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finally got some time to write up a knife thread, glad I checked if there was another before starting! I will write up some stuff on metals and stuff I guess. And maybe blade geometry. Chef de Cuisinart PM'd me about writing stuff about sharpening, edge thinning, complex knife work, and other stuff, too. I would also add a section on just the basic differences between European and Japanese knives. It's more than just Japanese knives are harder. European knives are designed to be mass produced. The steel choice comes strictly from their ability to die forge them in bulk. From step one they are all about quantity. It is literally impossible for them to use harder steel because they would have to completely change their manufacturing process. This isn't necessarily bad, per se, but you just need to know that a European knife has a steel hardness in the low 50's HRC. This means that the whole philosophy of sharpening and edge holding is completely different. European knives are made thicker. Some people like this, I don't. Because they have softer steel they cannot take a more "aggressive" edge and they need frequent honing (the process of straightening out the edge). This softer steel means that the thin edge literally bends as you use it, and honing causes it to realign straight. Like bending a paperclip back and forth, it will eventually break and you will have no edge anymore, this is when you need to resharpen. Edges on Japanese knives don't flop around like a wet noodle like the ones on European knives. They just wear out. As a result Japanese knives really only need touching up with a ceramic rod with a full sharpening as per schedule to maintain a straight and true edge from heel to tip. (This is generally speaking of course, there are exceptions). Japanese knives typically start around 60 HRC for something like a VG-10 (stainless, cheap, durable, beginner friendly) but get pretty ridiculous up to around 65 HRC for some types of aogami super (carbon steel, stains, oxidizes, expensive, incredibly durable, pain in the rear end to sharpen, not recommended for beginners). Japanese knife types and their European equivalents: Chef's Knives  gekko gyuto by gtrwndr87, on Flickr Gyuto: French-style Chef's knife. Long (> 210mm, 8.25" up to around 300, I prefer the 240 and 270mm lengths). They come in both western and "wa" handled versions and in most steels. They are the closest thing to a standard European chef's knife. They have a decent belly, though some have more of a belly than others. If swoopy chopping is your thing this is a very important thing to consider. Also, if you are a swooperrockerchopper you will want to avoid:  Santoku: A straighter edged knife for all around chefknife type duty. It has less of a belly than a gyuto and a blunt nose. They also tend to be much shorter than a gyuto (typically < 180mm, 7"). They are fine for doing some veg prep, but personally I don't really care for them. A lot of people do, though, so my word is not gospel. Personally though, I would rather have a CCK small cleaver than a santoku as they have more blade face real estate for smacking garlic and scooping stuff off of cutting boards.  Kiritsuke: A nearly completely bellyless chef knife. If you are a chopper and don't do much rocking or swooping at all, this is the knife for you! It has a hard angled tip for more precision stuff, too.  Nakiri: Sort of a longish, shorter cleaver. These are pretty much only used for prepping vegetables. If you are a chopper, notrocker who cooks primarily vegetarian, this is the knife for you! Slicers  Sujihike: The closest thing to a western slicer. They are long and thin and double beveled. If you want a slicer that will perform almost identically to a western slicer this is the one you want. I personally wouldn't get a sujihike (or any slicer for that matter) shorter than 270mm.  Yanagi(-ba): These are the glorious very expensive single purpose knives that your itamaes at your favorite sushi restaurant smuggled in his suitcase to be able to use stateside. They are technically slicing knives, but they are also sort of quirky to use due to their single bevel edge (!) and hollow grind (!) on one side (!). If you don't know what these three things are and how they affect your cutting, chances are you don't need them, so you should just get a sujihike. Other stuff  Tadatsuna 150mm petty by gtrwndr87, on Flickr  Hayashi Dojo 80mm paring by gtrwndr87, on Flickr Petty: Utility to longer paring knives (~70-170mm). These work the duty of utility knives. They have a very slim smooth profile with a thin blade. These are great for intricate knife work you may need to do.  Deba: Heavy duty knife meant for cutting through fish bones. They tend to be thicker over all and will not use hard brittle steels as they will just chip when under normal use. These are the knives that itamaes use to dismantle a whole 400lb tuna for sushi service.  Honesuke: Chicken boning knife. This is a unique tool specifically used for dismantling chickens. +many many many many others. The Japanese have a knife design for pretty much every application you can think of (no seriously there are over 100 unique knife styles with appropriate names).  readmore: http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/usetype/all/index.shtml A primer on Japanese steels I'm not a metallurgist so I will keep the metallurgy to a minimum and allow those who want to talk about it to talk about it in the thread. Basically, though, you have steel and you add poo poo to it to get certain traits you want you can't just keep adding poo poo though because after a certain point the balance gets thrown off and you have an unusable metal, this is the subject of much much spergery. So people at places like Hitachi go off and study this stuff for a really long time and when they have a blend they like they give it a fancy name that is sometimes named due to the characteristics of its metallurgy but most of the time is just a weird name. Some stuff shamelessly ripped off of Japanesechefsknife.com quote:Carbon (C) There are two camps of Japanese steel: Carbon and stainless. Stainless steels are slightly softer but are generally easier to care for. The most common in Japanese knives is probably VG-10 which is a great all around knife steel because it can take a great edge but it is also easy to sharpen and doesn't stain easily. For most people VG-10 is probably the best steel to get IMO. There are also other steels like AUS8, CrMoVwhatever, etc, these are all stainless steels and have certain things that make them better than each other for certain traits, but really most knives are VG-10 so I guess we can keep the others for specific knifechat in the thread. "Damascus" knives are typically VG-10 also. note on "Damascus" steel. No one really knows how to make true Damascus steel anymore. The secret has been lost. Sorry. Most Damascus steel you see either out of Seki City or out of the European copies are just etched stainless steel. It is no doubt pretty, but know that it is not the real thing. This is coming from someone who has a Damascus clad VG-10 gyuto, so, yeah, I'm not just shittalking. This includes Shun kai knives. Carbon steels are hard. There is not really such thing as a mass produced carbon steel knife, at least not to the levels you will find Henckels or Wusthofs or whatever. They have to be hammered and forged by hand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qABAEcmPvyg This is why you will not find a shirogami whatever in your local bed bath and beyond. Carbon steel also oxidizes/rusts/takes on a patina. There are many carbon steels used in knifemaking. Here is a nice synopsis from someone else on the internet: quote:A Quick Summary of Hitachi Carbon Steels Common in Knives So from this we can see that a 20 piece cornucopia of knives all of the same steel is actually not very good at all... You want to pick steels based on intended knife use and the amount of effort you are willing to put into maintaining the edge on said knife. It is widely accepted that shirogami is the best for slicing knives since it takes the best edge. Shirogami #1 specifically is loved for use with yanagis. For daily use gyutos and the like, VG-10 is a great candidate, but if you are willing to put a bit more effort into care, the aogami family of steels are very awesome for this purpose. If you are a vegetarian who chops a lot of leafy veg, you can probably buy an aogami super nakiri and never ever have to sharpen it ever. Boning knives like a honesuke or a deba, you probably don't want something super duper brittle because it will just chip when used aggressively, VG-10 or AUS8 are great candidates here. Gravity's Knife recommendations: Start with a Chef's knife type of knife and a paring knife. Use them for a while and pick up auxiliary knives as you find need for them. Pick a chef's knife based on your cutting style and what you prepare a lot of. If you like a lot of blade real estate and a belly, get a gyuto. If you don't care for bellies, get a kiritsuke. If you prefer shorter knives get a santoku. If you only ever cut vegetables get a nakiri. Pick a steel based on the level of effort you're willing to exert into maintenance. The Tojiro DP's are great stainless knives and come in pretty much all shapes you could care for. The Tojiro ITK's are great and super affordable shirogami knives. Moritaka makes some pretty fantastic knives for slightly more. Talk to Ricola about custom ordering your very own kitchen broadsword and the regrets that ensue. If I were to start from square one I would buy a Tojiro ITK 240mm Gyuto and a Hiyashi Dojo 80 mm paring. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Jul 3, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 20:19
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on Shun Kai: A lot of people use and love these so I'll tread (kind of) lightly I guess. They have made Japanese knives a lot more popular, so that is a good thing. They are Damascus clad VG-10 (though they call it VG-MAX, w/e it's overpriced VG-10, the characteristics of the steel are mostly the same) knives. This in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, it's just how expensive they are. You can get the same knife for less. It's also how many just utterly ridiculous knife shapes they have   not to mention the ken onion series  I dunno, if you're someone who happens to like them, more power to you, but I just think they're overpriced for what you get. on globals: More toe stepping! Globals use a steel called chromova 18. It's a stainless steel, harder than the Euros but softer than most Japanese, and from that I draw my prejudice. They're pricy, forged knives, that use a soft steel. They're kind of the midway mark between a Zwilling and a Tojiro DP for a price higher than both. Also I think the handles are atrocious to hold, but that's admittedly personal preference. so yeah, that's my opinion on those. I admit that it's not gonna ring true with everyone and I'll probably get poo poo for posting it.
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Jul 2, 2013 23:26
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Throw the Kiwi brand Meat Cleaver into the meat cleaver recommendation area. It's < 10bux and holds a great edge. If people are looking for great knives to practice sharpening on, the Kiwis in general are very cheap and are made of decent steel. I would put the Tojiro ITK gyuto in the mid price chef's knife rec for someone looking for carbon steel. Honsho Kanemasa E series is also good and boasts SK4 steel which is a skosh harder than VG-10, but really just a skosh. They're also midtier. In the mid price paring section, the one you have pictured is the same one I have and is a Hiyashi Dojo 80mm. I would recommend that one highly. It is in the mid-ish range. Stainless clad Aogami Super, which is a fantastic combination. It will eventually look like this:  with a stainless jacket exposing the patina'd Aogami super edge. Honsho Kanemasa E series Sujihiki 270mm is a very good mid tier slicer in SK-4. The Tojiro DP sujihiki 270mm also good for pretty much the same price in VG-10. For those who are looking for an affordable yanagi, the Tojiro ITK is ~100bux and is shirogami. This is admittedly not very many people and I think it only comes in a right handed version. Santoku, again, I would add the Tojiro ITK 165mm which is scraping the low end price range at 50bux and is shirogami  Yeah, the Tojiro ITK's in general are pretty ridiculous. They are a steal and a half. If you don't mind babying it a bit, the Kyocera ceramic Santoku will hold a great edge but you wont be able to really hack at things with it because it is very brittle.Cutting board recommendations: If you don't care about looks, the Sani Tuff boards are fantastic. They are completely sanitizable, they heal like a wood board, and they are resurfaceable like a wood board. Though they are admittedly a bit clinical in aesthetics. The Boardsmith makes absolutely gorgeous end grain boards if you want the prettiest thing ever. quote:Q: How should I wash my knives? Not just the agitation from the water, the hot prolonged exposure to that water and all that ish in there is just awful awful awful for handles, both wood and plastic. If you have carbon knives, it's even worse for the steel. tl;dr dishwashering your knives means you are worse than Hitler.  I use a natural fiber scotch brite two sided sponge (http://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Brite-Natural-Scrubbing-Sponge-1-Count/dp/B0015MO4F4). I like these because they don't scratch surfaces like the green pads do, but they still scrub very well. I fold it in half widthwise and pinch-hold it such that you have a rounded exposed scrubby bit and I use this with a dab of soap and some water to clean the surface of the knife. Dry the knife completely (and carefully) with a dish towel after rinsing and apply oil if your climate/steel/aspergers requires you to. One thing I would like a recommendation for: A good but affordable knife roll. I am not a pro cheffy chef but I've been called upon to pinch hit cook for a few events here and there lately, I've been rolling up with my gyuto in its box and my thermapen. I'd like something that wont break the bank but will also still protect my knives. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jul 3, 2013 |
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Jul 3, 2013 20:25
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Boner Slam posted:i could get a Tojiro Sankotu or a Kyocera Ceramic Sankotu of the same length for the same price. Which one would you prefer? Depends if you feel like having to put up with ceramic and how it may chip or crack. It's not super fragile but it is definitely a real danger.
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Jul 4, 2013 05:09
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Having never used one, it seems to me like it would be hard to maintain proper blade curvature with one of those. Might work really well with something like a kiritsuke or CCK cleaver though.
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Jul 4, 2013 17:03
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Would love to read your method of sharpening. I can put a pretty good edge on but I'm always down to learn ways to up my game.
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Jul 6, 2013 08:05
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For some of the lurkers or European knife users who have never tried a Japanese knife who might think we're just stroking our e-dicks about the edges you can put on these Japanese knives, I just accidentally did this: Shaved off a single layer of skin from my middle finger while working to remove a nick in the edge of my Damascus clad vg10 gyuto. Happened when I was kind of in a rhythm and just started to auto pilot and my left hand proceeded my right ever so slightly on a push stroke and it didn't take much at all next thing I know there's a super thin flap of skin on my waterstone.
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Jul 8, 2013 02:23
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Let's talk slicers! I feel like adding a slicer to my line up. I'm torn. The side of me that wants to brag wants a yanagi, maybe the Tojiro shirogami #2 but the practical side of me thinks I should just get a sujihiki. I kinda do want it to be carbon steel. I would prefer it to be "wa" handled, but I also don't feel like I would use it enough to warrant a crazy price or a custom order. So yeah, I guess here are my options: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/fujiwara.html Fujiwara, 270mm sujihiki, SK-4, western handled http://japan-blades.com/chef-knives/370.html Honsho-Kanemasa, 270mm sujihiki, SK-4, western. Very similar to the fujiwara in specs, 30bux more, un sure if there is a quality/geometry difference to justify the price difference. I will say that the tip of this one with the angled down spine looks pretty sexy and the blade curve is super flat. 30bux more? shrug. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshya27.html Tojiro, 270mm Yanagi, Shirogami #2, Japanese handled. Usual single bevel worries apply. Worth mentioning in case others are interested in slicers: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/riar27su.html Richmond Artifex, designed by the owner of chefknivestogo.com. AEB-L steel (stainless). 270mm sujihiki, western handle. I'm not sure I care for a stainless slicer but I am totally open to being convinced. I also am not sure I care for how much of a belly this knife has. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/fufkmsu27.html Fujiwara, 270mm suji, moly/vanadium stainless, western. I have a Tadatsuna petty in this steel and it's awesome. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpslkn27.html Tojiro DP, 270mm suji, VG10. http://japan-blades.com/recommend/1824.html Minamoto-Kanemasa, 270mm suji. japan-blades.com design. 2N steel, whatever the hell that is. I might be interested if I knew what "2N Carbon steel" was. Comes in RH/LH edges so I'm assuming it's 70/30 beveled or something, not sure if I want to deal with that, either. I guess the blade I am envisioning is something like the Honsho Kanemasa in geometry, in shiro or ao, with a "wa" handle, but admittedly, that is into custom order territory. Currently leaning towards the Fujiwara suji which comes in at very affordable 82bux. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 22:23
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No Wave posted:I just bought this one in the HD model last week in 300mm. I am a home cook and I cook lots of large proteins. I expect greatness! kurouchi finish? It's purely aesthetic, yes. I was interested in taking that moritaka from you until you said that you removed it.. :/ How deep of a discount? What do you mean by you "prefer french style blades"? Do you mean french style handles? A gyuto is a western style blade.  edit for emphasis, your post seriously breaks my heart to hear you did that to a moritaka and that you're going to do it to your CCK.  like, I read it 30 min ago and I had to reread it 3 times to make sure I read it correctly. 
GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Jul 9, 2013 |
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Jul 9, 2013 00:44
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if it's the handle that annoys you you should just get a Tojiro DP or similar. It won't be as superspergysharp capable as the Moritaka but it sounds like you were having a hard time with upkeep of carbon anyway. A few other steels that might interest you and are a bit more midrange like the moritaka (Tojiro is entry level stuff) are Gingami #3 (Hitachi stainless) and the Powdered Tool Steels like ZDP-189. I've never used either of these so I can't say from experience but a lot of people on the internet really like them, lol. They're supposedly carbon steel level hardness with stainless steel care requirements. Edit: I guess powdered tool steel blades are actually well into the "high end" range of prices fwiw. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jul 9, 2013 |
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Jul 9, 2013 01:30
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Just did a few passes on a balsa strop with chromium oxide 0.3 micron and then on 0.1 micron iron oxide compounds and I take back anything disparaging I said about stropping in the product thread.
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Jul 9, 2013 19:05
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The Midniter posted:Let me guess, you typed this post with one hand because you cut one of your fingers off? haha no, but I have had a knife accident that nearly did cut off one of my fingers. It was years ago and I was using sabatiers back then, had I been using the knives I have now, I probably would have cut off my pinky. No, I just went to slice up a tomato from the garden. Super ripe, soft, the kind that would just gush all over the place with most knives. It was sliced super thin and kept itself together really easily and with little more than just the weight of the knife. Edit: general sharpening content. For those who want to get into stropping this is a useful chart for converting abrasive compounds which are usually measured in microns (particle size) into stone/sandpaper grit: http://www.idrockman.com/Documents/Grit-Mesh-MicronConversionChart.pdf GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Jul 9, 2013 |
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Jul 9, 2013 20:33
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gobboboy posted:I have a japanese water stone with I believe 2k and 6k grit (not at home or else I'd check). I like it a lot but I'm not 100% sure if I'm using it optimally. What would be the best way to know if I am? depends on a lot of things, what kind of angle you're putting on it being the strongest one. Thinning the edge can help a lot, too, though I don't know how well a Wusthof would take to edge thinning. Also 2k and 6k are pretty high and very high grit respectively. 6k is generally a finishing grit for most people who generally only strop or polish on it. 2k is still quite higher than the majority of home cooks will go. You might want to look into getting something in the 800-1k range for more "cut" (how fast steel is removed from the blade). or even in the 500 range if you find yourself removing a lot of nicks.
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Jul 9, 2013 22:34
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Chemmy posted:If I want a round or octagonal handled knife, what's the recommendation under $300? gyuto? Stainless or carbon or exotic?
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Jul 10, 2013 05:54
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Tojiro DP 240mm gyuto. Best $100 knife you're going to find, unless you want to get into non-stainless. There are a few JCK specials that are in the 100ish range and VG-10 too. My JCK Gekko fit and finish was very nice.
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Jul 10, 2013 05:56
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Bag of Sun Chips posted:I'm not seeing anywhere where it says it's for left handed people. It's a 50/50 bevel with a symmetrical handle, it works just as well for lefties as it does for righties. Unless you actually want a D handled asymmetric bevel knife, that is.
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Jul 10, 2013 17:42
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No Wave posted:Basically, just to further explain, there are generally two factors that will make a knife left or right-handed - having an asymetrical handle (a D-handle, for instance, where the round part goes in your palm and the flat part faces away from it), or having a blade where the bevels are asymmetrical, ie, one side of the blade is sharpened more acutely than the other. In the case of most knives, neither of these cases are true, meaning they are appropriate for both left and right handed individuals. Kind of "the problem" as it were of left hand products, as I'm sure sunchips is aware of, is that they tend to be pricier than their right hand equivalents. This is kind of problematic sort of, as most entry level Japanese knives are ~100bux and this implies that their LH equvalents will be at least 25bux over that which put's him over budget if he is indeed looking for a LH specific knife. That said Fujiwara FKH (SK4, Carbon) and FKM (moly/vana Stainless) are both 70/30 so they come in LH versions probably ~100bux. They are ambidextrous handled though. Same with the JCK Kagayaki Basic (VG-1). Though, honestly, I would go with the Tojiro DP and VG10 given these options unless you really really want something carbon or have a thing for 70/30 for whatever reason. I can't find anything that is D handled and left handed this side of mid 200s or so.
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Jul 10, 2013 20:43
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Chemmy posted:Gyuto I suppose. I'm using an 8" chef's knife now, probably would like something longer, don't care about material it'll hardly be the fussiest thing I own. Konosuke as mentioned. You can probably have something custom made from Moritaka if you know for serious what specific blade dimensions you like, too. And if you want to spend just a bit more than 300, I think Takedas are about that much. Edit: seriously look at this beastly fucker  http://www.chefknivestogo.com/tagyas24.html 
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Jul 10, 2013 20:45
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No Wave posted:When I worked in a kitchen, some people had these neat rubber rings that they'd put under the cutting boards so that they wouldn't slip. Felt nicer than having to wet a paper towel every time. Anyone know these/where I can get them? is this it? http://www.amazon.com/San-Jamar-CBM1318-Saf-T-Grip-Board-Mate/dp/B0001MSCKM I usually use a moist papertowel but this looks pretty good I might get it. also, lol @ the 2 star review 
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Jul 11, 2013 02:04
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walruscat posted:I have this knife that has been abused and never maintained for 5 years. My wife chipped the tip off and the edge is chipped all over the place. There's hardly an edge to speak of. it's a santoku so there probably wasn't much of a usable tip to begin with ( </personalbias> ). Personally I wouldn't even bother with trying to get a needle tip but I would put a razor edge on the rest of the knife (I'm assuming you have a petty or paring knife with a better tip for accurate whateveruse anyway). Those nicks on the blade aren't too bad and are pretty normal considering 5 years of use. If you wanted to do it yourself, one stone at about 600 grit would make evening out the nicks very fast. One stone at about 1.2-2k will smooth out the edge pretty nicely and give you a perfectly usable knife. Stropping with balsa and 1 micron compound will give you a fantastically sharp knife. You can fill in any gaps (some people will add a 6-8k stone in there, too but that's kinda gilding the lily) and if you are willing to work with it you can probably get by with just a 1.2k but evening out the nicks will take longer. Or take it in and have it sharpened, it should cost like 5bux maybe.
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Jul 11, 2013 21:44
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What's the likelihood that someone has tried this knife before: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Masamori-Masamori-Sujihiki-270-mm-/281057104263?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41704f1187 Seems way too good too be true to me. Shirogami sujihiki for 64bux? :/ I know that ebay Japanese knives are generally unbranded OEM knives that get sold to other vendors to make up some of their product line (the Gekko -> JCK, Togiharu, etc is an example) but this looks like no other knife I've seen from any other manufacturer. It's probably SK4 or something labelled as shiro.
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Jul 12, 2013 19:01
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So a bit of internetting and I guess that Masamori and Naozumi are both OEM companies. Some listings are much more specific in their steel listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-sujibiki-sujihiki-270mm-meat-knife-Masamori-/280423798909?hash=item414a8f987d, for instance, which lists the steel as Yasuki white carbon steel. No number designation but Yasuki (if true) implies that it is for sure a Hitachi steel. Some other forums were saying things like "it needs to be thinned a lot" which I guess isn't that big of a deal considering a lot of sub 200bux knives can use a deal of thinning. They were also saying that it is actually quite hard, the steel, and takes a long time to thin, which could be a +1 in the camp of it actually being shirogami.
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Jul 12, 2013 20:08
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Hauki posted:Custom moritaka yanagiba ordered. Why do you post this and not be on IRC to talk about it? 
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Jul 14, 2013 00:31
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Hauki posted:Because I'm at work posting from my phone (also ordering knives apparently). How long? Ao super? Anything particular or did you just ask for a yanagi of X length? I was thinking about it more last night and I have almost convinced myself into giving a (single bevel) yanagi such as the Tojiro Shirogami a try as a slicer.
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Jul 14, 2013 00:49
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doop doop I got a new thing: moritaka aogami super 240mm gyuto by gtrwndr87, on Flickr Picked up No Wave's Moritaka. I'm shocked at how light this thing is, it's kind of ridiculous, but I love it. Haven't had any time using it yet, it could use a bit of time on a waterstone though so I might do that first. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Jul 26, 2013 |
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Jul 26, 2013 23:39
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GrAviTy84 posted:doop doop I got a new thing: Thinned a bit and put a new edge on this sucker with a bester 1.2k and then stropped generously on balsa with chromium oxide powder and then again on some iron oxide powder. holy poo poo so sharp. I did notice that the heel end of the blade could use a bit of work. It kind of protrudes ever so slightly relative to the rest of the blade and is probably why No Wave had a hell of a time with swoopychopping with it. I don't really have any stones to work off this kind of a thing though, and I've never done any blade reprofiling, and it's not really that bad for my style of chopping so I may just see if I can live with it for a bit.
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Jul 30, 2013 19:16
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No Wave posted:Apologies for the problem with the knife. I may have a make-up gift for you. It's not bad at all. I have a tadatsuna INOX petty that came with a similar problem (slightly imperfect heel edge). curious what this make up gift is though 
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Jul 30, 2013 23:11
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No Wave posted:I made a few borosilicate honing rods. nice build! PM sent.
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Jul 31, 2013 06:11
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Sir Spaniard posted:Hauki, where did you order that custom knife from? I'm looking at a custom knife as a birthday present for my dad, as well as one for myself possibly. And I like the price of that one. it's from Moritaka Hamono ( http://www.moritakahamono.com/en/index.html). For custom orders you can just email them asking for a price quote. You can get silly spergy with exact dimensions of the blade, etc. Some people have drawn a silhouette of specifically the blade they want and sent in the drawing.
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Jul 31, 2013 06:12
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Sir Spaniard posted:Thanks. I thought so but I couldn't see a link in his posts. Those are some really nice looking knives for a decent price. Any words on quality? A lot of people have them and love them. I just got mine last week so I haven't had too much time with it to have an experienced opinion but it does take a wicked sharp edge. It is probably the cheapest aogami super knife (aside from the dojos). There are a few others in this thread besides me and hauki that have moritakas too. Ricola has a 330 mm custom gyuto (Lol). I think breakfall has a nikiri and maybe another I don't remember. All in all its a pretty solid maker I think. The kurouchi rubs off easier than most as was discussed a few pages ago, but kurouchi rubs off on all of these kurouchi'd knives eventually. It is a super spergy carbon steel so I would take that into consideration when giving it as a gift. Is the recipient going to be willing to keep it dry and wiped down etc or are they going to toss it in the dish washer and leave it at the bottom of the sink and other poo poo people do to their knives.
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Jul 31, 2013 06:42
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woooo! Moritaka is christened...with the blood of its master. That tip is brutal. Just barely nicked my pinky with it while slicing up some chicken.
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Jul 31, 2013 22:23
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gobboboy posted:I'm probably a gigantic knife noob for this, but I've been considering getting this Damascus chef's knife. That is the same OEM knife as a togiharu or a JCK gekko, et al. It is a good knife, I have a gekko myself and it is fantastic. Iirc breakfall's first was a togiharu and he loved it. The edge itself is vg 10 the Damascus is just cladding so you can expect vg10 performance (beginner friendly, easy to sharpen, holds a great edge). 7 inches is pretty small though, at least for me. Maybe consider sizing up.
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Aug 1, 2013 06:59
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Haam posted:Are these Tojiro knives easy to break? I'm going to be living in a dorm with 5 other people and although I'll try to forbid their use I'd like to be able to come home from classes without fear. Unless they're super super respectful of your stuff, any knife you buy and put in a 5 person dorm kitchen will get wrecked to poo poo. Any knife. Get forschners and use their eventual wrecked to shitness to practice sharpening and blade repair skills. Or get a knife roll and be the guy who takes his cooking gear back to his room after he's done cooking. Edit. Or you can go the other route and get such a big and "scary" knife that no one ever uses it. I had a decent sized carbon steel Chinese cleaver when I lived with housemates in college. I could leave it in the kitchen because no one ever used it because it was "scary". GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 08:14 on Aug 2, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2013 08:09
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Hobohemian posted:Anybody have any opinions on this Sabre set of knives:http://www.amazon.com/Saber-German-Steel-Working-Knives/dp/B002QFRSMA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1375717637&sr=1-1&keywords=sabre ? A friend mentioned them to me; it' a full set for only around 330 and seems to have decent reviews. There's a couple in there I doubt I'll ever use, but the price and testimonials seems good enough. Thoughts? If you really need all those knives, I don't know. My go to rec is to buy a chef's knife and a paring knife and start from there. For $330 you can get a very very good chef knife, a very very good petty, and a knife roll if that is important to you and still have change. I mean, this is kind of the equivalent of paying 40bux for a lovely las vegas buffet which will have one of pretty much everything you could ever want but each will be a lovely example of it, or going somewhere that specializes in certain foods and paying 40bux for less variety, but great quality. These knives are X45CrMov15 which is a super stain resistant but fairly soft steel that a lot of lower end manufacturers use (like calphalon, etc). It's in the low 50's Rockwell Hardness. deimos posted:This is zenlike use of a Deba and a sujihiki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltEqIXxBoxg A deba should be single beveled, though, so in practice, it's quite different. Also, debas top out at where gyutos start in terms of length (around 180mm) so the geometry will be quite different when used. If you really like knifezen videos, check out itasan http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj_bzwy94nk9ZJwGruMz4Zg
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Aug 5, 2013 17:40
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Sir Spaniard posted:Pair of Gyuto 28cm knives ordered: Let the long wait commence. What did you order and where did you order from?
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Aug 21, 2013 17:10
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8" is a pretty short chefs knife. Just get the tojiro DP.
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Sep 20, 2013 06:04
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ma i married a tuna posted:I'm getting to the point that I'm ready to tell people to get just about whatever knife - as long as you learn to sharpen. I just bought an acquaintance's used Wusthof Classic 9 inch for 25 bucks after they bought a pricy new set of Shuns. They're now raving about how much better the Shuns are than the Wusthofs - and they're right in the sense that the Wusthof I got couldn't cut butter. I fixed that in 15 minutes, but they opted for the $300 replacement strategy. you can get almost anything "sharp". The thing that changes is how sharp and how long it holds that edge. Shuns are stupid overpriced though so this is a bad example, and they probably bought significantly more knives than they actually need. For someone starting out with no knives, you can do a lot better than wusthofs for the same price.
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Sep 28, 2013 18:54
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blacquethoven posted:Planning on picking up a new knife for work, but I can't decide between The Suisun "High Carbon Steel" is probably SK4 or some other SK family, if you don't mind carbon steel upkeep I would look into something a bit better than SK. Tojiro ITK Gyutos come in shirogami which holds a better edge and is less stinky when cutting certain foods. http://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshitk24wa.html It may need a bit of edge thinning out of the box, but for the price it is a steal. I have a Gekko gyuto, 240mm. It is the same knife as that Yoshihiro. I love it, it is a fantastic knife. VG-10 core means stainless upkeep but with super aggressive edge taking and keeping. That is a great knife. The one you linked is only 8 inches though and you said the one you have is 8 inches and is too short. Here is one for cheaper that is 240mm (9.5") http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-GE...=item4d13190765 Misono is a moly steel. It will be closer to European steels in edge taking and holding than these other 3.
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Sep 28, 2013 19:24
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:The Tojiro DP is literally the best bang for buck home/work knife. yeah Tojiro DPs forever. and ask and ye shall receive http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-GE...=item4d131761eb
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Sep 28, 2013 21:50
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8" is soooo small for a chef's knife, IMO.RagingTaco posted:She wants a food processor and a juicer save money, get a vitamix.
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Oct 4, 2013 01:19
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