05-07-2018, 10:14 AM
The friction they speak of is a misnomer. Actually, the large fuller makes it easier to sharpen because you don't have to remove much steel. On the fuller side, you lay the whole blade on the stone, but the blade only touches the stone where it's Not Fullered. The fullered side is Dead Flat, except for the fuller. There is no edge bevel on the fullered side.
In the other pictures in the first link, you can see how the off side is ground sort of Skandi-ish. That would dictate the edge angle, because this sort of grind doesn't use any edge bevel.
I would say it's not that difficult to forge a big fuller into the blade. Of course it takes the right equipment to make it easier, and a little practice would help, but I know I could forge blades like this. I actually want to, and probably will.
The secret is simply forging the fuller first, then just grinding the bevels on the other side. If you had an angled swage block, or a shallow angle cut out of your anvil, it would be very easy to forge these blades.
Now that I've seen this, I'm surprised it isn't more common, but the reason for the fuller would be largely defeated unless you want a very thin edge (like a razor). It's the same for Japanese yanagibas, which are used for making very thin slices of fish for sushi. If you aren't making sushi, you might not want a yanagi.
It's like THIS or any other yanagi. One side has a big wide bevel (like a Skadi grind). The "back" side is hollow ground, so when you lay the back side of the blade on the stone, the stone only touches the perimeter of the hollow ground, which means you barely take any steel off that side. When you sharpen these, you scrub most of the steel off the big flat bevel, then deburr by laying the hollow ground side flat on the stone. With Yakut knives, the fuller acts like the hollow ground side of a yanagi.
This is not to say that you couldn't add a microbevel (or small primary bevel) to the "Skandi" grind opposite the fuller side, to increase the edge angle to make the blade suitable for normal tasks. The fuller side would always remain perfectly flat.
A lot of people "cheat", and microbevel yanagis too, which makes them Very much easier to sharpen. It also provides a much less acute edge angle, which makes the edge much stronger.
If that's not perfectly clear, I'll take pictures of my yanagi.
In the other pictures in the first link, you can see how the off side is ground sort of Skandi-ish. That would dictate the edge angle, because this sort of grind doesn't use any edge bevel.
I would say it's not that difficult to forge a big fuller into the blade. Of course it takes the right equipment to make it easier, and a little practice would help, but I know I could forge blades like this. I actually want to, and probably will.
The secret is simply forging the fuller first, then just grinding the bevels on the other side. If you had an angled swage block, or a shallow angle cut out of your anvil, it would be very easy to forge these blades.
Now that I've seen this, I'm surprised it isn't more common, but the reason for the fuller would be largely defeated unless you want a very thin edge (like a razor). It's the same for Japanese yanagibas, which are used for making very thin slices of fish for sushi. If you aren't making sushi, you might not want a yanagi.
It's like THIS or any other yanagi. One side has a big wide bevel (like a Skadi grind). The "back" side is hollow ground, so when you lay the back side of the blade on the stone, the stone only touches the perimeter of the hollow ground, which means you barely take any steel off that side. When you sharpen these, you scrub most of the steel off the big flat bevel, then deburr by laying the hollow ground side flat on the stone. With Yakut knives, the fuller acts like the hollow ground side of a yanagi.
This is not to say that you couldn't add a microbevel (or small primary bevel) to the "Skandi" grind opposite the fuller side, to increase the edge angle to make the blade suitable for normal tasks. The fuller side would always remain perfectly flat.
A lot of people "cheat", and microbevel yanagis too, which makes them Very much easier to sharpen. It also provides a much less acute edge angle, which makes the edge much stronger.
If that's not perfectly clear, I'll take pictures of my yanagi.