santoku design

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Delbert Ealy

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So after the show and packaging up most of the knives I sold, I am working my way back into the shop.
I was reading the santoku thread that Brad started last night and I decided to take a fresh look at the design.
I made two templates both with improvements over the previous designs.
I will say that the edge profiles on these two templates are exactly the same, with over 100mm of flat.
So I want to know which looks better A or B?

100_1508.jpg

Thanks,
Del
 
B looks better to me - the in-line handle angle is better in my opinion.
 
A. I'd personally opt to bring the spine curve back a cm or so to make the tip a few degrees more acute, but option A seems to be in the right direction to me.
 
I guess I should say that these designs are 165mm long on the edge and 53mm high at the heel.
Del


Ps what do you think about XooMg's suggestion?
 
I think the spine curve behind the tip is okay.
 
Xoomg suggestion sounds pretty good.
 
agree with echerub, I like the in-line handle angle better. B with less curve front edge & more acute tip; you'll have a profile similar to Shigefusa santoku.
top-Watanabe, bottom-shigefusa
 
I am voting for A


Sent from my iPhone using Kitchen Knife Forum
 
This is a revised design, B now has an altered profile, I took off some of the hump and made it a bit sleeker. I left A alone so you could see the difference.
100_1509.jpg

Thanks,
Del
 
Untrained eyes here but A with etched san mai (no damascus) and a rustic leaning handle is something I will purchase if you want to create an example.
 
still A, though B looks interesting with the pointier tip (I've designed a funayuki type thing with that kind of shape though I've never had one made). Shigefusa and other nice santoku I've seen do not have an edge parallel to the handle. In my admittedly ignorant opinion, the edge profile of A with a spine drop somewhere between A and new B would be a sweet santoku.
 
I would go with B. The is a nice long flat spot for cutting and the tip seems very usable too.

But once you are at it - what about some Hakata Santoku design? :)
 
Guess the destubification of the tip worked pretty well to sway opinions...I still think the edge and handle should not be perfectly parallel for a santoku, but seems like I'm alone in that thinking.
 
Hmm. Actually, I finally paid close attention to the 5 santoku that I have on my mag strip right now (my wife says even a 210 gyuto feels too long for her on the boards)... 3 of them have the slight angle to the handle, and 2 have handles perfectly parallel with the edge at the heel. They all feel comfortable to me, so I guess in that sense I'm actually handle-angle-agnostic :D

I prefer the A tip. And I guess now that I've paid attention to whether handles are parallel or not... that means I prefer A overall :)
 
While A is a more classic look to me, I prefer B profile - similar to my Shig and Heiji santoku. I find 165mm too short, and prefer at least 180mm on edge.

The benefit of A is that it's less "scary" of the knife. One of the appeals of the santoku to non-knife people is that they do not have a sharp point. But if you're selling at knife shows and to knifenuts like us, that's less important a consideration.
 
I actually don't find much practical difference between the stubbier tip and the pointier tip in terms of reaching the tip into where I need it to go. However, the stubbier tips usually make the knife face better for scooping up more stuff off the board :)

Part of the reason why I like santoku is because of the overall profile complete with the stubby nose. As it becomes more like a short gyuto, the less appealing it is for me - because then I'd just rather use a full-size gyuto.
 
A stubby tip also is a little more forgiving to bumping around, and I agree with Len about the scooping feature. I do think there's something to be said about nimble mini-gyuto or tosa-style funayuki, but a santoku doesn't need to aspire to that particular goal. I like an intermediate curve to the spine; something between the two posted. Still, I think either shape could sell and do reasonably well without further modification.

I'd totally be game for something like this, but right now I'm hungering for a certain geometry instead of a certain profile.
 
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