Preciseknifesharpening.com is NOT my website!!!

Preciseknifesharpening.com is NOT my website!!! This website is being cybersquatted by someone who is trying to take business from me by trading on my good name. It was started immediately after I started my blog at http://preciseknifesharpening.blogspot.com/, which IS my blog site!

Please ignore anything on this site that gets posted there and don't patronize people who have these sorts of shameful business practices! Since that time, I started a second blog at http://precisesharpening.blogspot.com Please go there for some interesting reading!

Regards,
Ken

Tanaka Toishi Kogyosho Exclusive Distributorship

Major announcement regarding JAPANESE NATURAL STONES!

Tanaka Toishi Kogyosho exclusive distributorship

As many of you know, on my last trip to Japan I visited Kyoto. Since that time, I have had many conversations with Tanaka, the sixth generation owner of Tanaka Toishi Kogyosho.

At this time, I am extremely pleased to announce that Michiaki Tanaka has selected me to be their sole distributor for their products, which include a broad selection of natural stones. This sole distributorship is for North Americas, which includes the importation of their products to the US, Canada, and Mexico. It does not exclude selling their products to other countries as well.

I am extremely proud and honored to have developed this relationship. In the coming days and weeks I will be developing a web presence regarding these products. I will be working closely with Mark of Chefknivestogo to help promote these products so expect further upcoming joint announcements. I am certainly interested in knowing what you, members of this forum, are interested in in terms of natural stones. I will be developing both a knowledge base of information about these fascinating stones as well as a selection of stones to choose from. While my primary focus will be towards the use of these stones for knife sharpening, it will be expanded to include sharpening straight razors, woodworking (and other) tools and sword polishing stones. I'm looking forward to a cooperative arrangement with other vendors as well as customers.

These stones will be primarily oriented to people who use freehand sharpening techniques, however there will also be announcements regarding the use of a select few natural stones for precision guided devices as well. There are other products that Tanaka carries, so expect to see other interesting product introductions in addition to natural stones too.

This announcement does not in any way mean that my current ongoing vendor relationships will cease. In fact you can expect them to expand as well and I look forward to additional cooperative ventures, which will be the topics of additional postings.

Dealer inquiries are welcome.

As many of you already know natural stones are quite unique and individualistic, unlike synthetic stones, so if you are looking to acquire specific types of stones, please let me know and I will help you find them. In some instances certain rarer stones will be unavailable, but there's no harm in asking.

Not only is the Tanaka family a seller of fine natural and synthetic stones, but they are also producers of natural stone.

They are owners of their own toishi-yama in Kameoka City, which is a source of natural stones.

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Ken

Moritaka - 26th Generation Japanese Knifemaker Endorses Precise Knife Sharpening

A while back, I visited a family of knife makers, the Moritakas, who have been making knives for 26 generations. They trace their origins back to a time when they made swords for the Buddhist Armies. I actually had the privilege of holding a 600 year old sword signed by one of their ancestors, truly a rare privilege. They use hand forged techniques for making their knives and produce custom knives. In addition to getting their knives directly from the Moritaka family, Mark at

Chef Knives To Go

carries a selection of their knives.

I own several of their knives and they are my most prized knives. They are also my favorite knives to sharpen because they take an exceptional edge.

Recently, the Moritaka family added an endorsement for both Precise Knife Sharpening and the precision sharpening device I produce to their web site. I was quite humbled by this honor as it is extremely unusual to have a traditional Japanese company endorsing an American knife sharpener!

Here is the information at the bottom of this page:

Moritaka Endorsement

Moritaka Signature on 600 Year Old Sword



Holding a 600 Year old Sword



Moritaka's ancestor in Traditional Knifemaker's Garb at the Forge



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Ken

Gizmo now available from Chefknivestogo !!

The Gizmo, which is the most precise sharpening device available, is now being sold through Chefknivestogo.

Gizmo Knife Sharpener

I invented this device and use it as one of my techniques for knife sharpening.

It is capable of operating in three modes.

The most precise mode is with the stone passing over the knife, with the stone placed at a set angle above the knife. The angle may be set at any angle from zero to approximately 45º, in precise increments as fine as 0.1º. The knife can remain in one position, not requiring any knife movement during sharpening, affording maximum consistency, far greater than can be achieved using unguided hand sharpening. This allows you to produce consistent, strong edges. While you can produce extremely flat edges, you can also produce convex edges, hamaguri grinds and progressively increasing or decreasing angles as well as complex triple bevels. It particularly excels in reprofiling knife edges, both traditional Japanese single beveled knives as well as Western style knives. It works well with all sorts of cleavers and various gyutos, chef's knives, etc, allowing the advanced sharpener a wide range of techniques and the most basic beginning sharpener to get up to speed to start producing precision edges that easily rival people who have been sharpening for years using traditional techniques. Far from dampening the traditional sharpening experience, it enhances your ability to concentrate on other aspects of hand sharpening while reducing the stress of trying to maintain a consistent angle.

A second mode allows you to place the stone facing upwards, set at an angle, letting you sharpen your knife by keeping it horizontal. While not as precise as the first mode, it allows more flexibility and is suited to certain knives like scimitars which have markedly curved spines.

A third mode is the traditional mode, allowing you to perform traditional freehand sharpening without removing the Gizmo from the work area. This is useful for stone flattening, refining the back sides of traditional single beveled knives or for when you just feel like reverting to being a traditionalist. It is the least precise mode.

If you have questions about the Gizmo, please contact me at ksskss@earthlink.net .

Also try out the youtube video demonstrating the Gizmo in action to the right side of this posting.

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Ken

Introduction and Announcement of Customized Stone Cutting Service

I offer knife sharpening services for Japanese, European, and other kitchen knives as well as pocket knives, hunting knives and scissors.

I also offer a knife sharpening device that allows you to produce extremely precise, sharp and strong edges if you prefer to sharpen knives yourself. It has been named the Gizmo and it allows you to produce some of the finest and most precise edges available, exceeding the precision of freehand sharpening techniques. I also use the device myself for sharpening knives, along with freehand techniques where it is appropriate to produce a superior edge, customized to precisely meet the needs of the knife owner. I tend to use the word 'precise' a lot, because it is at the core of my philosophy of knife sharpening. I like to be able to measure what I'm doing and provide a precisely specified edge geometry combining the needs of the knife user with the qualities of the knife to produce an optimal result.

I am now also offering stone cutting services in cooperation with Tom Blodgett of Jende Industries. More information is available here:

Shapton and Naniwa Chocera Stones for the EdgePro, and 1/2 and 2/3 sized stones - Jende Industries

I am cutting sharpening stones for several applications, including Shapton Pro, Shapton GlassStones and Naniwa Chocera stones, specifically to fit the Edge Pro. We are also the first to have offered these stones in customized widths and thicknesses, including 1/2 thickness, 1/2 and 2/3 widths as well as specialized shapes to meet your unique requirements for specific applications or reduced costs. I will also provide customized cutting services for other stones as well. This has already included King stones and the Bester synthetic aoto, another first for the knife sharpening community. I can offer these stones as is or mounted in your choice of aluminum or glass backing or with a decorative granite backing in various widths. Stones specifically cut for the EdgePro have aluminum blanks specifically designed to fit the EdgePro stone holder shape, however these can be mounted as needed to your specifications.

Here's a few pictures.

A half width 10,ooo grit Naniwa Chocera stone over an optional granite base:


A smaller sized Naniwa Chocera 10,000 grit stone specifically cut and mounted to use in an EdgePro.

a full complement of Shapton Pro stones cut for the EdgePro going from 120 grit to 15,000 grit






I will also post additional pictures of these and other examples of stones cut for specific applications.

If anyone has specific questions, please feel free to contact me at ksskss@earthlink.net.

I'm always available to help you with your specific sharpening needs, whether it is to purchase stones, sharpening services, precision sharpening devices and other equipment or just to chat about sharpening in general even if it's just to help you with your own technique. I'm available to help both beginning sharpeners as well as to discuss and share advanced techniques. I'm here to both learn and teach and share some philosophical perspectives too. Sharpening is a passion of mine and I want to convey that passion for fine edges. In future postings, I'll share my techniques, new ideas and other topics of interest to people who appreciate putting a fine edge on a knife.

Come back often. I'm hoping to make some new friends, share with some old ones and have some fun conversations.

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Ken