How Much Flex on Suji?

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

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

Marko Tsourkan

Founding Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
5,005
Reaction score
34
Well, I am starting to move toward stiffer blades in general, and thinking of a suji, I wonder where to draw the line. I personally use suji strictly for carving so stiffness is a plus, especially on cooked meats. I know some folks like to clean silver skin and prefer to have flex in their sujis.

So, those of you who use suji on par or more than gyuto, what are your preferences? Stiffness (no flex) doesn't automatically translates in wedging, as you can have some steel on the spine and very little steel above the edge.

A little flex
A lot of flex
No flex

Thanks,

Marko
 
I guess a little flex translates into a stiff spine, in thickness I use, so I will proceed.
Thanks!
 
I vote no flex. In my view suji's are for making long precision cuts, so no flex.:2cents:

Be well,
Mikey
 
Little to no flex. The Yoshikane SLD damascus wa 270mm suji would be a good example IMO.
 
I'm curious what Sujis you guys are using that have no flex? Only one I've tried with zero flex is the Kato workhorse from Maksim. All others have had some flex. I'd prefer a thinner tip than stiffness, but I'd like to hear others opinions.
 
I'm curious what Sujis you guys are using that have no flex? Only one I've tried with zero flex is the Kato workhorse from Maksim. All others have had some flex. I'd prefer a thinner tip than stiffness, but I'd like to hear others opinions.

your right. actually all of my sujis flex a lil bit. but its not like i use this flex in any way. even the zakuri is not 100% stiff.
 
I've got a 270 konosuke that is a beautiful and very thin slicer but way too much flex for my tastes at least for carving. I like sujis with little to no flex for carving. I use the flexible kono laser for things like marking and cutting desserts.
 
I'm curious what Sujis you guys are using that have no flex? Only one I've tried with zero flex is the Kato workhorse from Maksim. All others have had some flex. I'd prefer a thinner tip than stiffness, but I'd like to hear others opinions.

Yoshikane skd 270 , it feels pretty stiff


Sent from my iPhone using Kitchen Knife Forum
 
I think it depends on what it's used for. I can see where a stiff blade would be useful for carving. I've got a 300 Yusuke Sakai Swedish Suij laser. Not wimpy but certainly flexes in the first half of the blade. Works excellent for removing the skin from a slab of pig fat back, portioning proteins, slicing prosciutto. I'm a home cook so can work in ideal conditions without being rushed.
 
I'm curious what Sujis you guys are using that have no flex? Only one I've tried with zero flex is the Kato workhorse from Maksim. All others have had some flex. I'd prefer a thinner tip than stiffness, but I'd like to hear others opinions.

Martell, Catcheside and Mortiaka. As has already been stated, they all flex a bit, but with enough pressure you can flex a yanagiba. By flex, I mean like a fillet knife.
 
That's pretty much what I was getting at, I don't think that the small amount of flex adds to performance, but the thinness is an advantage, and the flex is the payoff for thinness.
 
Let me clarify. Zero flex is not possible given the thickness of the stock I work with and the length of the blade if I aim to make a cutter, rather than a piece of steel with an edge (I can make just that with no distal taper). My goal to make a knife that could be used more than just as a protein cutter, but also as a prep knife. Many sushi chefs use primarily sujis for prep work.

I start with 3.4mm stock. I grind a distal taper to about 2.5mm at the middle and 2mm 50mm from the tip. S grind. At this point, there is very little flex. So, basically, this is where I am going to leave - there will be very little flex in the first 1/3 of the blade, but blade will feel stiff throughout.


M
 
OK, onward, the close to no flex will be the standard option.

Thanks, folks, as always, much appreciated.

M
 

Latest posts

Back
Top