kitchen knife made in Japan

Sharpining demonstration

Preparing the Whetstones

	Before starting the grinding, place the whetstones into cold water until the air bubbles stop rising to the surface (about 10 minutes).
	Grip the knife firmly and stabilize the heel of the blade using your thumb.  Stabilize the center of the blade with the fingers of your other hand (do not press too hard). Set the blade on the stone facing in, then start sharpening from the edged side, keeping a 45 degree angle.
	The angle between the whetstone and blade should be about 15 degrees. If you are unsure about the angle you can try placing a quarter between the blade and the whetstone (as a guide). After a few sharpenings you should get a feel for the angle!
	Give a bit of pressure on the blade as you sharpen from the top of the stone towards yourself. Ease off the pressure as you slide the blade back to the top of the stone. After repeated sharpening, touch the edged carefully to make sure burrs have appeared.
	The first side is finished if the surface appears rough.
	Now start sharpening the other side of the knife, with the blade facing away from you. Push the blade towards the top of the stone (away from you) with a bit of pressure, and ease off the pressure as you slide the blade back to the bottom of the stone.
Finish the sharpening process with a 6000 whetstone (shiagetoishi) to produce the sharpest edge possible. Make sure to keep a higher angle than before and to sharpen both sides of the blade! YOUR KNIFE WILL BE VERY SHARP during this process! So please be very careful not to cut your fingers while sharpening your HOCHO. For best results we recommend that you use only the whetstones available on our website.

Whetstones:

AraToishi and NakaToishi are for fixing nicks on a blade.

ShiageToishi is for removing burrs and for recovering re-sharpened edges.

We also supply whetstone bases, which are essential for the proper use of your whetstone.