Takedas in trouble..

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Oui Chef

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Messages
109
Reaction score
82
Hey guys!
In pretty desperate need of advice (I think..)
I have two Takeda's. Both of which, I noticed tonight with despair, have water in their handles. I can see it through the epoxy, and the tang flexes a touch in the handle. They are around a year old but I'm fairly certain the moisture has only gotten in over the past 2-3 days.

So, question is, how long will the tang last before it's irreparable? also.. whats the deal with water in the handle anyway, pretty disappointed as I thought thats what the epoxy was for.. I'm a pro chef and can't afford to part with them currently so the situation is tricky. Time for a rehandle? But I need replacements before I send them. I was thinking of grabbing a cheap vitorinox and then sending them for rehandling.
Thoughts/suggestions and advice?
If a handle replacement is imminent, recommendations?


For a moment, or a second, the pinched expressions of the cynical, world-weary, throat-cutting, miserable bastards we've all had to become disappears, when we're confronted with something as simple as a plate of food. - Bourdain
 
That's unheard of in my experience. Are you in an arid climate? Only thing I could think would allow that to happen besides improper sealing on takedas part. I'd pick up a couple burnt chestnut handles from Maxim, and knock those suckers off.
 
Do you mean humid?
Either way, no, I'm in London. And I'm meticulous with my knives, I touch up my edges twice a day on my rika and flitz polish them every night.
Any tutorials on doing the rehandling myself? I have no idea where to start


For a moment, or a second, the pinched expressions of the cynical, world-weary, throat-cutting, miserable bastards we've all had to become disappears, when we're confronted with something as simple as a plate of food. - Bourdain
 
[video=youtube;ZajZh8aps6Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZajZh8aps6Q[/video]

[video=youtube;AFTkCmPnIN8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFTkCmPnIN8[/video]
 
I meant drier, but that's neither here nor there.

Installation isn't too tricky. And removing the handle can vary in difficulty. Normally I'd say removing a Takeda would be difficult, but it sounds like the epoxy is already compromised.

Wrap the edge in scotch tape

Find a board wider and longer than the blade

Hold the flat of the blade against the flat of the board and align the end of the board flush with the ferrule

Whack the other end of the board with a hammer or preferably a wooden/rubber mallet till the handle loosens

You don't necessarily need new handles, I just prefer the burnt chestnut over takedas rosewood. You could easily reinstall these, and seal them with epoxy.
 
You can seal the handles with tung oil or other similar product to keep them from absorbing moisture and bypassing the epoxy around the blade.
 
Relax, Takeda's have a stainless steel tang, no imminent danger (stainless can rust but takes a while). As to handle removal, I had to use a chisel to get mine off.

Be well,
Mikey
 
Okay cool. Nice to know it won't be rusting away immediately. Thanks so much guys! Really appreciate it


For a moment, or a second, the pinched expressions of the cynical, world-weary, throat-cutting, miserable bastards we've all had to become disappears, when we're confronted with something as simple as a plate of food. - Bourdain
 
Whilst you don't need to remove them IMO, just thought I'd add that if a handle has been epoxied on first wrapping it plastic/foil/baggy to make it watertight and then standing it in a pan of boiling water will usually soften the epoxy enough to allow removal. Trying the whack it approach without first heating only works for burnt in tangs IME.
 
How sure are you that they have stainless tangs? I know Moritakas do, but I can't recall hearing about Takedas
 
Yes Takeda's have SS tangs. You will see the picture of it on his website.
 
Here's the proof from Takeda that his tangs are stainless:

hocho1.jpg
 
If you are flitzing your blade every night I would have to say you are ready to Pimp that blade with a custom handle.
 
I've never seen or heard of a Takeda handle getting water in it like the OP described. I can only think to say that either the epoxy seal at the tang was compromised or the handle itself has a crack somewhere.
 
I've never seen or heard of a Takeda handle getting water in it like the OP described. I can only think to say that either the epoxy seal at the tang was compromised or the handle itself has a crack somewhere.

Agreed. He's notorious for globbing that stuff on there too. There is usually too much epoxy, not the other way around.

The OP said both of his Takeda handles have this problem. Did you try to remove some of the excess epoxy at the ferrule? Maybe it causes a hole or gap.

Maxim is using beeswax to seal the handle. Boardwax is usually thinner as it is mixed beeswax & mineral oil. For that style you don't need epoxy, but sometimes a touch is nice for extra strength.
 
I've never seen or heard of a Takeda handle getting water in it like the OP described. I can only think to say that either the epoxy seal at the tang was compromised or the handle itself has a crack somewhere.

Dave have you knocked off Takada handles to install a Stepan octagon?
 
The one Takeda I handled (from the passaround) had the heavily epoxied handle. In fact the handle felt like it was hollow and plastic. I know they are rosewood but I would have sworn otherwise.
 
Looking at them now I don't see the moisture anymore.. But the tangs definitely flex more than they used to.
I'm wondering if the epoxy has been compromised. The tap water in my new work place can run quite hot. Could it have softened the epoxy perhaps? Either way, I do think I'll pimp these handles soon, not that they need it, since I received these knives from the mail man I've felt that they suit their handles in a special way. Besides that, having only two J knives isn't enough so there's money to be spent else where :wink:
 
also thanks for the replies. Sorry I didn't get round to responding too quick, just finished 68 hours of work in 4 days, chefs life :)
 
The water would have to be something really hot. Isn't most epoxy good to something like 700*? I've boiled knots out of brush handles before, but I really don't think hot water from the tap could do it.
 
put the knife in the owen at 100 celsius for a couple minutes, use protective gloves and get a good grip of the handle, set the edge on the far side of your cuttingboard, then u should be able to pull it off.
remove as much epoxi you can, sand the tang and repoxi the handle when it has dried and put it back in place, set to dry!
 
Most epoxy starts to soften at 60c, better brands go to 80-85c and you can get high temp epoxy which is good to around 180c AFAIK
 
Back
Top