Got first knife(s) !!!

I started with none, and ended up with four!!

I'd already ordered this Yoshihiro from Amazon. It's Blue #2. I don't have any way to compare it, but the handle sucks. It feels like it is wrapped in some kind of fake wood vinyl wrap? Is that what they feel like? And the front of the ferrule where the blade goes in looks like it was masked off and painted? Not sure if that's "normal" quality for J-knives, but damn! Looks like a blind, drunk four year old made it. I admit, I wanted it to look rough and primitive. But I didn't want it to look like I'd bought it at Harbor Freight.

As far as how sharp it is....it's sharp. It won't slice a tomato sideways on the cutting board unless I hold the tomato from moving first. But once it breaks the skin, it will slice paper-thin slices with the tomato's friction holding it in place. So it isn't as sharp as knives on Youtube, but it's still pretty damn sharp for OOTB.

Here is the box it came in.


Some more of the packaging.


Blade wrapped in more packaging.


And finally, here is the knife.





And here is the reason, regardless of quality, that I will never purchase another knife from these guys. Please tell me this isn't normal.


Also, keep in mind that I do not have the proper experience to write an actual review of this knife.

The next day, we went to SLT. They had a Miyabi that I wanted to see in person. The Birchwood Gyuto. When I first saw it, I was kind of put off by how "pretty" it was. But the more I handled it, the more I wanted it. It's just a beautiful knife. And it's SG-2, which is the main reason I wanted it in the first place.


Here is the box it came in.


And the box inside the box. This thing folds open, and the lid has magnets inside so it stays closed. I was kind of surprised just how nice the box was!


And some of the packaging.


And now the knife.

Here's some comparison pics of the two knives, as well as the other two that I bought.

The Yoshihiro is still the knife that I "wanted", if you catch my drift. I like how utilitarian it looks.






I don't know if you can tell it here, but the Yoshi is substantially thicker. I can mic them if you guys want.


Here's the other two. I got them on sale for 129.00. A 6" chef, and a 3.5" paring knife.


















This is all my knives now worth talking about. At least in my opinion.



And since I'd got some fingerprints on them, I figured I'd wash them.






....Just kidding.

We also got a cutting board. I wanted to get one from the Boardsmith, but since he threw that fit earlier, I wasn't sure if he was still around or not.







And I got some waterstones. I wanted Gesshin, but I couldn't get a hold of Jon in a timely manner. I'll have to add his to my budding collection next. In the meantime, these had to do. The instructions said to soak the WHOLE stone. Is that normal for Shun? I thought you only splashed the fine half and soaked the coarse half?







Aaaaand we had to get some pans too, I guess. They are 3mm thick DeMeyere "Industrial 5" pans. We got 4qt sauce, 3qt saute, 3.5 qt essential. We also got a 9.4" skillet because it was on sale.



The "Essential" pan.






Saute pan.






Sauce pan.






And here are some pics of how the handles are welded on instead of riveted on.

I think I had a small stroke when I saw the dishwasher shot. Good one.

Kind of surprised at how thin the Miyabi looks. Do you have a weight?

Miyabi
6.1 oz
173g

Yoshi
5.4oz
153g

Okay, after some research into how Wa handles are made, I may have jumped to conclusions on the Yoshi's handle. It looks like it used a dowel with a pilot hole. Some kind of oblong dowel perhaps. IDK, I'm not a knife handle maker. Either way, the ferrule is a tad larger than the rest of the handle. Maybe the rosewood shrank some. Anyways, it will be a great starter knife for me to learn how to sharpen, thin perhaps, and maybe one day put a different handle on.

FYI, regarding the weights of the knives, they are 210mm versions.
Here are some stats on the Yoshi:


Knife Type: Gyuto Chef's Knife
Steel Type: High Carbon Blue Steel #2
Blade: Double-Edged (50/50) / Blade Length: 8.25"(210mm)
BOLSTER: Water Buffalo Horn / Handle Material: Shitan Rosewood
Hardness Rockwell C scale: 62

Quite a shopping spree....congrats!!

I plan on doing something similar. Not the exact knives you got but increasing my arsenal to "respectable" level. Nice looking bunch of knives.

Wayne

Now that is what I call an ENTRY into cooking world. I hope you will enjoy your new knives and cooking utensils. Just be prepared that LUST may get you to get some more in the future.

You got me with that dishwasher shot too

Everyone else will say something about the knives, but HOT DAMN good choice with those Demeyere pots! I've been lusting after those for a good while. You'll have to let us know how you like them (in another forum section of course). :doublethumbsup:

mc2442 said:

Quite a shopping spree....congrats!!

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Thanks!

Wayne361 said:

I plan on doing something similar. Not the exact knives you got but increasing my arsenal to "respectable" level. Nice looking bunch of knives.

Wayne

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Thanks. I know what you mean. That was part of the reason I got the two Shun knives. I needed something other than two knives that are essentially "the same". Because it would suck to cut up a tomato with the Yoshi, and then bust out the Ronco Six Star paring knife.... *cough*

Matus said:

Now that is what I call an ENTRY into cooking world. I hope you will enjoy your new knives and cooking utensils. Just be prepared that LUST may get you to get some more in the future.

You got me with that dishwasher shot too

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Ha Ha! I wonder how many people I "didn't" get. And they walked away thinking: "Retard..."

Not that they'd be far off, but dang.

wisew said:

Everyone else will say something about the knives, but HOT DAMN good choice with those Demeyere pots! I've been lusting after those for a good while. You'll have to let us know how you like them (in another forum section of course). :doublethumbsup:

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Well, my wife doesn't usually get excited about stuff like that. She was happy with the Cuisinart set we had from Wal Mart. But she actually said she like them, and had that "I owe you special favors" sound in her voice, if you get my meaning...

I think they are super nice quality, and heavy duty. Once we use them some, I'll do a write up. We do plan to add to them in the future though. Of course, I'll be adding more knives first.


Quick question: On those Shun combo stones, it says to submerge the entire stone. (even the 6k) So if that's how they want to do it, should I store them in water to keep them from separating so fast? Right now, I have them in a covered tupperware in the garage. And what about that little cleaning stone? I soaked it because it was very very thirsty. But now what do I do with it? I have it balanced on edge in a cupboard drying right now. Should I leave it submerged too?

P.S. - I did buy a 400, 2k, and 5k, and sink bridge from Jon. He recommended the 6k, but he was out of stock. And since I have the Shun stone anyway, I figured 5k would be fine.

I did sharpen the Yoshi today. In the end, it seems to be the same sharpness....sigh. Still sharp, but nothing crazy.

I like the look on that miyabi knife. The birch handle and SG2 is quite nice.
Thanks for sharing that Yoshihiro "Amazon flyer". I think its quite a low move, they are off my list (not that they were on, but still).

And the most important, enjoy your new toys!

Ruso said:

I like the look on that miyabi knife. The birch handle and SG2 is quite nice.
Thanks for sharing that Yoshihiro "Amazon flyer". I think its quite a low move, they are off my list (not that they were on, but still).

And the most important, enjoy your new toys!

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You're welcome. I'm sure it's a great knife, but that flyer is somethin' else! I'm not going to review the knife at all. Firstly, I don't have the experience. And giving it 5 stars because "Hey it's sharp!" is dumb. And lastly, the flyer would for sure bias the review. IDK, maybe I'm looking at it too hard?

Nice looking knives!

with regard to stones, if it needs soaking, it's usually the whole stone. it wouldn't make sense to make a combo stone with half soaker half splasher. also, for some stones, it's ok to permasoak but you're best off checking with the person who sold you the stone. if they're not sure, check with the manufacturer. otherwise, i would only soak when i need to.

Baller!

hojuturtle said:

Nice looking knives!

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Thanks!

kpnv said:

with regard to stones, if it needs soaking, it's usually the whole stone. it wouldn't make sense to make a combo stone with half soaker half splasher. also, for some stones, it's ok to permasoak but you're best off checking with the person who sold you the stone. if they're not sure, check with the manufacturer. otherwise, i would only soak when i need to.

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Well, there is another combo stone ( I think Jon's?) where you soak the coarse one, and splash the fine one. And soaking and drying can cause the stones to separate from each other. (not sure if that's a bad thing really...)

V1P said:

Baller!

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Ha Ha! Thanks.

not mine... our gesshin combo stone can be left soaking

JBroida said:

not mine... our gesshin combo stone can be left soaking

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Oh, okay. Thanks.

I know I saw a combo stone that was like that, but now I can't find an example. Maybe I just read it wrong.

I do eagerly await my new stones though. I wish I'd got the metal bridge and lexan pan.

P.S. - I was hoping you'd weigh in on that Yoshi. Was the fit and finish always like that? Geez, the blade is even in there crooked. Or is this something best kept to PM's? Not sure of the politics around here yet. Thanks.

as a general rule, i try not to comment on my competitors products... doesnt seem right to me

JBroida said:

as a general rule, i try not to comment on my competitors products... doesnt seem right to me

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Yeah, I hear ya.

On a brighter note, I was cutting printer paper with the Shun 6" knife in hopes that it was dull enough to sharpen. It's actually the sharpest one! I held the knife in my hand so it was just kind of laying there. Then, once I got the knife started in the paper, it started to fall through the paper on it's own so fast I almost dropped it! Needless to say, there was no sawing motion required. Wow!

That Miyabi handle is really nice!

And you had me as well when I saw the dish washer picture Great buy man, enjoy your new acquisitions!

erikz said:

That Miyabi handle is really nice!

And you had me as well when I saw the dish washer picture Great buy man, enjoy your new acquisitions!

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Ha! Nice.

Thanks, man. I'm actually leaving the Miyabi in the box for awhile. At least until I get the hang of things.

GodprefersDiesels said:

On a brighter note, I was cutting printer paper with the Shun 6" knife in hopes that it was dull enough to sharpen.

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It doesn't have a huuuge impact, but it is better to use telephone book paper or newspapers or the like. Printer paper often has considerable amount of mineral (=stone) dust mixed into it to give it a solid, heavy feel and to make it smoother. Sometimes up to 40% of the weight. The minerals make it pretty abrasive though, that paper can actually dull your edge.

The papers I mentioned are harder to cut too, so they are a better test for sharpness.

I have found food to be a better test of kitchen knives than any type of paper. Ymmv.

mhpr262 said:

It doesn't have a huuuge impact, but it is better to use telephone book paper or newspapers or the like. Printer paper often has considerable amount of mineral (=stone) dust mixed into it to give it a solid, heavy feel and to make it smoother. Sometimes up to 40% of the weight. The minerals make it pretty abrasive though, that paper can actually dull your edge.

The papers I mentioned are harder to cut too, so they are a better test for sharpness.

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I agree. But it's the only paper I have at the house, and I'm an excited knife owner that needs to cut stuff.

Timthebeaver said:

I have found food to be a better test of kitchen knives than any type of paper. Ymmv.

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Well la dee da!

Thanks guys!

Cutting paper is excellent way of finding leftover microchips in the edge after sharpening, though.

mhpr262 said:

Cutting paper is excellent way of finding leftover microchips in the edge after sharpening, though.

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Thanks for the tip. Makes perfect sense too.

I briefly stropped the Yoshi on my 6k stone to put a microbevel on one side. Just maybe four good swipes. It's sharp. But I'm going to wait to slice the tomato again without holding it until after I get some compound and a strop. I'm not looking for "scary sharp". I'm really just looking for an edge that will cut the damned tomato without holding it!!! :knife:

shuns are way overpriced