How to Clean, Polish and Sharpen a Very Rusty Knife Back Into Perfect Culinary Condition

Cleaning Knife

Jun Yoshizuki of Jun’s Kitchen who likes to prepare food with his beloved longhaired orange cat named Kohaku nearby, demonstrated how he was able bring a very rusty traditional Japanese knife back to perfect culinary condition. Jun first cleaned and polished, then sharpened the knife, repeating the process over and over until the metal was able to reflect Kohaku’s image and the edge was able to effortlessly cut through a sheet of paper or cut a daikon radish into a delicate rose. But Jun had a much higher purpose in transforming this knife

So the other day, I went to a recycle store to get rid of some of my stuff. And when I went to the store, there was a guy who was trying to sell his stuff. And one of the things he was trying to sell was this traditional Japanese knife. But because it’s so crappy, the store didn’t want it at all. …So after he was done, I talked to him and asked if he would sell it to me. …I bought this knife for $3 anyway. You know… I still feel like I lost to that guy. So today I’m gonna sharpen and clean this knife as much as I can and make that guy jealous and regret selling it to me for ONLY $3.

Cat Reflected in Knife

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.