Harner Kiritsuke-Gyuto Passaround

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Just shipped this off to Pesky early this A.M. I missed her so bad at work today. I really appreciate the size of this baby. It doubles as a very large spatula for scooping up your prepped veg, meat, etc. I love a large knife for knocking out large prep!!!
The only things I would do: Round out the choil a little, because the way the handle design has me holding the knife-rubs my finger against the choil with some abrasion.
A little more polish/rounded spine for friction/abrasion purposes.
I noticed some serious sticktion when slicing cucumbers. I don't know if this is because of the large flat surface area, or if a convex grind would help with this at all.
I didn't get to sharpen it, I wish I did......but honestly, it didn't need it. I wish I could comment.
Man, I love this knife. I hope I can own it or one just like it some day.
Thanks Rick for the generous passaround.
Thanks Butch for making such a great blade, seriously my hat is off to you. It's like it was made for ME!!!!!
 
Just got this knife and my first impression is that this is a prep monster. It is like a weird gyuto-thai cleaver.
 
I got to handle this knife before Mario let it go..Beastly!!! Has a cool feel to it though, feels pretty good in hand
 
SO I have had this thing for a week. My first impression is still prevalent in my mind…this is a prep monster.

I changed my cutting style to maximize performance with this thing. I am a predominately a pull cutter/tip dragger. This knife is WAY too tall to get away with that. I found that this knife’s height tend to favor a push cutter. It also seems to be a pretty good rock chopper. I had no issue with chopping herbs and dicing onions. It also it sturdy enough feeling that I enjoyed whacking up hard squash and melons. It does stick, but now where near as much as my old Mundial 12” Chef. It sucks at the onion test. It just is much more awkward to use thank a much shorter knife.

One thing I disliked about this knife on it arrival was the kirisuke tip. I have grown to appreciate it more though because it shortens the blade and makes it much more manageable. Unfortunately, I feel that this knife is worthless for tip work. The knife is BIG, and the tip was at a weird place to utilize. After I had massacred a tray of late season strawberries, I gave up and excepted that I would need a petty or paring knife handy for hand work. In that respect, I found this this knife fit the roll of a traditional grand chef knife. If it were mine, I’d feel comfortable attacking whole chickens, loping off trout heads, etc.

Like every single Harner Knife I have touched, the fit and finish was impeccable. There is no doubt that this is a Harner. I like the handle. It isn’t polished to the nth degree. There is still a depth there, but it isn’t a museum piece that you’re afraid of picking up and using. It fit my hand well and there aren’t any places that seem to annoyingly rub or poke you as you use it. The other odd thing about the knife is that the handle is above the blade. I thought I might find this annoying in use, but it really made the knife much easier to use due to the leverage advantage. I have to say it is also extremely well balanced. I was able to use this knife for longer periods of time with any fatigue.
All in all, I found this knife a joy to use once I got used to it. Again, this is not an “all-arounder”. I would be perfectly happy using this along with one of Del’s new paring knives. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. It just doesn’t look like it would work…too much Shun Ken Onion….but I will admit- I was wrong.

Rick if you could let me know who’s next on the list I will PM them for an address.
 
Hi, I've had the knife for about a week now and I'm ready to send it off tomorrow. I found the knife to be very comfortable to use. The blade forward balance coupled with the large blade height made it feel substantial but not clunky. I used it for some limited prep during the week, mincing herbs and garlic, dicing onions, slicing carrots etc. Even though the knife has a very flat profile, the slight curve in the blade made mincing a breeze. The knife went through onions and carrots with minimal wedging, I think it could use a little thinning behind the edge, but that's more of a sharpening thing. Overall I'm very impressed with Butch's handy work. If I worked in a pro kitchen prepping tons of veggies, this would be a knife I'd like to have in my kit.
Thank you for the opportunity to try this knife.
 
obtuse said:
Hi, I've had the knife for about a week now and I'm ready to send it off tomorrow. I found the knife to be very comfortable to use. The blade forward balance coupled with the large blade height made it feel substantial but not clunky. I used it for some limited prep during the week, mincing herbs and garlic, dicing onions, slicing carrots etc. Even though the knife has a very flat profile, the slight curve in the blade made mincing a breeze. The knife went through onions and carrots with minimal wedging, I think it could use a little thinning behind the edge, but that's more of a sharpening thing. Overall I'm very impressed with Butch's handy work. If I worked in a pro kitchen prepping tons of veggies, this would be a knife I'd like to have in my kit.
Thank you for the opportunity to try this knife.
Click to expand...

You're very welcome. Thanks for the review.

ThEoRy is next on the list, please drop him a PM and let him know you'll be sending it to him.

Rick
 
Who's next I'd like to ship her off. Please pm me with shipping details.
 
Knife arrived today.
First impressions:
This is one tight knife. F & F is spot on. Geometry is nice and comfortable. It is a realtively tall knife. Patina is forming nicely and the edge it arrived with, I guessing Rick T put on it, is 3 finger testy. The right scale does have a crack in it but does not appear to be bad enough to warrant a re-handel. I'll give it a little run tomorrow on some stuff for home made sushi.
The saya that Eamon made for it fits perfectly and the Ivory pin is really cool. Really nice to see and feel this level of quality all the way around.

More to follow.

PZ
 
I've watched this one from the sidelines, and may just have to ask about jumping in, at the end. Everyone's awesome reviews have me wanting to beat on this knife! :D Honestly, every single Harner I've handled has made me shake my head in amazement. His work is incredible, looks and cuts like nothing else. Really, what more could we ask for?
 
Do I have 5? :D Muahahahahahaha!

Oh, and Rick, I'm in, if you'll have me.
 
Pabloz said:
Knife arrived today.
First impressions:
This is one tight knife. F & F is spot on. Geometry is nice and comfortable. It is a realtively tall knife. Patina is forming nicely and the edge it arrived with, I guessing Rick T put on it, is 3 finger testy. The right scale does have a crack in it but does not appear to be bad enough to warrant a re-handel. I'll give it a little run tomorrow on some stuff for home made sushi.
The saya that Eamon made for it fits perfectly and the Ivory pin is really cool. Really nice to see and feel this level of quality all the way around.

More to follow.

PZ
Click to expand...

I hope you enjoy your time with it.

Rick
 
Got a nexus 7 tablet woohoo! Gonna try to type up a bit of a review here.

A lot has been said about this knife already so I won't spend much time repeating everything. I'll just post my own basic thoughts. This knife is just a prep beast! It's large size makes it a great chopper but it's surprisingly light, nimble and extremely well balanced. You just don't get fatigued easily while wielding this monster. The steel is just great. Sharpens up quick, even and easily. Maintains its edge quite well and responds to stropping nicely. Has a great patina on it so it doesn't react to onions or anything I threw at it.

Overall it's a great example of Butch's work. It's a little different and everyone who saw it said it looked odd. Once you use it though it just makes sense.

Thanks for letting me beat stuff up with this beast, I gave it a good run and now I know why everyone loves Butch's work!
 
Round 2:
Played with it a little more. I can see how this knife would be great in a production setting. Did everthing I asked of it with ease. My wife loved it also.....kinda scary. If I had to go into battle in the kitchen this would be a great weapon to have. It totally killed the Sushi project.

THANKS AGAIN,

PZ
 
It's back home, with a bunch more patina than it had when it left. I hope everyone who had a chance to use it enjoyed the experience.

Thanks to everyone who shared their opinions.

Rick
 
The thanks goes to you, sir. I would have never tried such a thing without you making this available, and letting my fondness for Kitchen knives grow just a little more.
 
I just wanted to give you guys an update on the knife. As you know, the scales had a hairline crack in one of them, and Butch generously offered to replace the scales after the passaround.

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So, off to the "spa" it went. Since replacing the scales involves getting the tang squeaky clean so the epoxy will adhere correctly, I opted to have Butch remove the patina that you guys had lovingly produced during the passaround.

Here are some WIP pics. The scales are stabilized redwood from Burl Source.

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More to come ...
 
Butch had it with him the other day before fixing it and brought it by the bistro for me to gander at. Only held it for a few seconds, but fell in love instantly. He does amazing work.
 
That is such an awesome knife! Participating in this passaround made me a true believer of Mr. Harner's work. I now luckily own that Butch Nakiri in CPM-154. Hey Rick, my offer still stands to buy this baby from you -should you ever want to part with it!
 
Butch is a robot freak machine. I love the guy.
 
Lefty said:
Butch is a robot freak machine. I love the guy.
Click to expand...

He was also telling me how busy he's been and how much steel he has been going through. He is a robot, lol


Handle is looking great too!!
 
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