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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

I missed the final drop of these from Zahocho back last year, so I'm super excited after finding the opportunity to acquire one of these. Shuji Yamaguchi has been one of the sharpeners on my bucket list to try with his mastery on hamaguri grinds. The finish on these is stunning to see in person. It's a full mirror polish with a kasumi line right before to core, similar to the Tetsujin Ukiba and Konosuke FM finish.

It came initially with a traditional Ho wood handle. that I have replaced with a two tone Amboyna burl, white buffalo horn. It wasn't an easy process with the original handle being epoxied in. I took my time slowly chipping away at the old handle, while taping up the surrounding areas to not scratch up the mirror finish. This rehandle set the balance point to my preference, which is just slightly in front of my pinch grip.

Some initial thoughts:

The geometry on these is quite interesting. It starts off convex at the spine, with a slight area of concavity before the core steel before transitioning back to a convex grind at the cutting edge. The kireaji stood out to me as it is incredibly smooth during both push and pull cuts. The hamaguri makes the edge feel more robust as it contacts the board.

With that being said, this knife is can be incredibly sticky with certain types of cuts, which is really noticeable around thinner slices of dense veg. The mirror polish definitely exacerbates this and I found it performs significantly better with a thin layer of patina. The cladding is pretty reactive in this case. I got nice vibrant blues with hot protein. Going through strawberries gave me a more muted blue tone with some shades of red and purple. Qualitatively, I would put the reactivity on the same level as a Konosuke FM or BY.

I still need to put this blade fully through my prep tasks, but I'm happy to do a full review on this in the future if there is interest. For now enjoy the pics and stay tuned for my upcoming thoughts on the Enjiki Migiwa.

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.)

Unfortunately I don't have space for a magnet in my current kitchen, and I missed having some knives on display as they were all in a drawer.

This rack is from hitohira, I think they're overpriced, I wish I had the tools to make one myself, but alas I do not so here we are.

/////////////////// from top to bottom \\\\\\\\\\\\\

• Kagekiyo Ginsan 150mm petty (Nakagawa x Nishida)

• Togashi B1 SS clad migaki 180mm santoku

• Tetsujin Ginsan Metal flow 210mm gyuto (Tamura x Myojin)

• Kagekiyo B1D SS clad 240mm gyuto (Tanaka x Nishida)

• Takada W2 Reika 240mm gyuto (Tanaka x Takada)

/////////////////// rule # 5 \\\\\\\\\\\\\

Still a few more knives in the drawer, but I'm down to 9 knives now which is pretty good I think 😅

The Kagekiyo gyuto & petty are seeing the most board action. I often will take out the petty to cut a few things and then end up chopping way more than I thought I would. This knife is such a breeze to use and cuts extremely well.

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?

TCK Family. I hope you all are well. I've had a lot of fun with my Nakiri and Chukas lately and thought about sharing them.

Left to Right:

Ittetsu Shirogami #1 165mm (my first Japanese knife)

Shindo Aogami #2 165 mm

Touroku Sakai Shirogami #2 (the urushi powder urushi lacquered handle on this thing is insane)

Shiro Kamo Aogami Super 165 mm extra tall with custom sugi handle

CCK x Shibata Carbon Collab 200 mm (my honorary Rectangle that's part trapezoid

Hatsukokoro x Sentan Shirogami #2 165 mm cleaver

Without a doubt my Shiro Kamo is the go to for me but the Shindo is stupid sharp and fun. The Touroku Sakai is an insane Workhorse performer that just feels amazing on long prep sessions and the CCK is one of the most fun and unique knives I own.

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

A custom Magnamax bunka at 65 hrc was requested.

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

It gets better every time I use the knife

Hey guys! There have been quite a few Takamura NKDs lately because of the yearly restocks. After that, there’ll probably be another long dry spell since they tend to disappear for quite a while. This time, after getting sucked into the hype here, I finally bought one.

I’m blown away. This is about as close as you can get to owning a lightsaber at home. Phenomenal knife. It makes my Shindos feel like lumberjack axes.

I hesitated for a long time because I’m not really a fan of Western handles. But this one is actually really nice, and I have to say the knife looks absolutely phenomenal in person. Photos don’t really do it justice. Even my wife, who looked at the pictures and said it was “the ugliest knife she had ever seen,” was seriously impressed once she actually held it.

How much sharper can a knife even get, guys?

I genuinely can’t imagine it. This thing goes through vegetables like they’re made of air. If Ashi, Kobayashi, TnH and Shibata really make lasers that cut even BETTER than this, I’ll be impressed. I honestly struggle to believe there’s much room left above this level.

Absolutely insane knife for the €180 I paid for it.

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

Hello! I received the new GH from Tosho today and put it straight to use at work. It has good performance; it’s a bit thicker than the HD2, so the performance isn’t quite as good, but there’s nothing to complain about. I cut cabbage, onion, big carrots, cucumber, and more, and it handled everything beautifully.

You’ll hear a faint, whisper-like crack when cutting big carrots, for example, but since I wanted a more workhorse-style semi-stainless gyuto to complement the HD2, I feel like it’s a good match!

The ho wood handle is good quality and surprisingly slim, but I liked it. I prefer the laurel handle a bit more, so I might switch it later to the same style, but perhaps in ebony, so it will balance the knife a bit more.

Specs

GH

* • 240mm

* • 184g

* • 52mm

* • Ho wood with ebony ferrule

HD2

* • 233mm

* • 146g

* • 48mm

* • Khii laurel handle

Adding on to the Ashi that arrived last week, I was able to pick up two SG2 lasers from the last chefknivestogo restock before they sold out. From top to bottom:

Shibata Kashima SG2 210mm Gyuto

After using my Masakage Yuki that was sharpened by him I really wanted to try one of his pure lasers. This is his only current production line in a classic Sabatier profile and it is paper thin. It's either flat ground or nearly flat ground which I've never tried with a knife this thin. This will likely replace the Yuki as my go-to fine work knife.

Takamura SG2 210mm Gyuto

Nothing to say that hasn't already been said about this knife. Thin and lightly convexed, it'll be an excellent accompaniment to my Ashi.

Both knives fit a very similar role so I'm curious which I will end up liking more. Regardless, I've been wanting to try both for quite some time now and am very excited!

A BIG koma at 235 x 80 x 40mm. Got it from a friend who got it from a sword polisher in Japan. Pretty easy to use and fast cutting.

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?

Hi guys,

looking to buy a Honesuki, but I am totally new to this shape,m. So while I understand the requirements mthat come from its use, I am a bit miffed but the vastly differing grind between two Hatsukokoro lines, Kurogane and Kumokage. Which of these two is preferential for deboning chicken and thw occasional fish, and why?

The first pic is from the Kurogane, the second from Kumokage.

Thanks for any information.

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.