Custom Saya Knowledge

I have been eyeing a nice Takeda knife for a couple years now, ever sense I gave my boss's super gyoto a spin. I am now ready to pull the trigger but I am now seeing that the only way to get a Saya is getting a custom one. ************** put me in contact with their custom Saya producer, but I'm wondering if this is the only option.

This producer priced me at $65, I am just wondering if this is a fair price / if there are other options that don't require me to give the producer my knife for 3-5 weeks? If I find a solid producer, I do have another knife that I would like a Saya built for

Thoughts?

That seems like a reasonable price for a custom saya. Sure it's about double of what you would pay for a pre-made generic saya but generally nothing out there is going to fit a Takeda.

Another option is to make your own saya, there are numerous threads and WIP on the forum that breaks down the process for you. It can be done in a few hours with simple hand tools, granted the process is a lot faster with power tools. These are few of the sayas that I've made myself. (Ignore the one on the far left). Good luck!

Johnb said:

I have been eyeing a nice Takeda knife for a couple years now, ever sense I gave my boss's super gyoto a spin. I am now ready to pull the trigger but I am now seeing that the only way to get a Saya is getting a custom one. ************** put me in contact with their custom Saya producer, but I'm wondering if this is the only option.

This producer priced me at $65, I am just wondering if this is a fair price / if there are other options that don't require me to give the producer my knife for 3-5 weeks? If I find a solid producer, I do have another knife that I would like a Saya built for

Thoughts?

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Just be aware, Takeda are not what they used to be.

I'd advise you do some reading on here about how they've changed over the years, you might be better served with a different maker if your experience with Takeda was one with their older grind.

There are a couple makers up in Canada as well, with the exchange rate from USD may not be that bad. There was a thread just the other day about it:
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/27404-Saya-Maker-in-Canada?

I don't think it's absolutely necessary to give up the knife if you're okay having it made slightly oversized; eg, you could possibly send a traced template and take thicknesses with callipers. The end result would probably be better if it was tailor fitted though.

MAS4T0 said:

Just be aware, Takeda are not what they used to be.

I'd advise you do some reading on here about how they've changed over the years, you might be better served with a different maker if your experience with Takeda was one with their older grind.

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Wow, I spend last night going through the archives, and this Information is quite the blow. I was not aware of the drop in quality with Takeda, and now I am completely re-thinking my purchase.

Now the Saya is going to have to wait until I decide on a different knife, jeeze

Johnb said:

Wow, I spend last night going through the archives, and this Information is quite the blow. I was not aware of the drop in quality with Takeda, and now I am completely re-thinking my purchase.

Now the Saya is going to have to wait until I decide on a different knife, jeeze

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Agree with rethinking your purchase...Takeda is a great knife when it is performing at peak...don't think that is the usual result nowadays. FWIW, it's not as much a drop in quality as a drop in performance...worse in my mind.

Take your time and perhaps fill out the 'which knife should i buy questionnaire'...you will get advice tailored to your wants/needs.

Cheers

I have a Takeda, it seemed okay. I sent it to Jon at JKI to touch it up so I'll find out shorty if he came across anything else given his expertise.

There are also several other options if you like sort of the rustic Kurouchi cladding with AS core. Some of them are a stainless cladding with the Kurouchi finish so less issues to worry about reactivity

tjangula said:

I have a Takeda, it seemed okay. I sent it to Jon at JKI to touch it up so I'll find out shorty if he came across anything else given his expertise.

There are also several other options if you like sort of the rustic Kurouchi cladding with AS core. Some of them are a stainless cladding with the Kurouchi finish so less issues to worry about reactivity

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I honestly don't mind the reactivity, the shape and balance of the knife is why I wanted to purchase my own. I talked with my chef about his knife, which he purchased 4 years ago, he said he has put a lot of time into getting the edge where he wants it, but it is a laser now. I just don't know if that is worth it at that price point if there is something comparable that performs better

What Tanner said sums it up...seemed ok...I'm sure it will cut well when he gets it back but for much less money you can have a much better cutter straight from the box.

My 2 cents, I put up a WTB your fatty Takeda about a week ago and have gotten zero bites. The people that have them like them.

Dardeau said:

My 2 cents, I put up a WTB your fatty Takeda about a week ago and have gotten zero bites. The people that have them like them.

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Or nobody here has one.

MAS4T0 said:

Or nobody here has one.

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I have one, there is a bit of a back story to it that makes it kinda special. I'm looking forward to when it comes back from the spa treatment at JKI and gets a new Stefan handle.

tjangula said:

I have one, there is a bit of a back story to it that makes it kinda special. I'm looking forward to when it comes back from the spa treatment at JKI and gets a new Stefan handle.

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My comment was mostly in jest.

I was more meaning that most people here will know what to expect, so I don't think a lack of availability on the B/S/T is necessarily indicative of a high approval rating.

Would you say that yours was worth the price, compared to other your knives?

MAS4T0 said:

My comment was mostly in jest.

I was more meaning that most people here will know what to expect, so I don't think a lack of availability on the B/S/T is necessarily indicative of a high approval rating.

Would you say that yours was worth the price, compared to other your knives?

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Not sure how I didn't pick up on that, must be what happens when you don't get enough sleep.

I actually got my large NAS gyuto for rather cheap. I paid $420CAD which is the going rate in USD, but this was about two years ago before the dollar completely tanked. I'll skip the back story but the TL/DR version is that the Canadian vendor was placing an order direct from Shosui for some other items and mine got included. I was told Shosui made it (due to the back story), not the apprentices, but I have no way to confirm. One thing which sets it apart is that the large gyutos (at the time anyways) have the range from about 260-280, but mine is EXACTLY 270, which is what I mentioned when I placed the order. I can also say that from the little I've used it (ya, I had it for a long time lol, didn't really like the handle) I didn't experience the wedging or other issues; good food release too. It doesn't have the super high shinogi (old grind) like the one cclin recently ordered, but didn't have any problems. But I'm an armature so maybe someone else would say it sucks lol.

Once it comes back from Jon and gets its Stefan handle I'm thinking it'll be a pretty special knife.

Well, end of the story here is that i will be rethinking my Takeda purchase, but regardless I am still looking for good custom says producers out there. The only one I have found has a 4 week lead.

Does anybody have any good recommendations?

I lot of knives include saya, or will fit an off the shelf saya (which you'd be able to get from the vendor).

As an aside, I have knives which were $1k+ which live in either off the shelf saya or cardboard saya.

My more traditionally shaped knives have all come with sayas, but for my nakiri and potentially a new bunka there are not many options on the market for such. It is seeming like I might have to make one myself, but I would much rather outsource it to a professional

4 weeks is a very short time in knife world. I've seen 2 weeks turn into 2 years+ on a couple occasions.

Johnb said:

Well, end of the story here is that i will be rethinking my Takeda purchase, but regardless I am still looking for good custom says producers out there. The only one I have found has a 4 week lead.

Does anybody have any good recommendations?

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Four weeks is not much time at all, even months wouldn't be unreasonable.

If you like the Takeda take a chance on the knife, do what I did with mine and send it to have it done correctly – not that it seemed to need it, but that's what being a knife nut is about :knife::viking:. Jon at JKI has mine in its current state shown on the left in this link:
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...ing-and-refinishing-we-do?p=418142#post418142

Hard to believe to other one originally had even smaller bevels

tjangula said:

Four weeks is not much time at all, even months wouldn't be unreasonable.

If you like the Takeda take a chance on the knife, do what I did with mine and send it to have it done correctly – not that it seemed to need it, but that's what being a knife nut is about :knife::viking:. Jon at JKI has mine in its current state shown on the left in this link:
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...ing-and-refinishing-we-do?p=418142#post418142

Hard to believe to other one originally had even smaller bevels

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Honestly this is really good advice, I guess that using my knives every day in a professional kitchen, bring without one for a month seems like an eternity. Patience is a virtue I guess.