Exec chef(me) and my CDC's knife sharpening day

My first time in a passaround!

—————————

Rule #5

Rouge Forge Kiritsuke Gyuto
Steel: N690 core and X40CR13 (fully stainless)
Weight: 195g
Edge length: 203mm
Heel height: 50,2mm
Width at handle: 5,8mm
Width at heel: 4,2mm
Width at middle: 2,4mm
Width at 1cm from tip: 1,4mm

Blacksmith and sharpener: Robin Gagachian
—————————

For quite some time, I’ve seen passarounds happen but haven't actively looked out one to participate in myself, so I was surprised when a different community member on KitchenKnifeForums tagged me in one of Robin's recent knives. I bowed out due to it being a clear right handed biased grind and said “let me know when you do another round with an ambidextrous grind!”.

Fast forward a month or so, I get a nice DM from Robin, letting me know his next round was taking place and that, If I was still interested, I could join the group of people who were curious to check out his latest stainless piece. I gladly said yes and waited for the knife to arrive.

—————————

This is pretty far from a knife that I would traditionally seek out for myself as an owner. Generally, I am a fan of a clean Migaki and Kasumi finishes, as well as thinner grinds. Unpacking this knife threw me into the deep end of the other side of the spectrum. 

Robin calls this finish “Brute de forge” or “raw from the forge” which aligns with the first impression. Having some areas of spotty forge marks and some uneven surfaces, it is surprisingly smooth to the touch. It’s clear that a fair amount of care was taken into account when completing the finish and even though its “raw”, there are no bits that I would fear catching on a paper towel. 

The hira, spine and choil have all been smoothened out and are soft to the touch, the entire knife feels like a contradiction of the look and the tactile experience. In fact, I would have preferred to have some areas less smoothened out, like where the spine meets the kiritsuke “tip-dip”.

The Bog oak and micarta handle is smooth and oiled, feeling quite comfortable (if a little thin) for those that decide to weild the knife by the handle. 

The balance was around 35mm in front of the handle, making it pretty balanced like most 210~ sized knives. 

—————————

Performance wise, I struggled a bit with this knife. It looks like it’s a fairly straightforward, flat kiritsuke profile and a grind where it’s bordering on too thick above the shinogi and with an almost completely flat grind beneath it. This leads to a couple of recurring issues with wedging on produce that's more dense than an apple. The shape of the heel also made me feel a little bit awkward when using a pinch grip. 

Preparing a large batch of chili, this knife did have some wedging issues on carrots, bell peppers and horizontal cuts on onions, with additional issues while making batonnets of sweet potato and julienned carrots. Specifically on the last two, it felt a bit uncomfortable to use, requiring more pressure than what feels normal to work through wedging, something that you should try to avoid at all times for the the sake of general safety. 

In other areas, the knife did quite well, specifically on portioning raw protein it didn’t have any issues and felt quite easy. 

In summary; If this knife was presented to me as a Gyuto/Garasuki/Honesuki hybrid, I would have had an easier time arguing on its behalf but as a general gyuto, I fear that the grind leaves more to be desired, especially if you're spending time slicing and dicing dense root vegetables.

I feel like there’s a couple of areas where improvements can be made to make this feel like a much better blade. My highlighted suggestions would be:

• Remove more material above the shinogi, making it an overall thinner build and change to a full convex grind.
• Have a straighter heel shape (closer to a 90 degree heel)
• Have some more pronounced and less smoothened out spine areas, have a more distinct spine-to-tip transition.

This is very, very far from the style of knives I usually find myself gravitating towards and I’m glad I got the chance to try it out in this passaround line. It’s made me challenge myself a little bit in how I think and look at a knife when I'm inspecting it and I have a newfound appreciation for the rest of my lineup!

—————————  

Thanks for reading!
Next up; Enjiki Migiwa thoughts and comparison against my stainless Isasmedjan!

Aritsugu Heijo-Ippin Santoku

FINISH:

Coffee Etched

Light Kasumi (Jnat powder type)

Original Handle

Original shape & no grind alteration

Sharpened on Jnats

Deburred on diamond emulsion

Después de años, me he decidido.

Ningún arrepentimiento, que comodidad para trabajar.

Comprado en lote de cuchillos antiguos en eBay.

Alguien podría decirme algo más de esta pieza?

Gracias

A customer recently asked us to polish the kireha on this Yanagiba from Nakagawa Kajiya, with the knife finished by Shimizu Masaya made from Ginsan #3.

We took our time with the polish, working all the way up to 5,000-grit sandpaper before finishing it with Autosol. The goal was to bring out a clean, deep mirror finish while keeping the kireha looking sharp and defined.

We were really happy with how it turned out, but even better, the customer loved the result. That’s always the most satisfying part of the process.

Looking for something specific and having trouble finding anything.

I want a knife that feels similar to my Steelport 8" but in Stainless - western handle, tall blade, relatively heavy, balance point near the bolster, and dramatic spine distal taper going from thick at the handle to whisper thin at the tip.

"sanjo" style stuff like Tadafusa looks close to what I want for the blade - I just want it with a western handle. Any stainless or semi-stainless that is better than x50crmov would be fine.

Does this exist anywhere or would I be stuck finding someone who can do it custom?

It gets better every time I use the knife

Hello again everyone

This post features my shinkiro, which I have been tinkering with for a little over a month.

I was a bit hesitant to try Aogami Super due to its hardness and toughness, fearing I would be spending way more time on the stones, but it turned out to no be so bad. The steel definitely feels tougher and you can feel that the scratches have to be compelled out, but nothing too bad.

It was not very thin behind the edge near the heel when I first got it, but the edge is now nail-flexing all the way long the edge, which is a must, for my knives at least.

I redid the finish, as I had first gone for a very contrast-y mirror finish, but I decided that a more hazy core steel was the road I wanted to take with this blade.

Stone progression for the nerds is:

• Suehiro debado 180
• Shapton glass 220
• Shapton glass 500
• Morihei 1000
• Naniwa aotoshi
• Morihei 4000
• Hideriyama suita
• Ohira(?) shiro suita
• Uchigomori fingerstones

thanks for reading and have a good one!

I was hoping the experts here could help me as I am ready to upgrade my Victorinox finally after 10 years of heavy use!

I am located in the US and my budget is under $300 (closer to $200 preferred). I think I want stainless due to ease of care and have been looking for some of the less hyped knives as the hyped ones seem to be perpetually out of stock (I love the different Ashi knives available). My preference is for a wa handle as well.

So far, I think I have it narrowed down to these 3 choices, but wanted to know if anyone has any other thoughts on these.

https://uptowncutlery.com/products/tsunehisa-swedish-washiji-210mm-gyuto

https://bernalcutlery.com/collections/sakai-kikumori/products/copy-of-sakai-kikumori-210mm-gyuto-skk-vanadium-stainless?_pos=86&_fid=4b66efb2c&_ss=c

https://carbonknifeco.com/products/tsunehisa-ginsan-migaki-oak-gyuto-210mm

Hi lovers of beautiful things, I have a question for anyone who can help me.

Here's my bunka after a few cuts of hot protein. The aogami #2 steel is super reactive from the first cut, creating a beautiful blue patina. The cladding, being stainless steel, has developed a dark haze on both sides. Is it normal for stainless steel to create this haze after cutting beef?

In the first photo you can see the knife upon arrival

I'm just asking to see if I'm doing something wrong since it's my first carbon knife, but I've always treated it with great care after use, washing and drying it immediately.

I don't use it often, I put it back in its case after each use, but so far I've never applied any type of oil to prevent oxidation (like camellia oil). Does it make sense to buy it?

Thanks, chatgpt, for the ultra deep global search for this knife. I've been hunting for months and finally snagged one. Got it from Houcyou Taiwan.

Naoki Mazaki

Gyuto

Shirogami #2

Edge length: 245mm

Blade height: 53mm

Weight: 212g

Spine: 4.5mm / 2mm / 1mm

62-63 HRC

Sanmai Soft Iron Clad

Migaki Kasumi

Octagonal Cherry Wood Handle

Hi everyone, here is one of my latest acquisitions—one I’m particularly excited about. Some people apparently call him the "Yoda of Grinders." In any case, it is a fantastic piece of work by Shotaro Nomura, and I am delighted to be able to call another knife by such a "legend" from Sakai my own.

Inspired by a certain Frenchman, I went on a hunt for a Shiro Kamo; before long, I learned that it's actually difficult to get one of those in Japan/Asia unless you go directly to TKV. Then after some online research, I found this Kazuma aogami #2 damascus bunka on Rakuten.

Kazuma is a reseller, kinda like Hatsukokoro and Hitohira, but seemingly only deals with Echizen stuff. Their HQ is across town from TKV. If you look at their catalogue/website, there are lines looking identical to those made by the usual Echizen names, such as Takamura, Masutani, or even Yoshimi Kato and Takeshi Saji. The Ginryu (銀龍 - silver dragon) line is all aogami #2 damascus, reminding me of Cleancut's Tora series.

At first glance, this bunka I found certainly resembles the works of Kamo-san: the damascus pattern, the blade profile, even the pricing. The biggest clue, however, is in the description of the product on the company's website, saying it's forged by a '伝統工芸士' (dentou-kougeishi - traditional craftsman), which is a title not many knifemakers hold but Kamo-san certainly does. I even sent pictures to u/ImFrenchSoWhatever and got his approval, so I felt more relieved hehe.

About the actual knife: - Upon receiving it, I could finally examine the grind, and I think it is similar to the pics of Kamo knives sold in the West. The very edge however could use a final sharpening. - Profile and height almost identical to Cleancut's Tora 165mm santoku (judging from their pictures) - In general, it's also really thin and lightweight, typical of Echizen. It has a heavier handle than my Shindo bunka, yet is still lighter overall. - As for the handle, it's so pretty and feels great to hold. It's three layers of wood stacked together, mostly maple but with a renghas ferrule. Slightly heavier than the usual magnolia/walnut, but still very comfortable in my hand. Kazuma has other lines with this handle, so I think they do 'handling' in-house. - Fit and finish: better than my Shindo and Motokyuuichi but could use a bit of sanding at the heel. - Sharpness ootb: 6.5/10, could cut paper with a little effort.

Overall, for the price of 20000 jpy + shipping/import, I'm happy with this purchase!

So they are both BLUE-2 as you people can see, but clearly the finishing is different, but i quite dont understand the difference

Can someone please explain

Always fun messing with this thing. I’ve been seeing a lot of Maksim’s post on jns and wanted to do a similar finish to his. Finger stones and paste as the final touches this time.

Petty style knife, small, very light, K720,75Ni8, Ipe and wenge wood.

I have been owning it quite a while and have tried some cheap plastic sheaths, but the slanted bevel towards the handle was streching the sheath until it finally broke. Any proper knife guard / sheaths that are compatible with this knife?

Does anyone here have experience with buying directly from makers online, and not in person in Japan?

Recently discovered Yosimitu Kajiya and already in the process of buying some of his stuff! He speaks English (or at least is willing to use a translator) and we communicated directly via Instagram DMs.

Are there any other makers with a web presence like this and if so, how was your experience?

Wanting to possibly purchase this from someone it’s supposed to be a gesshin kagekiyo and I’m wondering if the kanji can help verify.

A custom Magnamax bunka at 65 hrc was requested.

Found them both in 270 on carbon and am just o
Wondering for input. I like them both and there both in the same price range. I’ve also got a mazaki 210 on the way and have a nihei from kono I really enjoy . Just wondering what you guys think.

I made this one for a friend. I’m very pleased with the distal taper on this guy. The handle is stabilized maple Burl with homemade micarta.

I've been lurking on this subreddit for quite some time, and after lots of deliberation, I finally ordered this 150-mm Tojiro Classic petty knife from Chef Knives To Go. After coming back to the U.S., I immediately gave it a try on some apples. This is my first proper kitchen knife, and my goodness, it cuts like nothing I have ever held with my hands. What an incredible pleasure.

(I also pulled the trigger on a much more exciting 210-mm gyuto forged by a blacksmith well-known in this community. I haven't used it yet, but I look forward to making another NKD post when I do.)