His list prices used to be $480 for a 210 52100/AEB-L and $520 for his A2. It's worth it to reach out to see what he is making as he delivers a fantastic knife.
Is Wakui WH worth it?
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His list prices used to be $480 for a 210 52100/AEB-L and $520 for his A2. It's worth it to reach out to see what he is making as he delivers a fantastic knife.
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Sure thing I’ll give it a try. I’ve ordered through him directly before.
I love my Wakui 210mm WH. I'm a home cook so I don't prep large volumes, but I imagine it could get tiring since it is heavy and aggressively forward balanced. It'll crack through dense vegetables like carrots and potato, but it's one of my favorites for dicing onions. I did a side by side dicing carrots, onion and celery with a Takada and Wakui WH and they're surprisingly close in pure cutting ability. I'd say the Takada was a slightly better cutter, a little less effort through the carrots for sure, more versatile, and better for finer work, but the WH is a lot of fun and released food slightly better.
It was hard for me to get over the price increase from the last iterations, but I think it was a bargain before and I wish I picked one up earlier. I'd say if you want a beast of a workhorse that cuts well, I can't think of many other available or similarly priced alternatives. It is pretty unique in my stable of knives, nothing else I own is quite like it.
It was hard for me to get over the price increase from the last iterations, but I think it was a bargain before and I wish I picked one up earlier. I'd say if you want a beast of a workhorse that cuts well, I can't think of many other available or similarly priced alternatives. It is pretty unique in my stable of knives, nothing else I own is quite like it.
OkayMode
I am the pig Daveb's mama was talking about
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WTT: My Wakui for your Shihan (straight trades only)…
Whilst we are here, my WH stubbornly resists taking on a patina. I went through a large bag of onions on the weekend for French onion soup to see if I could get much out of it and the end result was still very muted.
Good soup though.
I have the 240 and 270 mm WHs. 240 off BST and 270 at the new price. I usually give them a positive recommendation with a couple caveats. I would say they’re worth retail if you like really heavy knives and like to work on a knife, as in thin and modify. Even though they’re modeled after Katos, they’re a very different knife.
They cut pretty well OOTB and are really fun to use, but the midsection of the grind where the shoulders are is too thick for big carrots, apples, etc without cracking. Also, they’ll start to get too thick BTE after a few sharpenings without thinning.
I took over 10 grams off my 240 WH, raising the shoulders and thinning out the tip mostly. I’ve taken 6 grams off my 270 WH, will shave off a few more. Once you get them the way you like though, they’re crazy good.
Well done grind (minimal to no low spots), hand laminated, harder HT (very crisp and aggressive, great edge retention for white steel).
I’ve posted this vid a couple times, but it shows how good these can be with some work.
They cut pretty well OOTB and are really fun to use, but the midsection of the grind where the shoulders are is too thick for big carrots, apples, etc without cracking. Also, they’ll start to get too thick BTE after a few sharpenings without thinning.
I took over 10 grams off my 240 WH, raising the shoulders and thinning out the tip mostly. I’ve taken 6 grams off my 270 WH, will shave off a few more. Once you get them the way you like though, they’re crazy good.
Well done grind (minimal to no low spots), hand laminated, harder HT (very crisp and aggressive, great edge retention for white steel).
I’ve posted this vid a couple times, but it shows how good these can be with some work.
myguidingmoonlight
Senior Member
Shi.han doesn't do monosteel anymore?
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Well I just PMed him to find out for sure. His output seems to be a lot less than it used to be.Shi.han doesn't do monosteel anymore?
JNS just put up a 270 WH.
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What about Yoake, especially the newer versions that seem to have better fit and finish?
OkayMode
I am the pig Daveb's mama was talking about
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Completely different knife.
Mine have all been super super thin bte and lose meat very rapidly going down the blade from the chunky spine. They cut more like a laser.
That said, the grind seems to be inconsistent, and others here have picked up some chonkers.
F+F on the Wakui is leagues ahead too.
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No question grind, fit and finish are miles ahead on Wakui. I would have thought weight was broadly similar and both would work as recent incarnations of the Watoyama style. Wakui seems to be pushing prices up near the level of the Toyama damascus
Wakui WH is about 50-100+g heavier than a Yoake.
What makes the Wakui kind of unique, in my opinion, is the gentle distal taper. Most of my knives with thick spines at the handle also aggressively taper to a more typical spine thickness by the middle of the blade. My Wakui WH is still ~3.7mm thick mid-blade, so it carries a lot of weight down the blade. It's almost like a yo-deba thinned down to a gyuto edge.
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That is some serious lumber.
a picture is worth a thousand words!
I tried him recently just to test the waters bc I had ordered a petty from him a couple years ago. He wasn’t rude or anything but was basically like “I’ll update my blog when things are available”. I put off getting a 52100 gyuto from him bc I figured I could get it whenever. And now that it’s 1k wrought i’m afraid I ****ed up.
OkayMode
I am the pig Daveb's mama was talking about
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Whilst we are here, does anyone know how the WH line is finished?
Mine doesn’t really have noticeable scratch marks in the same way most stock J knives do, and there’s a kind of dimpling pattern on the cladding.
Also kind of curious about how they polish (sorry sorry, I can’t help myself…)
Mine doesn’t really have noticeable scratch marks in the same way most stock J knives do, and there’s a kind of dimpling pattern on the cladding.
Also kind of curious about how they polish (sorry sorry, I can’t help myself…)
I ended up caving and getting one to try it out, and initially had some issues with DHL but it’s finally here. Initially impressions are that it’s very fun and feels like it falls through most foods except dense ones. It’s actually quite thin BTE and at the tip as a lot of people have pointed out. Its food release is nice but not as much as I had expected. I’ll definitely keep it around for a bit to see how it gels but definitely need a heavier handle. Any suggestions? I feel like it’s hard to find handles with tang holes this large
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Deba handles?View attachment 295260
View attachment 295261
I ended up caving and getting one to try it out, and initially had some issues with DHL but it’s finally here. Initially impressions are that it’s very fun and feels like it falls through most foods except dense ones. It’s actually quite thin BTE and at the tip as a lot of people have pointed out. Its food release is nice but not as much as I had expected. I’ll definitely keep it around for a bit to see how it gels but definitely need a heavier handle. Any suggestions? I feel like it’s hard to find handles with tang holes this large
Knives and Stones carries larger sized handles. Otherwise I'd suggest something stabilized.View attachment 295260
View attachment 295261
I ended up caving and getting one to try it out, and initially had some issues with DHL but it’s finally here. Initially impressions are that it’s very fun and feels like it falls through most foods except dense ones. It’s actually quite thin BTE and at the tip as a lot of people have pointed out. Its food release is nice but not as much as I had expected. I’ll definitely keep it around for a bit to see how it gels but definitely need a heavier handle. Any suggestions? I feel like it’s hard to find handles with tang holes this large
And get yourself a cheap little rasp set.
Really want the one in BST, but just looks like a huge project to fix everything up
It actually doesn’t look like more than an hour of hand sanding to me - the scratches don’t seem that bad, but I don’t think my forearm could handle it in use
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
For very forward heavy blades, I recommend as dense of a handle as you can get to balance it out. Stabilized woods are perfect here. If you want full natural, some options include ironwood, ebony (not my favorite), rosewoods, gidgee. Widening the tang hole yourself isn't terribly difficult with some rasps, but the harder the wood, the more effort its going to take.View attachment 295260
View attachment 295261
I ended up caving and getting one to try it out, and initially had some issues with DHL but it’s finally here. Initially impressions are that it’s very fun and feels like it falls through most foods except dense ones. It’s actually quite thin BTE and at the tip as a lot of people have pointed out. Its food release is nice but not as much as I had expected. I’ll definitely keep it around for a bit to see how it gels but definitely need a heavier handle. Any suggestions? I feel like it’s hard to find handles with tang holes this large
Why the ebony dislike? Difficult to work with or something else? Aside from ironwood being vastly more interesting to look at.
Not sure. He throws in Wakui, which is obviously Mazaki.
Why is this the case?
Reeks of cigarettes
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
I find it cracks more readily than other options in my limited experience.
