Part 1
I have to split this into multiple parts due to the character limit
. The formatting and links died multiple times, but I think it's good enough now.
The Knives
Originally I was just planning on reviewing the Newham nakiri, but I thought it might be useful to do a comparative review to illustrate the differences between the Newham and a more conventional and readily available Japanese knife.
The Newham nakiri is a 26c3 fullered honyaki from Will Newham, a knife maker based in Tasmania, Australia and the Mazaki is an iron clad white 2 nakiri, as shown below:
It is important to note that the Mazaki was modified by me (thinned, refinished and rehandled), as documented in the various posts found in the link below, so it is no longer a stock knife:
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...thinning-refinishing-and-handle-making.68639/
That said, the Mazaki did already perform extremely well before these modifications, so the performance out of the box is probably pretty close to what I describe and illustrate below.
Specs
The specs for the Newham nakiri are:
Height at the heel: 59mm
Edge length: 140mm
Thickness out of the handle: ≈4mm
Thickness at the tip: ≈1mm
Weight: 177g
Material: 26c3
Balance point: right at the choil
The specs for the Mazaki nakiri are:
Height at the heel: 52mm
Edge length: 173mm
Thickness out of the handle: ≈6mm
Thickness at the tip: ≈1.8mm
Weight: 201g
Material: white 2 with iron cladding
Balance point: 32mm in front of the choil
Backstory on the Newham
This nakiri has a relatively interesting backstory, in that it started out life as a gyuto, which broke at some point during the knife making process and was repurposed into a nakiri. Although it was unintentional, this is also the first nakiri that Will has made since establishing himself as a knife maker. I'm glad it didn't end up being scrapped, because it has a stunning hamon and is a really nice knife to use.
Grind
The Newham has what Will calls a double fuller design, which is basically a two s-grinds on top of each other, loosely comparable to a Bidinger symmetrical b-grind. The first fuller (hollow section) does not have much of an effect on food release in my experience, namely the convexity below the lower fuller together with the fuller itself is not sufficient to consistently force food off of the blade. The raised section between the two fullers does however tend to knock off the majority of food, namely the food rides up the blade, remaining in contact with the section of the blade below the lower fuller, bridges the hollow section and then hits the ridge and gets knocked off. In my experience this design does lead to better food release than a convex blade with similar geometry, it also potentially reduces stiction and certainly reduces the blade weight. The grind itself is well executed and thin behind the edge, leading to a very pleasing cutting performance and the grind can be visualized pretty well from the 'tip' and choil shots below in addition to an annotated photo highlighting the major features of the grind.
The Mazaki is a beefier convex knife with a thick spine tapering down to a thinner tip and also tapering down to a very thin edge. The grind itself was well executed prior to my modifications and this knife was the best example that I have ever observed of a knife that cuts inexplicably well, namely it cuts way better than it looks like it should be able to. Having worked on this grind with the aim of reducing the behind the edge thickness and introducing some additional convexity, I am still not sure why it cuts so well, but it does. The grind can be visualized pretty well from the 'tip' and choil shots below.
Here are some collages directly highlighting the differences in geometry:
Fit and Finish
The fit and finish on the Newham nakiri is truly excellent. Everything is rounded that should be rounded, the polish on the blade is exceptional, the tang fits perfectly into the handle with no visible gaps, the heirloom fit between the brass front cap and handle is extremely even and well executed and the handle itself is shaped and polished with an inhuman precision. The only very minor criticism that I have is that the non-stabilized wooden handle was not oiled or waxed prior to sending it out. This is not a big issue, because handle maintenance is a part of general knife maintenance and it should be something that every knife enthusiast is familiar with, however this is something that I would expect a premium western knife maker to do before shipping a knife.
I cannot comment too much on the fit and finish on the Mazaki nakiri, because I am the second owner and the original owner performed some rounding and polishing on the blade. One thing that I can comment on is the original handle dimensions relative to the blade size, namely I found the original handle was far too large in comparison to the blade size. I am not sure if this was to try and bring the balance point back or if all Mazaki nakiri have oversized handles, but I thought it looked almost comically large.
Comfort
The spine and choil on the Newham nakiri are beautifully rounded and polished and the handle is extremely comfortable in either a pinch or hammer grip. Having the balance point at the choil leads to a very nimble, ultra neutral feeling in use, kind of like the knife is an extension of your arm, which I find really works for a shorter knife.
After my modifications, the spine and choil on the Mazaki nakiri are also nicely rounded and the handle is very comfortable in a pinch grip, but this is not representative of the out of the box condition. The forward balance together with the grind makes the knife feel like it really wants to just wants to fall through food. This forward balance and the corresponding aggressive feeling in use is a pretty common feature in many knives, but I have never experienced to this degree - the knife basically falls through a lot of ingredients with nothing but its own weight.
Edge Retention
I honestly need to use both knives for an extended period of time to comment on this, but I expect that they will hold up similarly to other low allow steels that have been heat treated well.
Cutting Videos
I recorded some cutting videos demonstrating how the knives perform when cutting some common household vegetables, including onion, carrot, cucumber and potato, with the aim of illustrating performance / wedging and food release. The cutting videos are short and to the point, because I strongly dislike filming myself and also dislike watching 10 minute videos for 30 seconds of useful footage that shows me what I want to see. I encourage you to watch the videos with sound on, because I find that it is almost easier to hear if a knife cuts well rather than to see it. Please forgive the awkward and uncomfortable cutting
Carrots
The aim of these videos is primarily to demonstrate cutting performance with the secondary goal of highlighting differences in food release. The cuts were intentionally slow and made with a low applied force to help illustrate the performance and so that splitting can be clearly heard.
Newham:
Mazaki:
Mazaki carrot video
The following are objective observations from the videos:
1. Both knives glided though the carrots with minimal effort
2. The Newham nakiri offered better food release when cutting carrots into rings
3. Diced carrots tended to separate from the blade of the Newham nakiri when coming into contact with the ridge between the upper and lower fuller
4. Diced carrots remained in contact with the Mazaki until they reached the spine
I am not sure if it comes across in the videos due to the deliberately slow, low force cuts, but both of these knives went through carrots pretty effortlessly, more so than any of the other knives that I own. I could also not pick a clear winner between the two with regard to performance, because they were that close.
I feel like performing similarly to the Mazaki may reflect poorly on the Newham nakiri, so I want to highlight again that the Mazaki nakiri was modified by me and cuts inexplicably well, which should not detract from how well the Newham nakiri performs. I dislike some of the mysticism that is frequently associated with some knives and makers, but the performance of the Mazaki is genuinely a mystery to me.
I have to split this into multiple parts due to the character limit
. The formatting and links died multiple times, but I think it's good enough now.The Knives
Originally I was just planning on reviewing the Newham nakiri, but I thought it might be useful to do a comparative review to illustrate the differences between the Newham and a more conventional and readily available Japanese knife.
The Newham nakiri is a 26c3 fullered honyaki from Will Newham, a knife maker based in Tasmania, Australia and the Mazaki is an iron clad white 2 nakiri, as shown below:
It is important to note that the Mazaki was modified by me (thinned, refinished and rehandled), as documented in the various posts found in the link below, so it is no longer a stock knife:
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...thinning-refinishing-and-handle-making.68639/
That said, the Mazaki did already perform extremely well before these modifications, so the performance out of the box is probably pretty close to what I describe and illustrate below.
Specs
The specs for the Newham nakiri are:
Height at the heel: 59mm
Edge length: 140mm
Thickness out of the handle: ≈4mm
Thickness at the tip: ≈1mm
Weight: 177g
Material: 26c3
Balance point: right at the choil
The specs for the Mazaki nakiri are:
Height at the heel: 52mm
Edge length: 173mm
Thickness out of the handle: ≈6mm
Thickness at the tip: ≈1.8mm
Weight: 201g
Material: white 2 with iron cladding
Balance point: 32mm in front of the choil
Backstory on the Newham
This nakiri has a relatively interesting backstory, in that it started out life as a gyuto, which broke at some point during the knife making process and was repurposed into a nakiri. Although it was unintentional, this is also the first nakiri that Will has made since establishing himself as a knife maker. I'm glad it didn't end up being scrapped, because it has a stunning hamon and is a really nice knife to use.
Grind
The Newham has what Will calls a double fuller design, which is basically a two s-grinds on top of each other, loosely comparable to a Bidinger symmetrical b-grind. The first fuller (hollow section) does not have much of an effect on food release in my experience, namely the convexity below the lower fuller together with the fuller itself is not sufficient to consistently force food off of the blade. The raised section between the two fullers does however tend to knock off the majority of food, namely the food rides up the blade, remaining in contact with the section of the blade below the lower fuller, bridges the hollow section and then hits the ridge and gets knocked off. In my experience this design does lead to better food release than a convex blade with similar geometry, it also potentially reduces stiction and certainly reduces the blade weight. The grind itself is well executed and thin behind the edge, leading to a very pleasing cutting performance and the grind can be visualized pretty well from the 'tip' and choil shots below in addition to an annotated photo highlighting the major features of the grind.
The Mazaki is a beefier convex knife with a thick spine tapering down to a thinner tip and also tapering down to a very thin edge. The grind itself was well executed prior to my modifications and this knife was the best example that I have ever observed of a knife that cuts inexplicably well, namely it cuts way better than it looks like it should be able to. Having worked on this grind with the aim of reducing the behind the edge thickness and introducing some additional convexity, I am still not sure why it cuts so well, but it does. The grind can be visualized pretty well from the 'tip' and choil shots below.
Here are some collages directly highlighting the differences in geometry:
Fit and Finish
The fit and finish on the Newham nakiri is truly excellent. Everything is rounded that should be rounded, the polish on the blade is exceptional, the tang fits perfectly into the handle with no visible gaps, the heirloom fit between the brass front cap and handle is extremely even and well executed and the handle itself is shaped and polished with an inhuman precision. The only very minor criticism that I have is that the non-stabilized wooden handle was not oiled or waxed prior to sending it out. This is not a big issue, because handle maintenance is a part of general knife maintenance and it should be something that every knife enthusiast is familiar with, however this is something that I would expect a premium western knife maker to do before shipping a knife.
I cannot comment too much on the fit and finish on the Mazaki nakiri, because I am the second owner and the original owner performed some rounding and polishing on the blade. One thing that I can comment on is the original handle dimensions relative to the blade size, namely I found the original handle was far too large in comparison to the blade size. I am not sure if this was to try and bring the balance point back or if all Mazaki nakiri have oversized handles, but I thought it looked almost comically large.
Comfort
The spine and choil on the Newham nakiri are beautifully rounded and polished and the handle is extremely comfortable in either a pinch or hammer grip. Having the balance point at the choil leads to a very nimble, ultra neutral feeling in use, kind of like the knife is an extension of your arm, which I find really works for a shorter knife.
After my modifications, the spine and choil on the Mazaki nakiri are also nicely rounded and the handle is very comfortable in a pinch grip, but this is not representative of the out of the box condition. The forward balance together with the grind makes the knife feel like it really wants to just wants to fall through food. This forward balance and the corresponding aggressive feeling in use is a pretty common feature in many knives, but I have never experienced to this degree - the knife basically falls through a lot of ingredients with nothing but its own weight.
Edge Retention
I honestly need to use both knives for an extended period of time to comment on this, but I expect that they will hold up similarly to other low allow steels that have been heat treated well.
Cutting Videos
I recorded some cutting videos demonstrating how the knives perform when cutting some common household vegetables, including onion, carrot, cucumber and potato, with the aim of illustrating performance / wedging and food release. The cutting videos are short and to the point, because I strongly dislike filming myself and also dislike watching 10 minute videos for 30 seconds of useful footage that shows me what I want to see. I encourage you to watch the videos with sound on, because I find that it is almost easier to hear if a knife cuts well rather than to see it. Please forgive the awkward and uncomfortable cutting
Carrots
The aim of these videos is primarily to demonstrate cutting performance with the secondary goal of highlighting differences in food release. The cuts were intentionally slow and made with a low applied force to help illustrate the performance and so that splitting can be clearly heard.
Newham:
Mazaki:
Mazaki carrot video
The following are objective observations from the videos:
1. Both knives glided though the carrots with minimal effort
2. The Newham nakiri offered better food release when cutting carrots into rings
3. Diced carrots tended to separate from the blade of the Newham nakiri when coming into contact with the ridge between the upper and lower fuller
4. Diced carrots remained in contact with the Mazaki until they reached the spine
I am not sure if it comes across in the videos due to the deliberately slow, low force cuts, but both of these knives went through carrots pretty effortlessly, more so than any of the other knives that I own. I could also not pick a clear winner between the two with regard to performance, because they were that close.
I feel like performing similarly to the Mazaki may reflect poorly on the Newham nakiri, so I want to highlight again that the Mazaki nakiri was modified by me and cuts inexplicably well, which should not detract from how well the Newham nakiri performs. I dislike some of the mysticism that is frequently associated with some knives and makers, but the performance of the Mazaki is genuinely a mystery to me.
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I felt the same with my mazaki, doesn't make sense how it performs
