Take this with a grain of salt. I am after some vodka-tonic-orange juice. And more of that up and coming.
This review took me so long cause I think actually it is so beautiful knife with romanticism about it that it is hard for me to criticize, even though there are few negativ things to point out.
The knives new is gorgeous. It really is. There are some blemishes on the finish, but if you compare it to other handhandmade Japanese knives, Shigefusa is level higher.
There is something awesome about an old man and two sons sitting there in their small workshop and spitting out these pieces of quality steel.
First impression? Tall blade, just where I like it. Lamination lines on both sides quite near the edge, I thought they would be made more dramatic and show more of the core, but not this time. I think there is a good reason for that, but what do I know [and like I want to know]?
The finish
Is overally very good. Nothing else to say. It is handmade, yet almost flawless.
Kind of one would expect the Kanji not to be stamped but oh well, it is a tool at the end of the day.
Choil and spine very nicely rounded, handle mounted expertly.
Yeah, I just got a quality product.
The Steel
Easy to work with.
If it is your first high end Japanese knife, might impress even more.
Not to say theres anything wrong with it, its solid.
But
Ive met minimum 3-4 knives where core steel is simply put - better.
Two cheaper without waiting time one roughly for same bucks but also available readily.
Ye ye I can hear those who say it is a work of angels and an art and all those bollocks but hey guys you buy a tool and I think the relation is simple: more expensive tool=better tool.
Better steel makes better tool. Aint it?
Same goes to the cladding. It definitely saves them money on the materials, or they use old iron from nails used to build shrinks and yeahh it is all cool gain some karma, but you sell a product.
Try harder.
On the other hand, thinning goes very fast, which is a huge plus for me. I am not going to say that again, or am I?, I love a not-stainless cladding for ease of maintenance, when it comes to thinning at least.
If you plan to use this knife extensively, good choice.
If you plan cutting a lot of onions, bad choice
You bought it to cut a tomato per month having hard-on? Best choice.
Feedback very very carbon. Love it. Awesome, so is
The edge
Very nice edge. I dont sharpen chefs knives very high up in terms of grit, but when I tried, at the beginning, coming up to ohira range, knife got very sharp but for very short.
Loses wild edge quickly, but restoration is fast and both sharpening, honing and thinning are just fun to do [someone mentioned just two kinds of people in the world? ]
The Retention
Would stay sharp for a week during quite light use but as the only used chefs knife.
Not bad at all but at the end of the week there will be some microchipping.
And absolutely no juice left. Now that might not be a concern if you like to do this shamanism called touching up, but I dont. I expect my edge to be there for me.
The Performance
Here is where you can easily fall for it. Its not like this knife fall through things. But the way it cuts makes you appreciate what you are doing. And somehow feel the produce.
It I a pleasure to work with that one, and theres not many things that will make a Shig surrender. Ultra thick carrots, yeah.
And one more thing. Because this knife is eager to rust and patina, you will have to smoothen those out or it will somehow decrease the cutting ability.
Anyway, because of
The Grind
Some produce, like carrots, will wedge.
Again, I am happy camper when nothing sticks to the blade.
Yes, and I mean just that. I am sick when I cut potato in half and the left half gets stuck to the side of the blade so bad that you have to stop what you do to try to somehow un-suck the piece of shite. This is what destroys all the fun for me and makes me stop cooking. I had one or two of these and they are no longer here.
You can say yeah its just potato but hey what about swede turnip, carrots lengthwise and so on so forth?!?!!?!?!
The Balance
Is perfect.
No getting used to.
There is something about this knife, a level of awesomeness when you hold it and cut with it. It is a joy and part of it is the balance that makes you feel that the tool helps you to accomplish the task.
The Reactivity
Up here, it gets nasty.
Shigefusa believers please turn your heads the other way.
It really is nasty. I worked a year to bring the stink down. I understand all this blah blah about using old stock metal and maybe some pins/nails used to build shrinks but hey I am a customer and I think I could expect them to use the best available material for the job.
This is very soft, and very reactive.
Big let down. Im cool with them using it for single bevel knives, but chefs knife works in totally different conditions imho
The Conclusion
Make up what you want out of it, to sum it up I can tell you this much:
Big huge humongous yes to Shigefusa single bevels, but barely OK to the double bevels, cause you really can get better for that amount of money, if not two knives actually.
And that is not the case with single bevels. Theres no competition.
If you piss on the romantics, then this is a knife that could amaze you when cutting, and dissappoint you if not wiped right after use.
The finish 8++
The Steel 6
The edge 8-
The retention 6-
The performance 7 affected by the retention
The Grind 8
The balance 10
The reactivity 2- the cladding is terrible
This review took me so long cause I think actually it is so beautiful knife with romanticism about it that it is hard for me to criticize, even though there are few negativ things to point out.
The knives new is gorgeous. It really is. There are some blemishes on the finish, but if you compare it to other handhandmade Japanese knives, Shigefusa is level higher.
There is something awesome about an old man and two sons sitting there in their small workshop and spitting out these pieces of quality steel.
First impression? Tall blade, just where I like it. Lamination lines on both sides quite near the edge, I thought they would be made more dramatic and show more of the core, but not this time. I think there is a good reason for that, but what do I know [and like I want to know]?
The finish
Is overally very good. Nothing else to say. It is handmade, yet almost flawless.
Kind of one would expect the Kanji not to be stamped but oh well, it is a tool at the end of the day.
Choil and spine very nicely rounded, handle mounted expertly.
Yeah, I just got a quality product.
The Steel
Easy to work with.
If it is your first high end Japanese knife, might impress even more.
Not to say theres anything wrong with it, its solid.
But
Ive met minimum 3-4 knives where core steel is simply put - better.
Two cheaper without waiting time one roughly for same bucks but also available readily.
Ye ye I can hear those who say it is a work of angels and an art and all those bollocks but hey guys you buy a tool and I think the relation is simple: more expensive tool=better tool.
Better steel makes better tool. Aint it?
Same goes to the cladding. It definitely saves them money on the materials, or they use old iron from nails used to build shrinks and yeahh it is all cool gain some karma, but you sell a product.
Try harder.
On the other hand, thinning goes very fast, which is a huge plus for me. I am not going to say that again, or am I?, I love a not-stainless cladding for ease of maintenance, when it comes to thinning at least.
If you plan to use this knife extensively, good choice.
If you plan cutting a lot of onions, bad choice
You bought it to cut a tomato per month having hard-on? Best choice.
Feedback very very carbon. Love it. Awesome, so is
The edge
Very nice edge. I dont sharpen chefs knives very high up in terms of grit, but when I tried, at the beginning, coming up to ohira range, knife got very sharp but for very short.
Loses wild edge quickly, but restoration is fast and both sharpening, honing and thinning are just fun to do [someone mentioned just two kinds of people in the world? ]
The Retention
Would stay sharp for a week during quite light use but as the only used chefs knife.
Not bad at all but at the end of the week there will be some microchipping.
And absolutely no juice left. Now that might not be a concern if you like to do this shamanism called touching up, but I dont. I expect my edge to be there for me.
The Performance
Here is where you can easily fall for it. Its not like this knife fall through things. But the way it cuts makes you appreciate what you are doing. And somehow feel the produce.
It I a pleasure to work with that one, and theres not many things that will make a Shig surrender. Ultra thick carrots, yeah.
And one more thing. Because this knife is eager to rust and patina, you will have to smoothen those out or it will somehow decrease the cutting ability.
Anyway, because of
The Grind
Some produce, like carrots, will wedge.
Again, I am happy camper when nothing sticks to the blade.
Yes, and I mean just that. I am sick when I cut potato in half and the left half gets stuck to the side of the blade so bad that you have to stop what you do to try to somehow un-suck the piece of shite. This is what destroys all the fun for me and makes me stop cooking. I had one or two of these and they are no longer here.
You can say yeah its just potato but hey what about swede turnip, carrots lengthwise and so on so forth?!?!!?!?!
The Balance
Is perfect.
No getting used to.
There is something about this knife, a level of awesomeness when you hold it and cut with it. It is a joy and part of it is the balance that makes you feel that the tool helps you to accomplish the task.
The Reactivity
Up here, it gets nasty.
Shigefusa believers please turn your heads the other way.
It really is nasty. I worked a year to bring the stink down. I understand all this blah blah about using old stock metal and maybe some pins/nails used to build shrinks but hey I am a customer and I think I could expect them to use the best available material for the job.
This is very soft, and very reactive.
Big let down. Im cool with them using it for single bevel knives, but chefs knife works in totally different conditions imho
The Conclusion
Make up what you want out of it, to sum it up I can tell you this much:
Big huge humongous yes to Shigefusa single bevels, but barely OK to the double bevels, cause you really can get better for that amount of money, if not two knives actually.
And that is not the case with single bevels. Theres no competition.
If you piss on the romantics, then this is a knife that could amaze you when cutting, and dissappoint you if not wiped right after use.
The finish 8++
The Steel 6
The edge 8-
The retention 6-
The performance 7 affected by the retention
The Grind 8
The balance 10
The reactivity 2- the cladding is terrible