Detailed explanation of knife and sword sharpening levels.

Wear-resistant satin finish: This process is generally found on some trial cutting knives. It maintains a certain sharpness while the blade surface exhibits a satin effect, helping to minimize surface marks after trial cuts.

Ten-step hand sharpening: This has a certain mirror effect and good sharpness, but lacks true horizontal lines, generally done with machine grinding first.

Twelve-step hand sharpening: This method provides an excellent mirror finish and sharpness, with prominent grain patterns and true horizontal lines. Knife enthusiasts pursuing sharpness are advised to choose the twelve-step grind.

Cosmetic grind: This is a beautification process based on the twelve-step grind. It has a certain three-color effect and is suitable for knife enthusiasts on a budget who still want some aesthetic appeal.

Level 3 upper grind: We have excellent traditional grinding techniques, but for cost-effectiveness, we combine traditional and modern grinding methods to present a clear surface and delicate blade patterns while maintaining high cost-performance. It features good edge whiteness, dark surface, and bright grain effects.

Level 2 upper grind: This builds on the "Level 3 upper grind" by incorporating more Japanese traditional grinding techniques like "wiping" and "taking," enhancing the fullness and detail of the blade patterns. It excels in aesthetics. Of course, as the craftsmanship improves, the time and financial costs also increase.

Level 1 upper grind: As the name suggests, this is the highest level of sharpening we can currently achieve, using traditional Japanese grinding techniques on a knife. It beautifully showcases the blade patterns and fine surface textures, with excellent edge whiteness, dark surface, and bright grain effects. During the grinding process, over ten types of whetstones may be used. For the initial grinding, 6 to 7 types of whetstones will be utilized. The subsequent finishing grind, after going through processes like edge enhancement, surface enhancement, wiping, edge taking, and polishing, presents a beautiful result. It is important to note that "edge taking" is a crucial step in modern grinding, aimed at gradually revealing the dynamic details within the blade patterns while also whitening the entire edge. The so-called "cosmetic" process occurs at this stage. However, "cosmetic" is not "plastic surgery"; it is about faithfully reflecting the details of the blade while correcting slight imperfections, not creating nonexistent elements. The time and financial costs associated with this can be very high, but it also holds significant collectible and aesthetic value.

The Level 1 upper grind is divided into two types, depending on the characteristics of the steel and blade patterns:

First type: The blade patterns are more bold, and the edge whiteness is clearer, but it sacrifices some internal detail of the edge. The effects of edge whiteness, dark surface, and bright grain are pronounced. This is a modern grinding method developed in Japan after the era of Honami.

Second type: The dynamic details within the blade patterns are more prominent, focusing on details such as feet and leaves produced during the edge burning process. The three-color contrast of edge whiteness, dark surface, and bright grain is not as pronounced as in the first type. Both types of "Level 1 upper grind" use the same techniques, differing only in their focus during grinding. The specific grinding method depends on the overall condition of the blade, with one method chosen to enhance the overall effect.