Repairing my Kagekiyo - chip removal

[ronnie_suburban]

This one was painful to discover, especially since I don't even know how it happened. But there was no missing it . . .


Kagekiyo Blue #1 Gyuto, 210mm
What the h?!


Ugh
They don't serve dip with these kinds of chips. Though, it was a dipshit move by me.

I thought about sending this one directly to Mark but then figured I'd give it a shot myself. I figured that if I messed it up, I could still send to him after that, right?

Started by sharpie-ing the edge to help ID the angle and then just going at it with a 220 grit stone. In retrospect, maybe even something more coarse would have been better. I had to take several passes to work it down and maybe I could have achieved the same result with less loss if I'd chosen a higher grit. In any case, 220 > 1000 > 3000 (Chosera) > 5000 (Rika) was the path I took . . .


All Better Now?
I *think* I got it pretty well worked out. We shall see. It's not perfect but it still cuts like a dream -- even carrots -- so I don't think I did too much damage repairing it.

[Radar53]

Congrats Ronnie, that looks like a great effort with a great result. You should be well pleased.

[XexoX]

Looks good Mr. Suburban.

[ronnie_suburban]

Congrats Ronnie, that looks like a great effort with a great result. You should be well pleased.

Thanks, Grant. We'll see how it holds up. It'll never be the same as it was but that would have been true even after me giving it a standard sharpening. I have no illusions that I can produce edges even close to the ones more experienced masters produce. Fortunately, I'm not a good enough cook to notice the difference, either!

[Jeff B]

That repair looks excellent Ronnie! I always blame the wife for things like that, not that it gets me anywhere but sleeping on the couch again....
It would have taken me longer to repair because of having to clean the rust from my tears too.

[trancher]

Nice repair, Ronnie! I would be too chicken to attempt this myself on such a beautiful blade.

[billk1002]

That is a dam good repair and a beautiful knife, well done

[taz575]

That looks like a good repair!

Before, for chips and repair by stone, I often start by sharpening it at a very steep angle or even 90 degrees to remove most of the chip on a very coarse stone and then bringing the angle lower and working the stones that way.

Now, the belt sander is king for the grunt work! Loll!

[ronnie_suburban]

Nice repair, Ronnie! I would be too chicken to attempt this myself on such a beautiful blade.

I wasn't unafraid but figured Mark could bail me out if I effed it up.

That looks like a good repair!

Before, for chips and repair by stone, I often start by sharpening it at a very steep angle or even 90 degrees to remove most of the chip on a very coarse stone and then bringing the angle lower and working the stones that way.

Now, the belt sander is king for the grunt work! Loll!

Thanks and gotcha. That 90 degree approach makes sense. I kind of wished I had a belt sander but was immediately grateful that I didn't. Certainly less work that way but the mistakes -- which I am prone to make -- are a lot less forgiving on that frequency.

[trancher]

Nice repair, Ronnie! I would be too chicken to attempt this myself on such a beautiful blade.

I wasn't unafraid but figured Mark could bail me out if I effed it up.

Since it was a successful campaign on a high-end knife, I suspect you won't bat an eye at doing this again, especially on some of the lower tier stuff.

[taz575]

The first chip repair is always nerve wracking!! Removing the chip is easy; getting the edge thinned and even along the whole edge is the hard part! You have to take the entire edge down evenly along the length to keep the edge profile the same and that can be a lot of work, then thin and clean up the blade road, too.

[ronnie_suburban]

The first chip repair is always nerve wracking!! Removing the chip is easy; getting the edge thinned and even along the whole edge is the hard part! You have to take the entire edge down evenly along the length to keep the edge profile the same and that can be a lot of work, then thin and clean up the blade road, too.

This is exactly why I'm taking a wait and see approach and not celebrating (too much) just yet. I did spend quite a bit of time on it but only time will tell if I reset that edge effectively and efficiently. Right now, after the repair and the full progression, it's cutting as wonderfully as ever. If that continues over the next several uses, I'll know that I did enough. If the edge fades out sooner than later, I'll know that further intervention is needed. When it comes to edge retention, geometry matters a lot and I was just eyeballing things. It looks good and feels good, so at least for now, I'm encouraged.

[taz575]

The nice thing with the wide bevels is that you have a shinogi line to help guide you. Lay the blade road flat on the stone, then raise the spine up a hair and go to town thinning if needed! If your edge bevel width is decently thin, you should be good! When I start seeing the edge bevel getting wider, then I know it's time for more thinning.

[gladius]

Did you sharpen the blade with a full progression when you first receive it?

[ronnie_suburban]

Did you sharpen the blade with a full progression when you first receive it?

No, sir. Just started using it right ootb (after a quick wash). That's my usual MO, unless after trying it out, it needs sharpening.

[gladius]

Did you sharpen the blade with a full progression when you first receive it?

No, sir. Just started using it right ootb (after a quick wash). That's my usual MO, unless after trying it out, it needs sharpening.

---
I have found over the years some factory edges are weak so my usual practice now has been to put "my" edge on every knife that comes in. At least starting from medium grit though sometimes starting at 400-500 grit. I have had good luck with no chipping in doing so FWIW.

[ronnie_suburban]

Did you sharpen the blade with a full progression when you first receive it?

No, sir. Just started using it right ootb (after a quick wash). That's my usual MO, unless after trying it out, it needs sharpening.

---
I have found over the years some factory edges are weak so my usual practice now has been to put "my" edge on every knife that comes in. At least starting from medium grit though sometimes starting at 400-500 grit. I have had good luck with no chipping in doing so FWIW.

While I know that to be the case, I have plenty of knives, almost none of which I've sharpened before using, and haven't experienced this . . . at least not that I know of. I suppose it's entirely possible that there are all sorts of smaller, not-easily-visible chips in my other knives. I guess that if I don't notice them, I don't really care. Until/unless they impede the work, they're of no consequence to me. In this case, however, there was no missing it. That was more of a chunk than a chip!

[roaduck]

Well done Ronnie - you did a brilliant job there - it looks very neat and professional.
It reminded me of fixing the end of a handmade 7" Eden kanso santoku in blue #2 carbon at HRC 64.
My girlfriend dropped it on my kitchen floor which is cushion floor over concrete and over a quarter of an inch tip went with the point.
At the time all I had was cheap carborundum stones and soft budget whetstones so it took hours and hours to sort out but eventually the profile was not too messed up.
I also had a big 3 mm chip midway down in a 230mm white #1 carbon at HRC 63 gyuto to sort out last year.
My neighbour who used to be a chef in Italy did it on a cheap pull-through (horror) because he was used to big thick German knives and I had to rescue it because it was too good to chuck away and would have taken months to get it imported from Japan again.
Looking at both - you can`t tell unless you have the original to compare it with.
Naturally I didn`t have the presence of mind to take before piccies - my memory is not brilliant after my mini stroke 4 years ago.
Nowadays I have a mini Tormek T-1 bench grinder and an Atoma #140 which are a godsend so I`m doing major repairs for chefy friends in a much faster less laborious fashion.
I borrowed a machine mart angle grinder once with a very rough stone on it but it was too fast and rough for me so I went back to hand grinding which was much more controllable and precise albeit infinitely slower and harder to accomplish a reasonable knife repair that worked with a passable profile and finish on heavily butchered knives that were really only fit for the bin.
I am sure my mates think I can do miracles because I`ve had brittle Japanese blades with over two inches broken off and no tip at all and even Globals with huge quarter inch/half inch chips in the blade to grind down, thin and reprofile.
It took me a week to do one knife in little stages once because my sharpening gear was dire and was pushed for time.
I got paid in free breakfasts and lunches for a few months when I was passing his restaurant.
I`m not a chef but do my best to help feed the homeless for two worthy charities and churches whenever I can - health permitting.
I used to forge as a hobby in Yorkshire and Hong Kong to de-stress from high pressure sales but I was quite rusty after a 20+ year break and have only done a couple of dozen knives and sickles for gifts since 2000.
Altogether I`ve made roughly 700 tools in 40 odd years - 600 carbon and a 100 stainless and semi-stainless approx.
It took me about ten years to get my reject rate down from 30%+ to less than 5% - I sweated buckets especially in the Summer and in the Far East; I could lose 20 lbs in a weekend - easy - hard work but happy days.

[Ut_ron]

This one was painful to discover, especially since I don't even know how it happened. But there was no missing it . . .


Kagekiyo Blue #1 Gyuto, 210mm
What the h?!


Ugh
They don't serve dip with these kinds of chips. Though, it was a dipshit move by me.

I thought about sending this one directly to Mark but then figured I'd give it a shot myself. I figured that if I messed it up, I could still send to him after that, right?

Started by sharpie-ing the edge to help ID the angle and then just going at it with a 220 grit stone. In retrospect, maybe even something more coarse would have been better. I had to take several passes to work it down and maybe I could have achieved the same result with less loss if I'd chosen a higher grit. In any case, 220 > 1000 > 3000 (Chosera) > 5000 (Rika) was the path I took . . .


All Better Now?
I *think* I got it pretty well worked out. We shall see. It's not perfect but it still cuts like a dream -- even carrots -- so I don't think I did too much damage repairing it.

Looks good, I’ve only had to do tip repair which is easier.

[cliff]

I worry especially about knives that come with a zero edge. I don't recall with Kagekiyo, but definitely Watanabe. Looks like a great repair!