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mainaman

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Recently I made a few purchases trough one of our members, DrNaka. He is the owner of Hide's Export
I really wanted to try Shigefusa and was encouraged by Maksim to talk to Nakamura-San about the possibility to order one from Shigefusa directly.

I wanted a knife that is thinner than the standard Shigefusa , but a bit mightier than the now popular laser type gyutos. We talked details about thickness and finish and I placed my order, asking the knife to be thinner than the usual. After ~3 months I got word that the knife was ready , the package was at my door in 3 days with EMS.

The knife is thinner than the stock 240 gyuto, and that combined with the superb Shigefusa geometry makes it the best cutter i have tried so far.
I had a few laser type guytos but they are inferior cutters to the Shigefusa IMHO.

11iiszr.jpg


I was very pleasantly surprised by the knife the weight is exactly as it needs to be for me 200g, enough for the knife to do some work on its own but not too much as to be too heavy for comfortable work.
One thing that is definitely worth noting is, Shigefusa knives usually run longer, this 240 is actually 245mm cutting edge. Another notable fact is the knife has more clearance than my 270 Mizuno, a feature I like.


The second item I got from Nakamura-San was a custom made by my specs and according to my own drawing Yoshikane KU meat chopper.
The chopper is branded with Nakamura-San's private brand.
This is a very cool piece, the KU finish is very nice and with little dents and unevenness, the blade is SK-4, 760g, just perfect
I made a thread about it here
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...-chopper&highlight=soon+to+be+my+meat+chopper


The service was top notch , a lot of communication, and fast delivery.

I would highly recommend Hide's Exports to those that are looking for custom blades by Shigefusa, Yoshikane and I am sure others that Nakamura-San is in contact with.
 
Than you for your review.

I am in Sanjyo now.
I visited Yoshikane Hamono today and have many things to report at blog.
(it will take many days)

One thing is that he made a sample in SK4 but...
The blade of the chopper you got is white paper 2 steel. He made it as free service.

Yoshida-san did not say it before I visit him.

I will visit Iwasaki-san and iizuka-san tomorrow.
 
Than you for your review.

I am in Sanjyo now.
I visited Yoshikane Hamono today and have many things to report at blog.

One thing is that he made a sample in SK4 but...
(it will take many days)
The blade of the chopper you got is white paper 2 stee
Yoshida-san did not say it before I visit him.
Thanks for the clarification Hide.
 
I think he was trying to make the point that he finds Shigefusa handles to be less than equal to the quality of Shigefusa blades...
 
I think he was trying to make the point that he finds Shigefusa handles to be less than equal to the quality of Shigefusa blades...

They may plain, but they are not low quality. The handles on my Shigefusa knives are very well made, unlike some handles from other makers. They just aren't made from exotic wood.
 
I have 300mm suji on order hope it will be ready soon.
As far as handles they are flawless and fitted perfectly well.
 
Maybe Joe was speaking of the western handles? Those are usually bad because the wood shrinks and makes all of the metal bits proud.
 
Nakamura-san was instrumental in helping me to establish a relationship with Shigefusa and Yoshikane, and I am very grateful for it.
I highly recommend his services and vouch for his credibility and trusworthiness.

Marko
 
Nice.

How much thinner was your knife versus the regular knives produced by Shigefusa? Did the thinner blade make it less stiff? Does the knife have any flex?
 
Nice.

How much thinner was your knife versus the regular knives produced by Shigefusa? Did the thinner blade make it less stiff? Does the knife have any flex?
no flex at all, still stiff exactly how I like them.
standar Shigefusa is 3.9mm above heel. 2.1-2.4 mm half way to tip, <1.5mm 1 cm to tip.
Mine is 3.6mm above heel, 1.8mm half way , 0.8mm 1 cm to tip, 244 mm cutting edge, exactly 200g.
 
Very nice knife. I often wonder what a perfect weight would be and you explained it well. Beautiful in it's simplicity and I'm glad it works well for you.
-M
 
no flex at all, still stiff exactly how I like them.
standar Shigefusa is 3.9mm above heel. 2.1-2.4 mm half way to tip, <1.5mm 1 cm to tip.
Mine is 3.6mm above heel, 1.8mm half way , 0.8mm 1 cm to tip, 244 mm cutting edge, exactly 200g.

That's sounds like an awesome knife. I also don't like flexible blades, especially at the tip.

I never knew that Shigefusa gyutos were so thick at the heel. I would believe that this makes them great choppers when using the heel of the blade, but the thinness and stiffness at the tip would make them also great for detailed cutting with the tip of the blade.

I think I'm going to have to start saving up for one of these. :headbang:
 
That's sounds like an awesome knife. I also don't like flexible blades, especially at the tip.

I never knew that Shigefusa gyutos were so thick at the heel. I would believe that this makes them great choppers when using the heel of the blade, but the thinness and stiffness at the tip would make them also great for detailed cutting with the tip of the blade.

I think I'm going to have to start saving up for one of these. :headbang:
the heel is thick but the knife tapers very nicely towards the tip. Also the geometry is superb and the knife is as thin as any laser type gyuto behind the edge but somehow cuts better in my experience.
 

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