Shiny Stuff

Folks, the mirror like finish on the relief face, or bevels is achieved by using a progression of stones, in this case up to 15,000 grit. The trick is to create the relief face at a very acute angle and for this knife I used a 12 degree angle and started at a 120 grit Japanese Water Stone. The stones I do use of are a superb quality and the real trick is to be very patient and not to move to finer stone until all the scratches are removed from the previous one. I use a loupe to ensure that this is the case. It is all good fun and extremely rewarding.
This is a Henckels I just did for a client.

It is a lot of work in terms of time on the knife and the absolute care to ensure that the exact angle is maintained with every different stone. This is a little challenging considering not all stones are of equal width but with practice and technique it all comes together to create what is quite a very nice effect and one that actually enhances the cutting of food. The mirror bevel is very smooth so food just slides over it.
COOL eh.