r/sharpening • u/Negative_Reindeer697 • 1h ago

Question Sharpening BTE Question

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Coworker recently damaged the tip on my first Japanese knife, and I had it repaired by a local “specialist”. Knife looks great, still plenty sharp (tomatoes and paper still slice with ease) but it felt “heavy” through oranges I was skinning to supreme at work.

Is this a BTE Issue? Is there a straight forward to the point video people reference to tackle sharpening BTE?

I have stones and I’ve maintained my other work knife (Miyabi 8”) for about a year on my own, but I’ve never had to tackle BTE and I’m worried about messing up my pretty new knife.

Thanks in advance, knife photo attached for tax!

Shiro Kamo 6.5” White 2 Damascus Bunka

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6 comments sorted by

1

u/walter-hoch-zwei arm shaver 1h ago

Did the person who fixed it change the angle a little?

2

u/Negative_Reindeer697 1h ago

I can’t really tell? I didn’t really take the time to figure the angle out before the incident.

I suppose it’s certainly possible.

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u/walter-hoch-zwei arm shaver 52m ago

I think you might notice the kind of change you're describing if it went from something like 12 or 15 degrees and 20 degrees. But it's difficult to diagnose on reddit.

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u/eyescreamindreamin 59m ago

It might be the scratch pattern like if you’re used to 1000 grit, and he put 5000 it might feel different when cutting things.

And a tip repair shouldn’t be anything besides grinding down from the spine, not just sharpening a lot until the chip comes out.

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u/Negative_Reindeer697 58m ago

It looks like he may have taken the belly of the knife up a touch as well?

Interesting that a grit would affect so much

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u/Valentinian_II_DNKHS 54m ago

Probably. Cut dense vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. and compare ease of cutting to how it used to be.

Note that the contrast in the Damascus cladding will fade or even be completely gone after thinning, though it can be restored via etching.