Photos Kohetsu HAP40 Santoku

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kwackster

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Dec 23, 2005
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Yesterday i received two of these Kohetsu HAP40 Santoku's from Chefknivestogo.com, a dependable US dealer for kitchen knives.
One of these will go to a Chef i know who has no experience ordering knives from abroad, and the other one will probably go on sale on the Dutch forum.

As often with Japanese knives the factory edges need some work to get them truly sharp, and these Kohetsu's were no exception.
One was just sharp enough to slice copypaper, the other reluctantly shaved a few hairs from my hand, and both of them had a few tiny burr remnants clinging to the apex.
Now both me and the new owner have zero experience with HAP40, so it will be a bit of a learning journey to finetune the edge into what works best & longest for him.

For it's first sharpening i chose to just leave the factory edge angle of between 17.5 & 20 degrees inclusive (!) intact and just resharpen the existing narrow V-bevel with 3 micron diamond compound on a Paper Wheel (with such a small edge angle this actually provides for an ever so tiny, but just visible burr), and deburr with 1 micron diamond compound on a second Paper Wheel.
With the naked eye it looks like nothing was done to the knife, but the new edge can whittle a chest hair towards the hair point and slice a paper towel clean.
Now we have to find out if the new owner can work with it, and what's especially important; for how long exactly before it needs resharpening.
My guess is that eventually he will settle upon a bit coarser edge, but we will see.











Specs:

Overall length: 29,5 cm
Blade length: 18,0 cm
Useful edge length: 17,4 cm
Blade thickness: max 2.06 mm
Steel: Laminated HAP40
Hardness: 65 HRC
Blade: double sided convex grind with half-sided convex bevel and a narrow V-bevel on top which forms the actual edge.
Edge angle: between 17,5 and 20 degrees inclusive (measured with Tormek WM200 Angle Master)
Handle material: Pakkawood
Weight: 170 grams
 
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This is how i received the knife back after about a month of use in a commercial kitchen, and only after the Chef cut up several Italian artisan breads with almost rock hard crusts, which of course damaged the very hard & very thin edge.
There were both chips and rolls in the apex, but only one chip extended a hair past the polished bevels (which were starting to develop a nice blueish patina).
The undamaged parts of the apex however could still shave the hair on the back of my hand on skin level reasonably well.
(click 2 x on each pic for more detail)











The edge was restored freehand with the help of my Tormek T7 with it's SB-250 stone, refined with a Paper Wheel coated with 3.0 micron diamond compound, and deburred with a second Paper Wheel coated with 1.0 micron diamond compound, and the new apex now measures an almost exact 20 degrees inclusive.

According to the Chef this Kohetsu HAP40 is the best knife he ever owned, and from now on he will refrain from cutting those hard crusted breads with it.
He also intends to buy a nice hinoki cutting board.
 
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I've been eyeballing this one for next kitchen knife for me. Cool to see the patina HAP40 gets. Thanks for the report.
 
The factory edge on this second Kohetsu HAP40 could just shave a few hairs on skin level, so i "resharpened" it with 3.0 micron diamond compound on a Paper Wheel, then removed the extremely fine burr with 1.0 micron diamond compound on a second Paper Wheel.
On this knife i chose to also use this Wheel to blend the V-bevel into the half-sided convex to lower the cutting resistance just a tiny bit more, while keeping the new edge angle the same as that of the factory edge, namely between 17.5 and 20 degrees inclusive according to my Tormek WM200.
The first picture still shows some of the deeper scratches left over from the factory edge, but these end well above the apex.
You can click 2 X on each pic for a bit more detail.





The knife was sold on September 17 to an avid hobby Chef in the Netherlands, and he just yesterday mailed me that he is, and i quote: "lyrical" about the knife.
 
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Recently the second Kohetsu was returned to me for sharpening.
The knife had been used about 3 days a week quite intensively for 6 months, and was touched up from time to time by the owner on an MDF strop coated with 1.0 micron diamond paste.
When i received the knife back i could see on the edge an area of about half an inch where it reflected a bit of light, i was told probably due to some sand particles that sometimes remain in vegetables.
The rest of the edge could still easily shave clean the hair on the back of my hand on skin level.
 
Cool. So are you pleased with how the Tormek works on kitchen blades?
 
Yes, very much.
Most kitchen knives i only sharpen & deburr freehand on the Tormek, and thusfar the owners are pleased with the performance & longevity of the edges.

I would also recommend the SB-250 black silicon carbide stone over the SG-250 aluminium oxide stone when sharpening most modern (high alloy) stainless steels (for low alloy carbon steel the SG-250 works better & faster) and to run the stone in water with a bit of detergent in it.
This helps to avoid glazing by keeping the pores of the stone open & clean, which in turn allows you to sharpen with just the minimum of pressure.
It also acts a bit like a lubricant, which will noticeably diminish the "grabbing effect" of the stone, which is especially beneficial when freehanding.
Now i use a product called Blue Wonder, but i've heard that's not available in the US.
Windex seems to be a good alternative.
Look for something that is already thin like water, has a strong degreasing effect, and foams as little as possible.
 
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I just bought a Kohetsu HAP40 Bunka. I don’t plan to immediately reprofile it, but I was wondering what edge geometry others have eventually settled on.

I plan to use mine mostly for slicing vegetables, fish, and meat. I am not planning to cut hard breads or do any chopping.
 
From what i have seen so far with 3 Kohetsu HAP40 models ~20 degrees inclusive has proven to work very well for these knives, both for the home cook and for the professional Chef.
And even at this low inclusive edge angle the steel seems to have some reserve left.

The edge finish however is very personal: the avid home Chef still only uses his knife with the highly polished 1.0 micron diamond compound edge done on Paper Wheels, while the professional Chef is currently using his knife with a 1000 grit edge done on waterproof SiC paper using WD40 as a lubricant, and deburred on hard cardboard with 1.0 micron diamond paste.
 
kwackster said:
From what i have seen so far with 3 Kohetsu HAP40 models ~20 degrees inclusive has proven to work very well for these knives, both for the home cook and for the professional Chef.
And even at this low inclusive edge angle the steel seems to have some reserve left.

The edge finish however is very personal: the avid home Chef still only uses his knife with the highly polished 1.0 micron diamond compound edge done on Paper Wheels, while the professional Chef is currently using his knife with a 1000 grit edge done on waterproof SiC paper using WD40 as a lubricant, and deburred on hard cardboard with 1.0 micron diamond paste.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I am glad to hear that 20 degrees inclusive has been working well for multiple people!

I am biased towards push cutting performance, so I plan to finish sharpening on a 1200 grit Venev diamond stone polish the edge on a leather strop with a 1 micron diamond abrasive. If I end up pushing to a lower angle than 20 degrees inclusive, without excessive rolling or chipping, I will try to remember to report my results back in this thread.
 
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