Thread: My kit of Japanese knives ... WIP

Cheers for that Neil. I've given it a couple of soaks so far. Got a very odd look from the lady when I asked where the pharmaceutical paraffin was

Overall, very happy with the knife and I was using this one more as a way to dip my toes into the Carbon market. Cheers for all of the help with it everyone.

Paul

That's a pretty good buy. You'll be able to hack away without fear of losing much

BTW, I got no staining from onion on the Tadafusa.

Originally Posted by Gnickrapon

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkshpe120.html

Got one of these guys coming from an ebay seller for $38 shipped.

That is a very good price on that one, Paul.

It will come sharp and will cut well for quite awhile. Maintenance will be the challenge.

I expect the finish to be a bit hit and miss, which you would expect at that price.

And, you are about to give us the benefit of a side by side comparison between SS and soft iron clad knives, and how Shirogami (White No2) holds up against Aogami (Blue No2).

I look forward to your evaluation.

Neil

Cheers guys. Stumbled across that ebay page whilst looking for the cheapest price on a Suehiro "Rika"....lesson learned, Stu was the cheapest.

Glad I came across it though. Didn't want to spend too much on a petty and I can't wait to see the difference between makers and steels.

Not to do with knives, but was looking at a Naniwa Jyupaku (snow white #8000) and So-san from japan tool has urged me to try a different stone.

..in his words...

Again I can supply Junpaku, but I might want to suggest you to give this new baby a try! It’s less expensive than the Jyunpaku too.



http://www.japan-tool.com/zc/index.p...roducts_id=270


I am not sure how familiar you are with the J nats, but Karasu (it means "crow") natural stones are much sought after among the nat fans due to their beauty and rarity, hence they tend to be ve~~~~~~~~~~~ry very expensive, so the stone maker tried to mimic the looks. To someone who doesn’t know this, the black patterns on this synthetic stone might only seem like blotches, hahaha. If this is the case and you prefer pure white looks, then Junpaku it is (or the Sigmas). Give it a thought and let me know.

Thoughts from those in the know? I can't find anything online about these stones but I don't feel this guy would suggest a crappy stone....especially when it's cheaper.

Cheers
Paul

Originally Posted by Gnickrapon

Thoughts from those in the know? I can't find anything online about these stones but I don't feel this guy would suggest a crappy stone....especially when it's cheaper.

Paul

I wouldn't hesitate going for that stone, definitely a good option for knife sharpening.

As it is compounded from natural stone, it has most of the attributes of a natural stone, but without the cost.

I might try one myself...

Neil

I'm going to have to stop reading this thread! Too many temptations.

Neil you asked for feedback about the Sigma PS II #10000 ....

As you'd expect there's a distinct family resemblance to coarser PS IIs. It 'eats' VG 10. Blue steel is a bit slower. It leaves a highly polished surface. Water management is easy, a slurry develops quickly and it doesn't glaze. It's a more friendly stone than the Shapton #12000.

If the knives are not left too long it's fairly quick work to run them over the #6000 first and finish on the #10000. Then it's fearsomely (not just scary) sharp. Incidentally it cuts newspaper more readily on the backstroke than on the front.

Is it worth the money and effort? Perhaps not.

As an aside I've started to play with deglazing the #6000 with the small Iyo stone. The glaze comes from the bevel ink. I wonder though what abrasive effect this may have on the blade. Relative scratching until the coarse grains break down and then ... ?

BTW, Neil my son is getting the silver steel Tanaka Nakiri. The Tadafusa was my impulse buy. It's close enough in blade dimensions to the Gyuto not to add much to the kit so if anyone is interested ...

Just as a matter of interest, that book Neil spoke of a few posts ago, on using and caring for Japanese knives...my local library is buying it especially. Nice people. Unfortunately, I know where that will lead to. Now to start convincing my wife that we need a new stable of knives!

Originally Posted by rsser

I'm going to have to stop reading this thread! Too many temptations.

...

Originally Posted by rsser

Neil you asked for feedback about the Sigma PS II #10k ....

....

Is it worth the money and effort? Perhaps not.

Ern, thank you for review. That Sigma is one of the few softer stones in that grit range, which makes it of interest to knife sharpeners.

For anyone who thinks they need to go to a finer grit for sharpening their knives, and doesn't already have a higher grit synthetic stone, it does seem like an easy to use option.

I take it that the "highly polished surface" that it leaves doesn't create much contrast between the softer cladding and the hard cutting edge steel?

Another contender in the higher grit stones is the Hishiboshi Karasu #9000 that Paul has recently identified.

http://www.japan-tool.com/zc/index.p...roducts_id=270

But that has yet to be given a test run.

Originally Posted by rsser

BTW, Neil my son is getting the silver steel Tanaka Nakiri. The Tadafusa was my impulse buy. It's close enough in blade dimensions to the Gyuto not to add much to the kit so if anyone is interested ...

OK, looks like someone is going to get a good 1st J-knife buy.


PS - on the knife cutting 'newspaper more readily on the backstroke than on the front', I would put that down to the angle of the micro-serrations (from the angle of the knife on the stone during sharpening), which cut more aggressively on the pull stroke.

Neil

Originally Posted by johnredl

Just as a matter of interest, that book Neil spoke of a few posts ago, on using and caring for Japanese knives...my local library is buying it especially. Nice people. Unfortunately, I know where that will lead to. Now to start convincing my wife that we need a new stable of knives!

BTW John, that book recommendation was from Ern (rssr).

On your campaign for a 'new stable of knives', I suggest slowly adding just one new horse at a time...

Neil

Originally Posted by NeilS

BTW John, that book recommendation was from Ern (rssr).

Neil

Oopsies!

Originally Posted by NeilS

I take it that the "highly polished surface" that it leaves doesn't create much contrast between the softer cladding and the hard cutting edge steel?

The softer cladding, where the gunmetal finish was polished away, remains mostly pale grey Neil. Haze finish?

Originally Posted by rsser

The softer cladding, where the gunmetal finish was polished away, remains mostly pale grey Neil. Haze finish?

Good oh, that will appeal to the traditional J-knife enthusiasts.

Thanks, Ern

Neil

Originally Posted by NeilS

That is a very good price on that one, Paul.

It will come sharp and will cut well for quite awhile. Maintenance will be the challenge.

I expect the finish to be a bit hit and miss, which you would expect at that price.

And, you are about to give us the benefit of a side by side comparison between SS and soft iron clad knives, and how Shirogami (White No2) holds up against Aogami (Blue No2).

I look forward to your evaluation.

Neil

Arrived today and you were bang on actually. Very sharp out of the box, I'd say sharper than the Tadafusa and the Kurouchi finish is indeed a little hit and miss. Looks wise, I think I prefer the Kurouchi finish to the Nashiji.

Talk about reactive though!!! Compared to the Tadafusa anyway. After some minor onion cutting a pateena became evident





Not as visible in the pictures, but around 1/4 of the way up the blade it starts and goes to the tip. Not an issue by any means but massive when compared to the Tadafusa. Looking forward to putting it through it's paces.

Caught me completely by surprise when it arrived though because according to Japan Post, it was still in Osaka. Still is apparently.

Thanks Paul for the initial review and the photos. No surprises so far.

It will be interesting to hear from you how well the White Steel holds that very sharp edge compared with the Blue Steel of the Tadafusa after both have been used for some time.

Likewise, how well the Tojiri korouchi finish holds up with use.

Neil