Knife Performance Contest

[jgraeff]

I suggest any knife supplied by the competitors must be "factory" ground. No aftermarket work done whatsoever. No thinning behind the edge or any other geometry alteration.

i would agree with this.

[Crothcipt]

Um are not Japanese knife makers famous for sending non sharpened knives? How about sharpened by a 3rd party, doesn't have to be, lets say John. Or somebody else known for sharpening here.

[EdipisReks]

I suggest any knife supplied by the competitors must be "factory" ground. No aftermarket work done whatsoever. No thinning behind the edge or any other geometry alteration.

that just isn't going to work, with a lot of Japanese knives.

[Marko Tsourkan]

All good ideas folks, thanks for chiming in.

I am pretty flexible, so whatever is worth to adopt from this thread, I will.

M

[cookinstuff]

I think this is a great idea, but not sure, I think it should be sharpened by 3rd party person. A new kato or shig factory ground will turn into a chipping machine in a pro kitchen on a day of varied prep on poly boards. I am looking forward to the outcome of this, Marko you are the man for participating in this.

[Marko Tsourkan]

I know a person in Norway who is a very good sharpener. I can easily trust him with my knives. He could prepare both knives for a pro kitchen duty, even it it implies putting micro-bevels on Shig or Kato.

I am pretty flexible as long as this happens.

M

[Birnando]

This contest will be fun to watch play out.

I have no personal gain from whatever the outcome, nor any pride towards a result not favoring my selected knife.
Well, I guess one thing that will be a bonus for me is to actually loose.
That will open up a whole new market for me to explore and possibly dive into.
A market I have thus far ignored and even ridiculed privately.
Once a knife-nut, always a knife-nut

As to the value of it, I think it is safe to say that it cannot be drawn a lot of decisive conclusions from it.
Personal preferences will be the decider here, and that is pretty much it.
Attitudes towards grind, level of sharpness, cutting technique, reactivity and all the other usual culprits will be a large part of the outcome.

All the same, I look forward to it, and will deliver a knife that I think will be considered a very good tool by most any user.
Be that a pro, a home-cook or anything in between.

As to what knife I will pick, that is something I am still considering.
A Kato prototype has been proposed, accepted and seems likely, but in order for the two knives to bested fairly, they should probably be unknowns to each other up until the contest/testing begins.
Whatever knife is selected though, one of the obvious differences either way will be the fact that all my knives are made for left handed use.
From what I understand, Marko will supply a knife that caters to both lefties and all those other phreaks

Oh, and for the record:
The Norwegian guy who will be honing the two knives, is someone I have never met, nor spoken to.

[ThEoRy]

that just isn't going to work, with a lot of Japanese knives.

Why not? I'm not talking about the factory sharpening. I'm talking about the grind.

[Birnando]

I suggest any knife supplied by the competitors must be "factory" ground. No aftermarket work done whatsoever. No thinning behind the edge or any other geometry alteration.

While I do see your point regarding this, I am afraid I must dissappoint you in this area.
I do enjoy knives and all, but my collection of non-sharpened and unused knives in this price range is eeh, quite limited..
I could always order a new one I guess, but that would kinda put a sock in this little experiment for what?, 9-12 months or even more.

[Mucho Bocho]

This is Gettin Good!