Watanabe blades ?

I have been thinking about this maker for a while now, and how no one really speaks much about him anymore. I would love to no what everyone thinks about this smith.
Please leave as much information as you can, as it will also help newbies in there deciding factor. I personally would like to find out more about his honyaki blades thanks.
I have a honyaki obsession.... if you ask me why again its the old school samurai thing i guess... and no i don't think you need a honyaki just to cut onions but hey... again its a personal thing. Cheers!

I owned a 240mm Honyaki Gyuto from Watanabe in Blue#2

I custom ordered mine with a slightly pointier tip than his usual knives, and got the upgraded keyaki handle & mirror polish. All up including shipping I paid around $850. It took around a month from the time of ordering until the knife was completed. overall I was quite happy with the knife, it was quite hefty, and cut well. I have other knives that I prefer though, and sold it.
The mirror polish still had a few of the lower grit scratches underneath, and the hamon wasn't as striking as other honyakis I've seen.

If you are looking at other honyaki gyutos, I have also owned a Sakai ichimonji kichukini white #2 & I still own a Mizuno Tanrenjo blue #2 DX honyaki both of which I enjoyed more than the watanabe.

I am very impressed with the performance of my stainless clad 18cm pro nakiri. Thin behind the edge and cuts like the dickens.
Spine and choil need some easing though.

slash said:

... and no i don't think you need a honyaki just to cut onions but hey...

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You do need a nakiri to cut leafy vegetables

My experience was horrible. He does not look like to give a damn about his products or CS. Cant comment on his blade performance, but this vendor/craftsman is off my list completely.

Discussed at length here.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/1233-Watanabe-knives/page1

Ruso said:

My experience was horrible. He does not look like to give a damn about his products or CS. Cant comment on his blade performance, but this vendor/craftsman is off my list completely.

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Wow... that bad!

Timthebeaver said:

Discussed at length here.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/1233-Watanabe-knives/page1

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Cheers.

Can't speak about his customs, but I still love both 150 petty and 180 gyuto from his PRO series.

I have three of his knives and love them all. Perhaps my most used knives.

I use the pro nikiri daily, and the custom blue 2 240 gyuto the most after that.

I am a home chef so take that for what its worth, but I regularly slice potatoes, chip thin with ease.

the pro knives are clad with iron and are basically non reactive, the blue two custom is more of a problem as I dont like a patina, and I keep it polished...of course this gives me a reason to work with my stones on the weekend.

With whatever skill I have on sharpening, i can get my wantanabes sharper than any of my other knives (this doesnt count my knives from jon as I have never sharpened them)

One I bought here, the other two I ordered from him. They came in fine, email was fine, shipping was quick, think I got them both in under a week.

Fit was fine, finish was not as polished as my knives from jon, but also half the cost....so with a little work on the spine and choil, they could be perfect. had both of my pros rehandled when I got them.

I can see that everyone holds this maker in high regard. So is this case closed?

As I mentioned in the Shig thread, his knives speak very much of his style and philosophy towards knife making. You'll never mistake his knives for another, or vice versa. I'm planning on ordering a 270 suji from him in a couple weeks.

I really enjoy my 165mm nakiri and ordering from him was very easy. Very nice cutter.

Slash, disregard any negativity when it has zero to do with the actual knives. Unless of course you are one of such finicky people as well.. In other words, case closed.

Josh - I'm going to want to try that suji next time I visit!

panda said:

Slash, disregard any negativity when it has zero to do with the actual knives. Unless of course you are one of such finicky people as well.. In other words, case closed.

Josh - I'm going to want to try that suji next time I visit!

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Panda Panda.... what do you take me for, i listen to peoples advice but in some cases.. seeing is believing.

slash said:

Panda Panda.... what do you take me for, i listen to peoples advice but in some cases.. seeing is believing.

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If I listened to people I would not have any knives .

Got a small 210mm pro gyuto with the keyaki handle (guess I got it before prices went up). Great knife, pretty robust, stays sharp and would suit a pro, as the name suggests. Stopped short of getting a saya which would have cost another $100 or so. Good communication and service, so I don't know what the complaint above might have been about.

I had a number of Shinichi's knives passing through here, still have a 270 gyuto, garasuki, takohiki, a couple of ajikiris and a santoku. Rehandled a few honesukis, sold/traded a 240 gyuto, nakiri, ajihiki, and a 320 sujihiki in moments of weakness. I just like his knives, they have a distinctive feel to it. I wish he would forge his longer gyutos stainless clad, but otherwise I am a very happy customer. Never had anything but good experiences in dealing with him directly. That does not exclude him having a bad day, but IMHO that would be more the exception than the norm.

Stefan

rami_m said:

If I listened to people I would not have any knives .

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You mean

If I listened to my wife I would not have as many knives

apicius9 said:

I had a number of Shinichi's knives passing through here, still have a 270 gyuto, garasuki, takohiki, a couple of ajikiris and a santoku. Rehandled a few honesukis, sold/traded a 240 gyuto, nakiri, ajihiki, and a 320 sujihiki in moments of weakness. I just like his knives, they have a distinctive feel to it. I wish he would forge his longer gyutos stainless clad, but otherwise I am a very happy customer. Never had anything but good experiences in dealing with him directly. That does not exclude him having a bad day, but IMHO that would be more the exception than the norm.

Stefan

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Its nice to hear that.

panda said:

Slash, disregard any negativity when it has zero to do with the actual knives. Unless of course you are one of such finicky people as well.. In other words, case closed.

Josh - I'm going to want to try that suji next time I visit!

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I think that could be arranged:doublethumbsup:

Come on guys.... anymore reviews?

I bought a 180 mm deba in white steel a couple years ago and I couldn't be happier. It's a fabulous knife.

I ordered a knife this past Friday (Oct. 24). I haven't tried it yet, but upon quick inspection am impressed by the f&f, as well as the OOTB sharpness. (And, yes: ordered Friday, delivered Monday morning; hard to beat that!)

I am seriously tempted by the honesuki, if that is of any help

White 2 usuba is freaking awesome. Incredibly sharp ootb for what its worth and good fit and finish. Blue gyutos are on the chunky side but cut pretty well. For a honyaki, im more inclined to ake the mizuno route but im still holding out on that purchase for now

Just asking, since I cannot quite make this out from his website: are all the pro knives with a kurouchi finish also stainless cladded?

Nope. He makes stainless clad only up to 180mm length, most knives are iron clad which makes them somewhat reactive.

Stefan

The stainless clad ones are made from stock he buys (i.e. he does not make the lamination himself) and are also on the thicker side (that information comes from Shinichi himself).

Thanks guys. So the kurouchi ones are iron clad?

And how reactive is this? For example, if I don't wipe for 5 mins, will it rust? And what happens when I use it to cut onions?

mark76 said:

Thanks guys. So the kurouchi ones are iron clad?

And how reactive is this? For example, if I don't wipe for 5 mins, will it rust? And what happens when I use it to cut onions?

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It will rust pretty fast, you will be looking for your nearest scotch brite , when you cut onions it will develop a patina but it takes a while to be somewhat stable


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