Tanaka KU mega thinning.

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
1,485
Reaction score
1,323
Location
Seattle
Hey yall, figured I’d post some pics of this thing since I spent so much time on it. Just traded it on BST, but I’m kinda bummed since it cuts so damn well now.

I had this Tanaka 240 on my knife strip for a while and it went unused for a long time, the original wide bevel grind had no distal taper, useless for brunois on onions or stuff. I did some major work on the tip, you can see the KU/ shinogi line moves way far back.

s5zq5c.jpg


20jlgdz.jpg


Here is a stock photo to compare that shinogi.
2eg64wi.jpg


Hope the new owner enjoys the work I put in!
 
It was a fine knife. But I found that the horizontal slices on an onion felt wedgey and dangerous. There is zero distal taper on the KU b2 version untilyou hit the grind. Now it’s got the nice wide beveled heel, with a thin thin tip for better detail work.
 
So you just go vertical, flip 90 and go vertical again?

Also what’s with the people who make the vertical cuts first, then make the horizontal cuts, I heard that’s the official French way but jeez that seems dangerous.
 
It was a fine knife. But I found that the horizontal slices on an onion felt wedgey and dangerous. There is zero distal taper on the KU b2 version untilyou hit the grind. Now it’s got the nice wide beveled heel, with a thin thin tip for better detail work.

That sounds really cool. Why did you sell it?
 
I also like the looks of it
just aesthetically for some reason
or maybe i'm crazy :rofl:
 
Awesome! Its basically exactly the feeling I have about my KU Tanaka. Wishing that last 1/4 to be like my ginga. Its does look really cool especially with that handle. What did you use to thin and finish with? And how does one go about brining the contrast back the clad line?
 
Some jnats will probably be good for bringing contrast. I don’t know really know much about that world though. Main thinning was done on a 220. Then series of sandpapers
 
I think it looks good too. A little flash of the finish near the heel. This is where I got some inspiration. I’d love to have it if money wasn’t an option.

qz28uh.jpg


The KU doesn’t need to follow the grind, in fact it’ll be guaranteed to be thinner is it doesn’t right? Of course unless the blacksmith forges it really thin to begin with.
 
Do you have any shots from the spine of your Tanaka? Would really like to see the taper you put in
 
i still dont get why people even do horizontal slices on onions, theyre already layered.

+1

All this thinning must had been a beach.
How long did it took you and what stones, sandpapers
 
I did all the work on a sun tiger 220 I got from my buddy. Then just sandpaper up to 1200. Probably put in a good 8 hours over a few days. Once the initial thinning was done the sanding was done while watching tv lol
 
Because it looks cool when you're doing it?
 
Back
Top