Shinko Kurokumo R2 vs Syousin Suminagashi R2 by Shiro kamo

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Alexec

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So this 2 models by Shiro Kamo, are two series I couldnt find any reviews about them.
Any of you have intel or excperience with any of those?
 
They are the same blade.

The Syousin suminagashi is R2 clad in a demure stainless damascus with a rosewood handle. Spine and choil are eased but not rounded. Well executed balance of thinness and food release (I'd call it a thinnish middleweight) and gets very sharp with great edge retention. Quite a tall blade. Great knife. Brillant value.

The Shinko Kurokumo is the same blade with a fully rounded spine and choil, a (slightly) deeper etch to the damascus cladding and an attractive ebony and a horn handle (blonde IIRC). The cost of the F&F upgrades is very reasonable IMO.
 
They are the same blade.

The Syousin suminagashi is R2 clad in a demure stainless damascus with a rosewood handle. Spine and choil are eased but not rounded. Well executed balance of thinness and food release (I'd call it a thinnish middleweight) and gets very sharp with great edge retention. Quite a tall blade. Great knife. Brillant value.

The Shinko Kurokumo is the same blade with a fully rounded spine and choil, a (slightly) deeper etch to the damascus cladding and an attractive ebony and a horn handle (blonde IIRC). The cost of the F&F upgrades is very reasonable IMO.
Thanks for responding :)
What "rounded" actually means? So you think its a good buy?
I have a list of 16 knives im getting info for and im crazed
 
Thanks for responding :)
What "rounded" actually means? So you think its a good buy?
I have a list of 16 knives im getting info for and im crazed



by looking all your posts, my suggestion is better u try the knives that u r pretty sure with it by urself. otherwise too much opinions gonna drive u crazy.
just get one first and learn from experienced. i bought quite alot of knives and probably only few suitable for my characteristic.

no offense..
 
by looking all your posts, my suggestion is better u try the knives that u r pretty sure with it by urself. otherwise too much opinions gonna drive u crazy.
just get one first and learn from experienced. i bought quite alot of knives and probably only few suitable for my characteristic.

no offense..

No probs and thanks for sharing your opinion. Well respected aswell and i keep saying what you said to myself every day but again, i get enthousiastic about something new every time.
But thank you
 
Thanks for responding :)
What "rounded" actually means? So you think its a good buy?
I have a list of 16 knives im getting info for and im crazed
"Eased" means that the sharp edge on the spine ( the 90 degree angle between the face of the blade and the spine) has been chamfered so that it doesn't rubt your index finger as much when using the pinch grip. Same goes for the choil, but for me, it is my middle finger that rubs on the choil.

"Rounded" means that the chamfering is taken to the point where the whole spine (and choil) looks like an arch in cross section. I find it very comfortable. And it looks cool too. YMMV.

I think that they are both very good knives and very good value. FWIW, I have the 270mm Syousin Suminagashi which I bought before the Shinko Kurokumo was available. If buying today, I'd get the Shinko Kurokumo but once again, YMMV. Note that the blade is quite tall on these knives (personally this suits me). The handle on the Syousin Suminagashi is quite light, so this knife is relitavely blade heavy whist the Shinko Kurokumo has a heavier ebony handle with a balance piont closer to the choil. Not a biggie- you adapt pretty quickly to this sort of detail.

I cant recall what all of the knives on your shortlist are but there are certainly other very good knives in this price bracket.

If you have a long shortlist of good knives, it is probably time to get out of analysis paralysis and buy a knife. Most or all of the knives which have been recommended by folks on the forums will be great, with much better performance than you have ever experienced. The differences between them are fairly subtle compared to the differences between Japanese knives and Western knives.

And anyway, no one can stop at just one knife.... you'll be back for more.
 
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Thanks for responding :)
What "rounded" actually means? So you think its a good buy?
I have a list of 16 knives im getting info for and im crazed

Rounded means that the spine and choil have been, quite literally, rounded off - no sharp edges.
It's something that takes more time, hence higher price.
It's part of the fit and finish that people talk about.

I have a 240 Shinko Kurokamo, very, very good all round knife.
The Syousin Suminagashi would be one of my top recommendations.
Hard to beat for the money.
 
"Eased" means that the sharp edge on the spine ( the 90 degree angle between the face of the blade and the spine) has been chamfered so that it doesn't rubt your index finger as much when using the pinch grip. Same goes for the choil, but for me, it is my middle finger that rubs on the choil.

"Rounded" means that the chamfering is taken to the point where the whole spine (and choil) looks like an arch in cross section. I find it very comfortable. And it looks cool too. YMMV.

I think that they are both very good knives and very good value. FWIW, I have the 270mm Syousin Suminagashi which I bought before the Shinko Kurokumo was available. If buying today, I'd get the Shinko Kurokumo but once again, YMMV. Note that the blade is quite tall on these knives (personally this suits me). The handle on the Syousin Suminagashi is quite light, so this knife is relitavely blade heavy whist the Shinko Kurokumo has a heavier ebony handle with a balance piont closer to the choil. Not a biggie- you adapt pretty quickly to this sort of detail.

I cant recall what all of the knives on your shortlist are but there are certainly other very good knives in this price bracket.

If you have a long shortlist of good knives, it is probably time to get out of analysis paralysis and buy a knife. Most or all of the knives which have been recommended by folks on the forums will be great, with much better performance than you have ever experienced. The differences between them are fairly subtle compared to the differences between Japanese knives and Western knives.

And anyway, no one can stop at just one knife.... you'll be back for more. 😁

Oh thank you thank you for all
 
Rounded means that the spine and choil have been, quite literally, rounded off - no sharp edges.
It's something that takes more time, hence higher price.
It's part of the fit and finish that people talk about.

I have a 240 Shinko Kurokamo, very, very good all round knife.
The Syousin Suminagashi would be one of my top recommendations.
Hard to beat for the money.

Thank you again :)
 
I'll just make a few YouTube videos for you, seems like your intrested in everything I got.

I have the sumi 240 for about 2 weeks. Home cook but was not able to completely dull it after Reg use and dicing orange peels, did Maybe 10+, just slicing, diceing and rocking to shreds. My muteki for comparison did 5 oranges and edge was gone, where the shiro was still workable. No micro chipping out of the box, got a massive burr within 1 minute yesterday on the 1k sigma power. And now it's screaming toothy sharp off a few passes on sigma power 3k.

Also made ferric chloride and etched the blade myself, worked half half, gotta make a better batch, but 310cad it's Actually a great deal. I've considered buying the 270 just because I like it, might be overkill to have both though.

-cheers
 
I'll just make a few YouTube videos for you, seems like your intrested in everything I got.

I have the sumi 240 for about 2 weeks. Home cook but was not able to completely dull it after Reg use and dicing orange peels, did Maybe 10+, just slicing, diceing and rocking to shreds. My muteki for comparison did 5 oranges and edge was gone, where the shiro was still workable. No micro chipping out of the box, got a massive burr within 1 minute yesterday on the 1k sigma power. And now it's screaming toothy sharp off a few passes on sigma power 3k.

Also made ferric chloride and etched the blade myself, worked half half, gotta make a better batch, but 310cad it's Actually a great deal. I've considered buying the 270 just because I like it, might be overkill to have both though.

-cheers

Thanks very much!
 
I was about to post a new thread about Shinko Kurokumo .. but found this. I hope people don't mind resurrecting old threads.

I had specific questions about Shinko:
- Does the etch make the blade sticky? (like, say, zkramer damascus)
- How does the tip perform through things like onions? 1.2mm measurement at 1cm from tip seems meh?

Cheers.
 
i haven't used any other heavily etched blades, but i don't notice it being particularly sticky. The tip is thick on paper but it does ok with onion pre-cuts. Kurokumo is totally worth the money, one of the few ridiculously tall profiles, my 210 is 56mm height.
 

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