Outside young craftspeople to support (6)

For us, we had no choice but to keep close watch.

 

応援したい外部の若手職人 (6)

僕達にとっては、近くで見守るしかないという状況がずっと続きました。

Later, thanks in part to his new supporter, he was able to move his base and finally resume knife making.

For starters, he made us a sample using the same steel as WT, which we immediately sharpened in-house.
Unfortunately, however, a problem arose when the cutting edge was sharpened thinly, causing it to bend and chip easily.

In knife making, even a slight change in temperature during the heat treatment of each process often has a significant impact on quality.

Perhaps the conditions in each process have changed slightly since he moved to a new location, even though he thought he was manufacturing in the same way with the same equipment.
Or perhaps his skills have become dull due to the long period of time he was unable to make knives himself.

In any case, we will continue to sharpen our samples until the problem is solved.

↑ Sample of this time with problems（問題が起きた今回のサンプル）

その後、彼の新たな支援者さんのお陰もあり、拠点を移した彼はようやく包丁作りを再開できるようになりました。

手始めに彼は、WTと同じ鋼材でサンプルを作ってくれたので、早速自社で研いでみました。
ところが、残念ながら刃先を薄く研いだ時に曲がったり、簡単に欠けてしまう不具合が出てしまいました。

包丁作りは、各工程の熱処理における温度が少し変わっただけでも、品質に大きな影響を及ぼすことが多々あります。

拠点を移したことにより、同じ設備で同じように製造しているつもりでも、各工程での条件が微妙に変わってしまったのか、あるいは彼自身包丁を作れない期間が長かったために、腕が鈍っているのかも知れません。

いずれにせよ問題が解決するまで、僕達はサンプルを研ぎ続けます。