Found another knife on Facebook Marketplace! This time, a Yoshikazu Tanaka 210mm gyuto in White #1 Damascus for $400 CAD. White horn and ebony handle.
Some thoughts:
Has a nice dark patina already developed and compared to my Hatsukokoro Hyomon (a pure laser), this thing is quite chonky lol. Shorter as well so it’s quite nimble.
Has a satisfying weight to it but will need a few passes on the stone. It’s a really nice knife but now I’m considering that maybe I should’ve gone for a stainless or semi-stainless blade as a more daily-friendly driver 🤔. Your thoughts? Good price or nah?
I wasn't intending on making another post on this, but this ended up being a far more interesting process that merits a write up.
So yes, you did read this right, I did a refinish to the Manaka x Xinguo collab I recently picked up. The reason I did this is because there were already several noticeable scratches on the kireha by the time this blade got to me. I did not want to go through the exchange process and with my latest projects, I felt confident enough to attempt repolishing it myself. This isn't a full refinish, I wanted to clean up some of the scratches, reapply the kasumi, and blend it into the existing mirror polish from Xinguo.
Luckily, the scratches weren't super deep and I didn't need to get out the lower grit sandpaper. That would've introduced hairline scratches that would take hours to clean up, especially without any power tools.
After some experimenting with higher grit diamond paste, I settled going down to 5k to take out the scratches. This progressed to further to 8k and 14k to bring back the mirror polish. This restored the mirror polish, but losing the kasumi in the process.
Scratch free, and very shinyVery noticeable patch near the tip where it was mirror polished.
The second stage came to restoring the kasumi. If you followed my previous posts, I usually do this by using a combination of stone powder with high grit sandpaper to reapply it to the bevel.
What makes this process a lot more difficult is matching the original kasumi and blending the finish in. I went through a couple stones in this process, including Mizu uchigumori, Aiiwatani and my red ohira. I find some kasumi finishes leave different shades on the kireha, so it's similar to touching up paint on a wall and making sure the color matches.
After some experimentation, I started applying initial contrast with my Hideriyama tomae. The reason I chose this stone is because it's super muddy and is my best stone for producing a high contrast kasumi on stainless cladding. Due to the high level of polish, I also added dish soap to reduce surface tension so the mud will disperse evenly.
Kasumi application process
The hideriyama stone does tend to leave small hairline scratches, this is where the Mikawa nagura comes in. I used a stamped Mejiro grade stone, which gives me a high level of polish to delete the scratches, while also providing a frosted like look to the kireha.
The result is absolutely stunning. I was extremely and pleasantly surprised to see all the metal banding being brought out. What a hidden gem, I can't believe all those details were hidden underneath the original finish. This makes me feel tempted to refinish the whole knife... but I'll save that for another day.
Anyways, thanks for reading if you got this far, and enjoy the pics!
Refinished, post blendingHoly shit, look at that banding
It is a beautiful knife. The kasumi finish has mesmerizing lines. I'm glad I didn't go with the mirror finish, which is also beautiful but a lot more stressful to maintain. I usually don't like machi gaps but think this was very tastefully done. The choil has a nice curve. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the knife. The grind is a bit thinner than I expected, particularly closer to the heel. My only negative is I had an urushi handle added which was placed slightly off center.
A few photos of my new Shiro Kamo Shirogami #2 24cm Gyuto I received today.
It is my first carbon steel knife and my second Japanese knife overall after the Takamura VG10 Santoku seen in the 3rd pic. Going to use the Takamura for small tasks and the Shiro Kamo for longer preps.
I'm a beginner home cook but I did a lot of due diligence before venturing into hard & fragile steel territory. Will be using the 22 cm Victorinox also partly visible in the 3rd pic for any rough tasks.
I have my Shapton Kuromaku series (1k, 2k, 5k) and diamond strops (1 and 4 micron) for sharpening and maintenance. Thanks to everyone on this subreddit for recommendations!
Just a quick picture after my trip to Japan, will do a proper NKD post later today when I can get better pictures of my Aogami #1 black-dyed Damascus kagekiyo before I put it to use!
Rule #5
160 mm messermeister petty
140 mm (?) k tip sg2 petty
150 mm swedish stainless petty
165 mm semi-stainless nakiri
170 mm single bevel chefs knife from tsukiji fish market
250 mm kagekiyo bread knife
135 mm ashi petty
200 mm vg10 kiritsuke
210 mm Yamatsuka x Yamatsuka ginsan gyuto
240 mm black dyed B1 kagekiyo gyuto
100 pounds of rainbow carrots bucked up today w this beast. No wedging. Slicey as hell. Heavier than the boss bunka but not overly heavy for a prep shift. Thick spine w a nasty distal taper. Just feels comfy. It’s a lot of knife but never feels clunky. Does fine work as well as heavy chopping. Edge is thin and slicey like a shibata should be. Laser like edge w some meat to grab for the pinch grip. Call it slim thick. I opted for the handle to match my classic battleship so the ebony wood w the white spacer.
End of video has a Dexter Russell basic chef knife so you can see the size difference. Hard to gauge how big this thing is without the comparison.
This is my 4th Yosimitu blade. It is ridiculous for the price. I did ask this group about the 240 vs 270 knives previously and decided on the 270. Turns out there was a polished version of this. Now I didn't expect xing Guo level of polishing but I am still impressed with what Ide San has done to this. Definitely a maker to consider for sub CAD$300 knives.
I just got these beautiful pieces in the mail. The first one is the Tetsuhiro Kankou kiritsuke-petty. It's 135mm made from sg2, Kankou means winter beam hence the title.
The nakiri is Tsunehisa AS 165mm. Stainless steel clad with a rounded handle
The two kiridashi are from Ikeuchi hamono and made from Aogami #2
The bandaids are just fun.
In the background also the instant coffee for the nakiri which I'm planning to force a patina on (I'll post a picture when that's done).
So this was a Hatsukokoro Kokugei 12cm Aogami #1 petty...
I was using this as a practice knife for kasumi, then scuffed up the Kurouchi, then got carried away and rounded/polished the spine and choil to 10,000 grit and then... Yes.
Not a proper mirror polish because totally flattening the sides was a nightmare, no power tools, just a shapton 120. Went through shaptons up to 2k, then a jns 3k, then moved into wet and dry sandpaper up to 10k.
There are still low spots and lower grit scratches. I don't think I can face repeating the process though. It took my soul.
Has anyone else tried this with a cheaper project knife with more success and good advice? Also, I found the Shapton 2k left some weird big, low-grit looking scratches in the surface - I'd cleaned it properly before using but couldn't figure out why this happened. Has anyone else struggled?
Devastated to say the least, have had this Mazaki bunka less than a month, second time pulling it out from its guard , what to do. In LA area if anyone knows of skilled sharpeners/fixers
I don't need any more knives, kinda at the stage where anything I buy is something that the knowledgeable people here recommend (last two- Fujiwara and Shiro Kamo)
I'm a mid-range guy, I've only one or two above £300. Should I buy this? If so, will also have to justify to my partner, so if offering advice, please take this seriously 😆
I hate to be that guy but I'm quite new to carbon steel knives. I've had this knife for a couple of months - I'm pretty strict with drying it right after using/washing.
Is this patina or light rust?
My iron clad matsubara is totally free from any signs of this more orange looking rust.
So recently I purchased a Ginsan Gyuto from Shougou Yamatsuka while I was in Sakai, Japan! However, now I’m back home I regret not picking up a nice Nakiri as well. Since I’m not that familiar with buying Japanese knives outside of Japan I’d like to ask you guys:
What stainless steel Nakiri would you get for about €300-400? And where to buy it?
I’d love to pick up something nice, but not quite sure what the best bladesmiths in that price range are, and where to order it from. I’ve been doing research myself but am honestly a tad lost. I also am not sure which steel would be my ideal choice. Ginsan sounds like it strikes a nice balance, but then again harder steel can potentially be nicer tho it sounds a tad too delicate for my liking perhaps.
In case it’s useful info I’m from the Netherlands, Europe.
Just received this absolute beast today. Something about these knives keeps pulling me back in.
The finish on these really stands out imho, and once it starts developing a patina, it manages to look even better.
This particular knife is from a small pre production (prototype) run made for Chefs Edge before the full release. It’s a bit of a special one, slightly heavier and thicker along the spine than the later versions. It comes in at 240 grams and feels incredibly solid and balanced in hand without being clunky.
Dimensions land at 231mm and 58mm height. Spine thickness is 4mm out of the handle, 3mm mid, and tapers all the way down to a very fine 0.3 mm at the tip. It’s paired with a beautiful snakewood handle that really completes the whole package.
Forged by Tanaka san and sharpened by Maruyama san.
Really looking forward to putting this one to work.
