Wife snatched my NAkiri looking for a replacment.

My wife confiscated my Tojiro Damascus DP Nakiri 165mm for her Veg prep job at Whole Foods. So I am looking for a replacment. I would like to be in the $150-$300 Rnge some of the ones I am looking at are

Konosuke HD2 Nakiri 180mm
Moritaka Nakiri 165mm
Takeda Classic Nakiri Bocho 165mm Large
Shigefusa Kurouchi 180mm Wa Nakiri

A little more info I do produce large amounts of veg prep as I work in a large banquet facility 1000+ people is a very common thing. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Takeda IMO the best nakiri you can buy. This is the only knife Takeda makes I would call best in class. Reasons
1. very very good edge retention
2. easily managed reactivity
3. absolutely zero food sticking
4. thin and will fall through everything it is an amazing cutter
5. easy to re-sharpen and maintain edge
6. rugged good looks

I would stay away from the Moritaka because of the un-rounded tip
The Shig is very nice but will be more reactive and have less edge retention
I have no opinion on the HD

+1 to Takeda.
I agree with Mike on all points.
I have a Shig kitaji nakiri that's probably worth 2-3x as much, and I think that one could make a pretty sound argument that, objectively, the Takeda is better.

The Takeda isn't show-offy in the traditional sense the way that nickel "damascus" is all the rage in more mainstream knives these days, but when your realize that it has as good or better distal taper and geometry than any other nakiri it I was shaped with a HAMMER; not a grinder, that's pretty amazing. It's a knife-geek's knife.

Also, the KU finish is the thickest and most stable of any I've seen. It's almost non-reactive to the point of being stainless.

The only part that I don't love is the handle: I like big handles and the stock one is just a bit thin for my paws. If I had to use it for hours on end, Id ease the spine a bit and then replace the handle





This is the part that says "what onion?"

id be afrait of overgrind issues on the moritaka. i could live with that on a suji or a petty, but definitely not on a nakiri.

Asai AS damascus... haven't used the Takeda, but it's the best cutter I have used hands down and that includes my Yoshikane damascus SLD.

+1 for Takeda Nakiri from your list. the only thing I don't like Takeda is sharp spine & rough finished choil! you can ease the spine & choil by sand paper, but this will also remove partial of KU finished....\
if you wants something more fancy, check out Tom's Harner Nakiri with Amboyna Burl handle on B/S/T. very comfy large handle & top quality F/F! only downside is food sticking because Harner's tall and thin grind blade....

I've read a bunch on nakiris and folks also seem to like the Watanabe. Can you buy the Takeda from anyone else aside from the unmentionable?

If I was to recommend a Nikari with ku finish would be the yamawaku I had the pleasure to try out in this pass a round.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/6660-Yamawaku-Nakiri

It took a very sharp edge, and kept it for a very long time. I have bought a few since this pass a round, but my mind keeps going back to this one.

brianh said:

I've read a bunch on nakiris and folks also seem to like the Watanabe. Can you buy the Takeda from anyone else aside from the unmentionable?

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http://www.knifewear.com/
http://knifesharpeningtoronto.com/

mkriggen said:

http://www.knifewear.com/
http://knifesharpeningtoronto.com/

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Awesome, thank you.

brianh said:

\Can you buy the Takeda from anyone else aside from the unmentionable?

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http://www.arizonacustomknives.com/Shosui-Takeda.aspx

Direct:

http://shop.niimi.okayama.jp/kajiya/english/index.html

Thoughts on this?

http://www.knifewear.com/knife-detail.asp?knife=11bunka160&family=11

It is the Same price as the normal Nakiri but it seems the point would make it more versitale.

Edit. I guess I was wrong about the width. My personal bunka was a lot narrower (45 mm range) than most Takeda nakiri's I've seen. I guess it was a sampling issue. All this Takeda nakiri love is giving me second thoughts on my plans to sell my Takeda nakiri.

Carter also makes a nice nakiri.

brianh said:

I've read a bunch on nakiris and folks also seem to like the Watanabe. Can you buy the Takeda from anyone else aside from the unmentionable?

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Arizona Custom Knives has a lot of Takeda stuff.

Lefty is selling a new Harner in the B/S/T that looks awesome. I'd snap that up if was looking for a nakiri at the moment.

Crothcipt said:

If I was to recommend a Nikari with ku finish would be the yamawaku I had the pleasure to try out in this pass a round.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/6660-Yamawaku-Nakiri

It took a very sharp edge, and kept it for a very long time. I have bought a few since this pass a round, but my mind keeps going back to this one.

Click to expand...

+1. Havent tried any others but my Yamawaku has great retention,reasonably unreactive and gets sharp.Hasnt chipped or bent and it gets a bit of abuse.For the price it is a winner but it took a while to arrive.

Dusty said:

Lefty is selling a new Harner in the B/S/T that looks awesome. I'd snap that up if was looking for a nakiri at the moment.

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+1

mhenry said:

Takeda IMO the best nakiri you can buy. This is the only knife Takeda makes I would call best in class. Reasons
1. very very good edge retention
2. easily managed reactivity
3. absolutely zero food sticking
4. thin and will fall through everything it is an amazing cutter
5. easy to re-sharpen and maintain edge
6. rugged good looks

I would stay away from the Moritaka because of the un-rounded tip
The Shig is very nice but will be more reactive and have less edge retention
I have no opinion on the HD

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agree completely

Thanks for all the Help. I went with the Takeda Nakiri. In fact despite haveing second thoughts BKDC sold me his for a screaming good deal of $175 out the door. Thanks alot dude.

:bliss:

Awesome score! Make sure and report back with your thoughts.

Cheers

I love my shig. I'd highly recommend it. The steel sharpens to an incredible edge!

Congrats! An update would be great and some pics too.

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I sent him a wide nakiri 170mm x 60mm

That was really nice of you, crazy price too...

I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts.

Got the knife in last Thursday and WOW :bigeek:. I have never owned anything this Sharp. Cuts amazingly well. I am going to have to find and stash a good wooden board at work because for some reason it just sticks to the Plastics and push cutting is next to imposibble. I suspect this is due to the blade cutting into the plastic. I have always liked the rough finished look of Takedas and now that I have touched one I can see many more in the future. :knife: You guys are also a bad influence as now I want to take the money BKDC saved me and put a nicer handle on it but I fell the Boss (wife) would greatly disapprove.

Flawless Victory said:

Got the knife in last Thursday and WOW :bigeek:. I have never owned anything this Sharp. Cuts amazingly well. I am going to have to find and stash a good wooden board at work because for some reason it just sticks to the Plastics and push cutting is next to imposibble. I suspect this is due to the blade cutting into the plastic. I have always liked the rough finished look of Takedas and now that I have touched one I can see many more in the future. :knife: You guys are also a bad influence as now I want to take the money BKDC saved me and put a nicer handle on it but I fell the Boss (wife) would greatly disapprove.

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Awesome! Thanks for the update. It's good to hear this all worked out and you are well on your way down the rabbit hole.
You can remind the Boss that it was her stealing the other one that started all of this.

Looks like a mini chinese cleaver! love the rustic finishes on the takedas

I asked Shosui to send me an extra-wide nakiri so I could have more area to scoop veggies during prepping.

I'm a little bummed that Takeda's new stainless cladding doesn't look as bad-ass and potentially could be inferior with food release.

The extra Wide part explains why it will not fit in "Lord Voldermort's" (saw this in a thread earlier and I think it's a keeper) pre made cardboard sheaths I have laying around. Oh well I get to dust of the dremel and atempt to make a saya.