Recent content by Jgillis86

Welcome to the forums. Japanese knives certainly demand more respect than their German counterparts, but the fact that you show caution says a lot. So long as you're not hacking up bones or frozen food or using it as a doorstop you'd probably be alright. Just pay attention to your technique...

Another vote here for the smith, not so much the steel. For instance, I adore what Konosuke and Ashi Hamono do with white steel. Everything from the velvety feedback on the stones to the keenness of the edge even off a quick stop is heartwarming. I know many have sour views of the man, but...

In the past I'd always used knives on the taller side (50+ mm at the heel), mostly because I have large hands and I figured there were safety issues, i.e., knicking the index finger on my cutting hand, knuckle clearance etc. But after sampling and owning a few shorter knives (47.7mm, 48mm...

Tanaka makes great stuff. Theyre very rustic, might have to sand down the choil a bit, and their handles are so-so, but their blades perform way above their price point.

Your collection is calling for a good petty. The gesshin ittetsu series at JKI has a single bevel petty at 180mm if you wanna add a wa handled knife to your repertoire. Its single bevel as well. I've never bought anything from Jon that I've regretted, and ask for his sharpening service!! Oh man...

I have no problem with this line of thinking. Good job dude

+1 on the tojiro. They are a great transitioning tool between western and jknives. If you pinch grip the handle isn't that big of a deal, and the price vs performance is hard to beat.

I think workhorse and I think #200 lbs of produce, meats and herbs, and 3-5 hours to process and prepare. I 100% prefer the 240-260 length if its a variety. On the other hand, if I see #50 onions and two no.1 pans of mushrooms and nothing else I go way small, 165-210.

+1 on the ginga/sharpening. They are amazing knives. I used mine in a pro setting for about half a year and couldn't sharpen it quite up to Jons level, but it still performed like no other.

Beston 500 soaker. It was the lowest grit stone I had, so i just went to town lol. Might have been easy because gingas are thin, and white steel sharpens so easily, but it worked. I have a 120 grit diamond stone for lapping.

Gyutos tend to be thinner and harder than their German counterparts, and are typically sharpened to a steeper angle. As a result you get a much sharper knife with better edge retention, but as a tradeoff, they tend to be a little bit more prone to chipping. The lateral motions performed during...

Tojiro dp, 100%. I've had plenty of tojiros and they kick ass. Good edge retention, they hold a fairly steep angle, and they're a great transitioning tool into jknives. They're beefy for jknives but theyll make you forget all about German cutlery. The cladding scratches pretty easily, and...

Agreed.

Thank god for white steel. 45 minutes and a slight reprofile and she sings again. Sorry I was freaking out guys. Some of those chips were 2+ mm. On the other side, I'm never bringing her to work again, her or my other high end jknives. I bought a Fujiwara fkm 240 to beat the **** out of up...

Coffee, whiskey, cigarettes, passion,and a very, very... Very understanding spouse.