My last post covered some natural whetstones I bought. I also mentioned the Japanese sujihiki kitchen knife I sharpened with the natural whetstones. I don’t usually pay much attention to the handles on my kitchen knives – I have both Japanese traditional style (called wa in Japanese) and western style handles (called yo in Japanese).

But the handle on my sujihiki kind of bothered me – it felt coarse in my hand and the transition from the ferrule to the wood handle wasn’t smooth. I never liked the plastic ferrule either. I saw a sale notification from Tokushu Knife for replacement wa handles. Tokushu Knife is located in Tennessee and the handles they had on sale are locally made and looked to nice. I ordered an ebony handle with a padauk ferrule.

Tokushu shipped promptly, but the USPS fumbled. Tracking showed the handle leaving the USPS facility in Chattanooga with no further information for a week. Then it showed it at the USPS facility in Memphis. What did they do, walk it to Memphis? A week to progress from Chattanooga to Memphis is ridiculous. It finally arrived here after 10 days or so.

Getting the old handle off wasn’t an easy task. I tried several methods and in the end I had to use a chisel to split it. I found hot melt glue holding the blade tang to the chestnut wood handle. I had tried heating the knife by submerging the handle in boiling water, but apparently the wood insulated the glue and it wouldn’t melt. I didn’t want to overheat the metal.

It took about 30 minutes of filing with needle files to get the fitment of the new handle right. Then I shaved a hot melt glue stick and put the shavings inside the handle opening. I heated the tip of the tang with a kitchen torch – the type you would use to glaze sugar on creme brulee. I held the blade by the spine near the heel – the heat never went past the tang. The blade slid into the hot glue and I let it set for a few minutes. It was a great fit. Everything is aligned and the depth into the handle is just right. Altogether it took a little over an hour – I was thinking it would be a 20-minute job.

I have another kitchen knife story. The dollar is very strong against the Japanese yen right now. My most recent purchase was a nakiri from Japanese Chef Knives. It was made by Teruyasu Fujiwara from pre-laminated Yasuki Shirogami #1 steel and is part of his Nashiji line of knives. I love cutting with it. But, I couldn’t help stepping up to the next level – a Teruyasu Fujiwara Maboroshi Nakiri. I had to order one and wait for it to be made. Teruyasu-san has three levels of knives he hand makes. The entry level is the Nashiji line made from pre-laminated steel.

The next step up is the Maboroshi line. These have the same shirogami core steel, but the stainless cladding over the core steel is hand forge welded by Teruyasu. This means it is repeatedly heated and hammered and this changes the molecular structure of the steel for the better. The pre-laminated steels use the same materials to make a three-layer blank, but they are made by running the sheets of steel through a high pressure roller. This works well, but it can’t match the quality of hand forging.

Very few bladesmiths have the ability to forge weld the hard shirogami core steel to a soft stainless cladding. I can only think of a few. Most Japanese bladesmiths laminate soft iron over the hard core steel, which is easier to do but it negates the advantage of using a stainless steel to cover the corrosion prone core steel.

By ordering direct, I was given the choice of a custom kanji on the left side of the blade. The right side has the Teruyasu usual signature. I asked Ayano at the customer service if he could create a kanji for Koop. Apparently this was a hard concept to create phonetically, so he offered a couple of suggestions. This is what he suggested:

【光峰】: “光” means luminosity or brilliance, and “峰” means a high mountain or peak. This kanji symbolizes that the person is a person who brings brilliance to those around him or her and pursues the heights to which he or she should aspire.

It might be a little over-the-top, but I went with it. After about nine weeks, I received an e-mail telling me the knife was ready to ship. They sent me pictures.

The knife arrived two days later and it was worth it.

I’ve been doing dinner prep for Donna. She comes up with a dish to make and then sets out the ingredients to be cut. I cut the ingredients and usually will place them on a quarter-sheet pan and she can use them as she prepares our meal. She calls me her sous-chef, but I hardly qualify for that title. I think I’m more like an amateur prep cook. Last night I was getting ready to cut potatoes for Donna – she was making potato salad to go with the Memphis-style babyback ribs I had in the Traeger smoker-grill. I asked her how she wanted the potatoes cut. She said “Let me show you.” I handed her the Maboroshi nakiri – she never uses my Japanese kitchen knives – she was amazed at how it split the potato with no effort at all.

While I’m on the subject of sharp, shiny objects, I want to talk about something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I wrote a post a few years ago about the shaving razor business model where some companies will give you the razor handle to get you on the hook to buy disposable plastic razor cartridges from them. This model took hold back in the 1970s and the marketing machine has convinced us that we need two, three, five or more blades in the razor cartridge to get a decent shave.

I remember the razors my dad and grandpa used – they were called double edge safety razors. No plastic. I’ve read that the EPA estimates over a billion plastic razor cartridges end up in landfills every year in the USA. That’s a lot of plastic bits.

I’ve found there’s a cult-like following for shaving the old-fashioned way with a safety razor or a straight razor – it’s called wet shaving. No more plastic disposable junk – with ever escalating replacement costs. With a safety razor or straight razor, you pay up front a one-time cost for the razor. With a straight razor you need to develop sharpening skills (or send it to a sharpener), but there are vintage straight razors on the market that are 100 years old! With a safety razor you still need blades, but they are ten to twenty cents a piece and they are recyclable metal – no plastic. Again, these razors can last for generations.

There are forums such as Badger and Blade where you can learn how to wet shave and what equipment to buy or avoid. There are also countless YouTube videos. I jumped aboard this train. I went head first and bought a straight razor.

I bought a Ralf Aust 5/8 straight razor. Ralf is a craftsman in Germany running a one-man shop assisted by his wife with the bookkeeping and shipping. The photo didn’t pick up the laser engraving on the blade – it says “Solinger Handarbeit.” This translates as “Handcrafted in Solingen.” The scales (handle) on this model are made from redwood.

I have plenty of sharpening stones and some sharpening skills. A straight razor is different from a kitchen or pocket knife though. The techniques are similar, yet different.

For one thing, razors need to be finished to a higher level of refinement than a knife. Most people prefer a certain level of “toothiness” in a kitchen or pocket knife – unless they’re cutting sushi. A truly razor-sharp edge might not “bite” into a tomato or pepper skin. This toothiness would make a shaving razor very uncomfortable.

So, I needed a finishing stone for my razor. I wanted go natural, so I bought a rectangular Belgian coticule finishing stone with a small bout – called a nagura in sharpening circles.

The Belgian coticule is a whole story by itself – it will have to wait for another post.

You also should have a couple of strops on hand for a straight razor. These used to be common items in barber shops. I now have two hanging strops – one made in Germany from linen and one made in Morocco from cow hide.

Well, shaving with a straight razor is not straight forward. It’s scary! Putting a razor sharp blade against your face is daunting. It takes skill to successfully shave with it. Acquiring that skill can be a painful experience. After a few bloody experiences, I decided I needed to take baby steps. It was suggested on the forum to start by only shaving the easy parts – your cheeks – until you get a better feel for it.

If you know me, you know I also shave my head. This would be impossible for me to do with a straight razor – what was I thinking? I’d probably cut my ears off!

Well, I really wanted to ditch the disposable cartridge razor. So I ordered a safety razor. That’s a whole ‘nother topic with much to learn – but it’s not nearly the learning curve of a straight razor. I call it my training wheels – I can shave my cheeks with the straight razor, then shift to the safety razor to finish my neck and touch up areas. I can also shave my head with it. High quality safety razor blades can be obtained on the internet for about $10 for 100 blades.

My safety razor is made in Italy by Goodfellas’ Smile. The model is Bayonetta and it is CNC machined from brass. It’s a little aggressive, I have to be careful shaving my head. But I’m enjoying the process and I understand the reason why guys and gals do this. That’s probably enough about sharp, shiny objects for now – I’ll be revisiting this sub-culture topic.

I only have one dinner plate photo for this post. Not that Donna hasn’t made many photo-worthy dinner plates, I’ve just neglected to photograph them. This is one-pan tortellini with sausage and fennel soup.

Chopping the fennel was interesting – the recipe used all of the parts. I thinly sliced the stalks and bulb, then minced the fronds. It was an excellent dinner!

My last tennis lesson for the season was a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been playing some informal pick-up games. Summer play will begin tomorrow. I played pickleball for a couple of hours yesterday and I think all of the tennis has actually improved some aspects of my pickleball game – I was on fire despite not playing recently while I concentrate on tennis.

The weather has been great. A little on the warm side, but mostly comfortable. We’ve had highs in the upper 70s to 80s. A 90 degree day here and there and more 90s to come. I’m not complaining.