into 'overall' performance
Can anyone advise me on exactly how to replicate this finish at home?
I scuffed it up a bit with a polishing stone and so have attempted to restore it slightly unsuccessfully.
I feel like my scratch pattern at 1000 grit is both finer and less shiny than the original. My feeling is I need to go slightly coarser, maybe 6-800 grit and polish over this super fine to create a shine.
If anyone has done something similar i'd love to understand exactly how to replicate it
I wore down the Damascus by trying to remove some patina so decided to take on a bit of a project to bring the contrast up.
On first attempt i didnt get a deep enough etch and damaged the KU a bit (sad but also looks reasonably cool), so did it properly with varnish the second time with proper separate stages of cleaning and re-etching for 2-3 mins each time in a 20% solution. Clearly didn't get the varnish line perfect as you can see a small polished line above the etched portion.
Finished with a 5k grit light polish and sharpen + polish of core steel on 1>0.25 micron strop.
Final pic was the day i received it (2nd hand)
Now to cook some chicken breast...
Featuring my newly printed & assembled whetstone bridge
Rule 5:
Hatsukokoro Ginsan ko-santonu
Hatsukokoro Kumokage Bunka
Yoshida SUG-2 Nakiri
Sakai Takayuki AS 210
Matsubara W1 240
Kobayashi SG2 210
N/A AV Blades AEB-L 220
Edit: Please ignore the perspective of the image. All but one of the new handles are 140mm - larger than any of the ones on knives. A is 130mm i believe
The bunka handle is slim and approx 125mm. The petty handle is tiny