advice for a fancy knife

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icanhaschzbrgr

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My parents lives about a thousand miles away from me and we see each other once or twice a year. They came to my place few days ago and were impressed by my growing collection of knives and new handles. So they asked me to buy and rehandle a knife that they are going to present later to a very respected old woman.

That woman is a very wealthy person and has everything that a person might ever needs. But they decided that handmade knife with a handmade handle would be a pretty special present. So I have time before September to buy a knife a complete rehandling. My knowledge about that woman are very limited, however I do know that she cook herself, so this knife is going to be used and abused like most knives on Russian kitchens. At least that's my assumption. I have no idea how it will be sharpened, but I could probably write down some advices about how to care for the knife and include it with the present.

So I'm looking at shorter knife 150-180mm petty/guyto/santoku/funayuki in stainless and with damascus cladding. Western or WA handle. Upper budget limit would be somewhere around 400$

Ideally I'd grab something like this Mr.Itou knife
GyutoSStag.jpg

but those are sold out long ago.

Another interesting option is Yoshikane SLD petty or santoku
89959_4_b.jpg

89963_1_b.jpg


Is there anything else similar to the those above?
 
Those Yoshikanes are outstanding. I have a nakiri and a kiritsuke/gyuto from the line and love them both. If you go that way you might want to contact the guys at EE, I think they put their own handles on the ones they sell so you might be able to get one without.

Be well,
Mikey
 
Tanaka Ironwood is in that range.
 
Do not give a fine knife like this to an ordinary person, just get her a Coldsteel kitchen knife. These knives are not for everyone! Please don't buy one for her. You will regret for life if you see how the knife will end up.
 
Do not give a fine knife like this to an ordinary person, just get her a Coldsteel kitchen knife. These knives are not for everyone! Please don't buy one for her. You will regret for life if you see how the knife will end up.

+1. She may find more use out of a slightly thicker knife made of a softer tougher steel.
 
This woman has enough knives for any task in the kitchen, so there's no sense in buying "just another one".

On the contrary, this knife should look and perform way better then any other knife she has ever used.
I believe that's the only way that may guide her into learning about kitchen knives and proper care. And it may happen that she already knew how to deal with such stuff, as she's very knowledgeable person.
 
as she's very knowledgeable person.

I've seen many very knowledgeable people too, but none of them gives a crap about knife maintenance! :no:
 
I've seen many very knowledgeable people too, but none of them gives a crap about knife maintenance! :no:

We knife aficionades are a rare breed indeed. It is too easy to forget when one spends so much time in forums with like-minded people.

A suggestion: She likely already has got good knives or can buy them herself. How about a really nice matched set of high quality waterstones instead? That is not something you can buy everywhere, not even in a first rate cooking supplies shop.
 
How about a really nice matched set of high quality waterstones instead?

Oh yeah, that'd be nice, and you could give her a matching vacuum and iron to go with them:punish:. Stick with your plan Anton. It doesn't matter what she does with it afterward, she'll recognize the effort that went into it and cherish it for years.

Be well,
Mikey
 
Ya, just give her a good Japanese stone or a ColdSteel knife.

Seriously, traditional Japanese knives are going to get ruined 100% by untrained/uneducated users, you know how chippy they are, do you? Knowledgeable doesn't apply to knives, people have been taking it for granted for centuries. I don't care how knowledgeable you presume she is, but if she can't take care of her kitchen knives, she's just a typical ordinary person in my eyes.
 
I think the man said he wanted to buy a nice knife, rehandle it himself and provide it to his parents to present as a gift to an esteemed friend?

Very laudable.

Perhaps one of the knives with an engraved chrysanthemum would fit the requirement? I don't remember which knife (or knives) this would be just remember coming across one that the 240 was engraved with a dragon, the 210 with the flower. Remember thinking that would be a nice gift for my mother.

Good luck in your search.
 
@OP

Maybe include a two sided stone, some rods, oil, cloth, and a well fitted box (or scabbard with stand)?

The thought here is if she does know how to properly care for her blades she will appreciate the accessories. And, if she doesn't, then she will have everything she needs (basically) to keep it in good condition. And, it becomes a matter of tangential learning (and no one can say you didn't provide everything needed with the gift to treat it properly, if she ends up destroying it).
 
cutting performance is not going to matter. just ask your mother what she thinks is the prettiest of some expensive knives. that will be the one to get.

I think he should gift her a great cutter. On the off chance that she got someone close to her that knows about knives.

A year later someone telling her "This is expensive mediocrity" and "Why didn't you care for this beauty" will create a different reaction towards the gift givers.

Also the enlightened look of a person making for the first time a cut with something really sharp is well worth.
 
Consider one of the super-etched Saji blades as well, if you can find a dealer. They might have a bit more texture going through food but they look pretty sweet and have (imo) nice profiles.

http://knife-gallery.com/?pid=62313553 not sure where else to find them, but I'd be quite pleased if someone got me one of these.

And ignore the people who tell you to forgo a good knife as a gift. It's a gift and she can use it as a paint scraper if she wants, though in the spirit of being a good recipient she might take some interest in it and you can make yourself available as a convenient reference for knife care and use so she doesn't have to wade in misinformation.

I was going to give a gift of a nice knife not long ago, but discovered the recipient had no interest in knife care and was apparently talented at destroying knives (chopping on tile sometimes even). The gift obviously would not have been appreciated so I didn't bother.
 
Also the enlightened look of a person making for the first time a cut with something really sharp is well worth.

You don't need to spend over 400$ to buy something decently sharp to give to someone, any blades can be made into razors and cut things like butter, the only difference is the edge retention.

And ignore the people who tell you to forgo a good knife as a gift. It's a gift and she can use it as a paint scraper if she wants, though in the spirit of being a good recipient she might take some interest in it and you can make yourself available as a convenient reference for knife care and use so she doesn't have to wade in misinformation.

I was going to give a gift of a nice knife not long ago, but discovered the recipient had no interest in knife care and was apparently talented at destroying knives (chopping on tile sometimes even). The gift obviously would not have been appreciated so I didn't bother.

What are you trying to tell here?

The issue here is, don't give a premium hand-forged knife to an unknown person, it's 100% going to get ruined, and it also destroys the hard work of the craftsman who crafted the knife, even though you paid for it. It's a total disrespect to the artist. If the knife is a mass-produced stuff, even if it's over 1000$, then I won't give a **** about that. Every single premium Japanese knife is painstakingly crafted with blood and sweat, it has the craftsman's 'spirit' in it. Please respect that.
 
The issue here is, don't give a premium hand-forged knife to an unknown person, it's 100% going to get ruined

I hear you LKH9. But I doesn't share your assumption about knife being 100% ruined.

I've gifted several knives before, and so far non of them has been destroyed or even damaged.
I'd tell you more: all the knives that I gifted are being well cared. Maybe because they look nice and perform way better then any dull cheap stainless steel, that people do try to be more careful. Maybe for some other reasons.

LKH9, again, I do hear you and understand the reasons behind your advice. Now it's your time to hear me and my reasons behind this decision.
 
If the knife is a mass-produced stuff, even if it's over 1000$, then I won't give a **** about that. Every single premium Japanese knife is painstakingly crafted with blood and sweat, it has the craftsman's 'spirit' in it. Please respect that.
If my Shigefusa or Kato were less expensive or if I were more wealthy and a lot more shamelessly dramatic, I might break one in response. Instead, I'm just going to disagree. As a former craftsman, I do not care about whether another living craftsman is queasy about losing one of his or her precious babies to an undeserving owner. Whether the customer wants it as a safe queen or a daily valued tool or an improvised pry bar is their business, if I'm willing to sell my product through a vendor. That's all assuming the person the OP mentioned is undeserving and abusive, which you seem eager to presume for no other reason than she's not an apparent member of our little exclusive club of snobs. Perhaps she's more responsible than you and I are, and again it's not our business really.
 
A suggestion: She likely already has got good knives or can buy them herself. How about a really nice matched set of high quality waterstones instead? That is not something you can buy everywhere, not even in a first rate cooking supplies shop.

In Russia we have saying/stereotype that dull kitchen knives means there's no man in the family. Meaning it's the mens job to sharpen knives. So in our culture it would be a bit strange to gift sharpening supplies to woman, but I like your idea non the less.

I'm considering adding some combo stone along with knife. If I do my job well and could pack everything together, then it will be obvious that this particular knife should be sharpened on that stone, and not by some 3rd party sharpener with grinder. So her husband could use that stone to keep knife reasonably sharp. Once/if they became interested in learning more — I could help with pointing to good sources of information.

Thanks for idea!
 
Consider one of the super-etched Saji blades as well, if you can find a dealer. They might have a bit more texture going through food but they look pretty sweet and have (imo) nice profiles.

http://knife-gallery.com/?pid=62313553 not sure where else to find them, but I'd be quite pleased if someone got me one of these.

Thanks for another option!
Haven't heard about this knives before.
That makes me wonder how many more decent knife makers are out there that are not being mentioned here on KKF…
 
Don't forget that watanabe has some beautiful engravings on his knife, you might want to check that out
 
and if pretty is what your after, how about some of konosukes offerings? I remember seeing a damascus santoku with flowers on it, and some with mt fuji etc. Decent blade too.
 
and if pretty is what your after, how about some of konosukes offerings? I remember seeing a damascus santoku with flowers on it, and some with mt fuji etc. Decent blade too.
Yep, I saw this too.
mount-fuji-180-santoku.jpg

It is a really pretty looking knife.
The price for 180mm santoku is AUD 469.99 here.
 
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The issue here is, don't give a premium hand-forged knife to an unknown person, it's 100% going to get ruined,

This is a ridiculous claim.

We were all such 'unknown persons' at one point or another. And now we are knife geeks.
 
This is a ridiculous claim.

We were all such 'unknown persons' at one point or another. And now we are knife geeks.

Except we like knives and were actively interested in learning how to use and maintain them. That's how we became better.

99% of people don't give a sh!t. He isn't wrong.
 
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