Shigefusa Kurouchi questions

It is great to have a forum like this and benefit from the experience of vendors and users.

I have been looking around a lot for a small knife to take on smaller vegetables and do detail work. While the Shig Kurouchi 150 petty does not quite fit the bill (I would ideally prefer a taller blade for these tasks) I am still strangely attracted to it.

The entry level Shigefusa seems very well priced at JNS, does the quality of the finish and grind compare with the more expensive models?

How durable is the Kurouchi finish? Is it sturdy like a Takeda or will it wear quicker like a Moritaka?

How reactive is the exposed part of blade? The knife will have to deal with acidic small veg like spring onions, garlic, chili, ginger...

To put this into perspective I have been looking at Takedas but I am not a fan of the wide tang and lack of space between the handle and choil. I have also been looking at Masakage Kamagatas as they are very short and tall (110x50mm)...the abundance of makers makes it difficult to decide.

Any Shigefusa Kurouchi users around? I am very interested to hear about the reactivity of the blade, in particular with fairly acidic ingredients. For example my Murata Western Nakiri is KU blue#1 and does not seem to leave a smell or discolour onions at all.

The consensus seems to be that these KU Shigefusas seem to be as well built and ground as the more expensive lines but I found very little on the durability of the finish.

So where are all the Shigefusa Aficionados... please come forth and share your knowledge and help to answer mr oli,s question.
Is that not why where here? to enlighten each other in all matters knife related. come on guy's get shigy with it.

I have a 150mm Shig Ku petty that I bought off someone here. The Ku was already removed and I assume it must fave been fairly easy to remove. I've had it for a couple of years now. It's a great knife.
The exposed steel is not very reactive at all. This is an excellent introduction into the world of Shigs. Go for it.

Hey Oli, I bought the shig kurouchi petty you're looking at a month or so ago.

I've really enjoyed it so far. It comes razor sharp out of the box. I've touched it up a couple of times since then. The steel is great, it sharpens so easily, at least on a par with white #2 if not better (I've found that stropping on Cr2O3 on balsa really makes it sing!).

In terms of reactivity, it is by far the most reactive steel I've come across (much more than AS, white #2 and O1). I've had to use baking powder and a scotch brite on it a couple of times at the beginning to take small grains of rust off after cutting particularly acidic food. If you're used to carbon, I wouldn't let the reactivity put you off. You'll just have to wipe the blade down more a little more frequently. I guess you could always try forcing a patina on it, but I quite like to develop them naturally.

In terms of durability of the finish, this is my first KU knife so i don't know what to expect. The finish is decent and my knife doesn't get knocked around much so i haven't noticed any problems with it coming off (yet!).

The grind is great. I asked Maksim and he's said the grind on KU shigs is the same as on kasumi ones. It's really a great little knife for the price, and a great intro to shigefusa. I would say the pros (grind, steel, profile) definitely outweight the cons (reactivity). Oh and the handle will definitely want replacing at some point. I used beeswax and mineral oil to coat the handle but if I did it again, I'd just use a few coats of mineral oil. Beeswax made the coating too thick and...well, waxy!

If there's any other questions you have, shoot me a PM or ask on the thread.

Oli, while there is little reason not to get a Shigefusa petty, but the knife you are looking for is 5 sun (150mm) kurouchi Carter funayuki. Ideally both, of course

EDIT: The reactivity of the cladding on the Carter is very manageable. Of course there are stainless clad ones, but the kurouchi has its charm. I have 167mm funayuki that I use for veggies - pleasure to use.

EDIT 2: sorry for going off topic.

All the inputs are much appreciated, maybe given the tasks I want to tackle with the knife I should go for a less reactive choice...however it is still a very good entry into the Shigefusa thing and one can never have too many pettys!

Got for it! And you can always force a patina on it if the reactivity is an issue for you.

My kurouchi shig is not that reactive at all really. I just came home where my mother in law had been babysitting. After she left I found the shig on the board with bits of onions and garlic on it. No rust, just a healthy patina on it. Sure I had a faint patina already going but that must have been sitting for at least three hours. And also, the kurouchi seems to stay intact and I've used it and scrubbed it quite a bit since june.

Combination of forced and new natural patina on my old Sab.

MrOli said:

The entry level Shigefusa seems very well priced at JNS, does the quality of the finish and grind compare with the more expensive models?

Click to expand...

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/19968-Seeking-to-understand-Shigefusa-finish-variations/page2

Here is a thread that compared the KU to the Kitaeji

Mowgs

The Kitaeji is magnificent, there are no other words for it.

It seems a lot of care has gone in the KU too, maybe not in quite as much details when it comes to rounding the angles and polishing the choil and spine but it still looks stunning too. By comparison my Murata is much more rustic.

MrOli said:

The Kitaeji is magnificent, there are no other words for it.

It seems a lot of care has gone in the KU too, maybe not in quite as much details when it comes to rounding the angles and polishing the choil and spine but it still looks stunning too. By comparison my Murata is much more rustic.

Click to expand...

I found my ku Shig to have nicely rounded spine and choil, though it may not have been as noticeable as on the kasumi or kitaeji because it was done in the KU finish. As to the reactivity, definitely in the eye of the beholder, I personally don't find Shig's all that reactive either way, but the KU will not rust or patina and seems made to stay on the knife unless you worked pretty hard to remove it.

I have a 180mm KU santoku, and I think the KU finish peels off easily. I was rehanding the blade and taped it with masking tape. When I remove the masking tape, quite a bit of the KU came off with it. It was ugly so I ended up removing the KU all together.

pkjames said:

I have a 180mm KU santoku, and I think the KU finish peels off easily. I was rehanding the blade and taped it with masking tape. When I remove the masking tape, quite a bit of the KU came off with it. It was ugly so I ended up removing the KU all together.

Click to expand...

Curious to know if the cladding behaved like a normal Kasumi Shig following removal off the Kurouchi finish?

Cheers

J :thumbsup:

I think it would be closer to a Nashiji.