What's the issue with Takeda blade thickness?

About two years ago I got a Takeda sujihiki. I kind-of liked it (it's still the best-looking knife I have and the steel is great), but it was a bit thick behind the edge. Then quite a row started at this forum (half a year ago, I guess) about many Takedas being too thick behind the edge. I then sent my Takeda back to Japan for regrinding. This fixed the issue.

However, when I see the specs of Takeda knives at various sites, the seem pretty thin overall and are often referred to as lasers. My sujihiki definitely isn't a laser. I measured it and its spine thickness is 3.1 mm at the heal. When I see the specs on some sites, most of them are about 2 mm. And for a sujihiki, I'd like it to be thin.

So my question is: did I just get a non-standard Takeda or is there something else I don't understand?

(P.S. It is not my intention to revitalize the row of Takeda knives being too thick above the edge. We know that they were some time ago, and hopefully Takeda has fixed this by now. What I'm interested in is the blade thickness of Takedas.)

Do you mean spine thickness as opposed to thickness behind the edge or geometry?

My experience with Takeda knives (multiple knives over several years, sold the last one off a few years ago) is that no two are alike - there is no 'standard'. They are hand crafted and there are several bladesmiths within his shop. Also, what is the blade thickness half way down the spine? I believe Takeda welds on the tang which causes the area at the tang to be thicker. FWIW - when i believe Takeda first came to the attention of this group, maybe 15 +/- years ago, his Suji's were very flexible, i.e. too thin. Finally, and again - IMHO - the "laser" concept is over rated / over discussed....one thing I've always given Takeda props for is that his blades have great edges and are great cutters....that's what matters

Yeah, I'm talking spine thickness. As I explained, mine was pretty thick behind the edge, too (and many were, considering the messages here), but I'm now interested in blade/spine thickness. My measurement (3.1 mm) was spine thickness above the heal. The ones advertised currently seem to be 2 mm above the heal.

There is a lot of variation. My Takeda is pretty thin, though I've now seen a few that were much chunkier. I've gotten varying opinions from some folks in Japan too...some think his knives cut poorly, and some think they are good.

This is pretty much the reason I buy all my takedas second hand. I check out the choil shots, blade thickness, grind and weight before purchasing because theyre such a mixed bag. You could probably find a vendor to help you if you had specifc preferences.

I always Thought the Point of his suji/yanagi was to be thick like a yanagi but double ground like a suji, they have usually always been thicker thac his gyuto's, unless you order custom.

They're hand made...it's the same reason that when you buy a hand made knife from JKI or JNS that the specs are usually different by a small degree than those listed on the site.

cheflivengood said:

I always Thought the Point of his suji/yanagi was to be thick like a yanagi but double ground like a suji, they have usually always been thicker thac his gyuto's, unless you order custom.

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Takedas Mioroshi is a thick double bevel slicer but his double bevel yanagiba is thin and has flex, atleast mine did. http://takedahamono.com/eshop/index.html

My 240 gyuto was hollow forged, which means thicker at the spine and above the bevel and thin in the middle, much like the recent S grind discussions. Gives it great performance.

I think when he moved to stainless clad it moves differently under the hammer to the soft mild so took some practice to get them as thin as we were used to seeing.

Instead of just measuring thickness at the spine measure in a few places, look down the choil, pinch it between your finger and slide them from spine to edge, these will give you a better picture of the geometry.

Takedas as are an elite performer in the right hands. Novice users and/or people unwilling to put in their own customization work really should not buy them. But they look really cool and carry a level of prestige because of its price point so what are ya gonna do?

Someone got this for me recently as a gift from Chubo, choil shot to give another example of whats out there these days. 210 Stainless Sasanoha - Came plenty sharp OTB, used it on some quick tasks and got some microchipping. Touched it up and put it through some light work today - takes a great edge but its a little flexier than I prefer, didnt have any issue with some fennel (toughest thing it faced) & no more micro chips. Has a great feel and F&F is nice too. Would have to put through a rougher day to form a solid opinion. [/URL][/IMG]