Kenji Togashi Custom Honyaki

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Idk why i never feel like pics of a taper capture how they look in person. View attachment 299244View attachment 299245

Anyway forgot to take a before pic. But this definitely feels like a completely different blade.
@NickMinton
Still needs a bit more 60 grit work. And i still need to go up through the grits on the belt grinder after that.
Looking less like a deba and more like a gyuto. I have a better appreciation of the work that goes into a good honyaki. The forging and heat treatment seems like the easy bit.
 
It's a lot of fun to see how the different knives develop. Mine went through a big transformation (diet) as well.

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I talked to the nicest maker on this planet @HSC /// Knives who said that he could do the work but if it was his knife, he would send it Murray Carter who would do an amazing job for comparatively little money. Just incredible. So I contacted Murray who agreed to it, sent the knife and today it came back.
Turns out Harbeer didn't promise too much. It turned out pretty much perfect. Only problem is that I'm totally unsure whether I should go on with polishing or if just put a handle on it and use it for some time as it's about as good a cutter as it gets.
 
It's a lot of fun to see how the different knives develop. Mine went through a big transformation (diet) as well.

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I talked to the nicest maker on this planet @HSC /// Knives who said that he could do the work but if it was his knife, he would send it Murray Carter who would do an amazing job for comparatively little money. Just incredible. So I contacted Murray who agreed to it, sent the knife and today it came back.
Turns out Harbeer didn't promise too much. It turned out pretty much perfect. Only problem is that I'm totally unsure whether I should go on with polishing or if just put a handle on it and use it for some time as it's about as good a cutter as it gets.
Polish it. I’ve been waiting to see one of these fully reground and polished!
 
It's a lot of fun to see how the different knives develop. Mine went through a big transformation (diet) as well.

View attachment 300544
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View attachment 300549
View attachment 300552

I talked to the nicest maker on this planet @HSC /// Knives who said that he could do the work but if it was his knife, he would send it Murray Carter who would do an amazing job for comparatively little money. Just incredible. So I contacted Murray who agreed to it, sent the knife and today it came back.
Turns out Harbeer didn't promise too much. It turned out pretty much perfect. Only problem is that I'm totally unsure whether I should go on with polishing or if just put a handle on it and use it for some time as it's about as good a cutter as it gets.
You should have had Murray put his stamp on it so that it became a Togashi x Carter Winter Honyaki 1 of 1
 
Wow lol so it was basically treated as a blade blank
Yes. It was 6.5 mm st the spine before, now 4 mm. Not quite as much taper as some other blades will have but I’m happy about that. basically a yo-deba turned into a gyuto. If I tip it heavily it might become a Nakiri. A blade with lots of potential. For real though, very happy with how it turned out so far.
 
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Good timing, I was debating on which one to put on the knife. First one is 30 g heavier so I like the balance better but both would work well. Still a lot of time left to decide as polishing will come first though.
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Good timing, I was debating on which one to put on the knife. First one is 30 g heavier so I like the balance better but both would work well. Still a lot of time left to decide as polishing will come first though.
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Second one looks better in my opinion. Balance is important though. Never hurts to prioritize performance.
 
It's a lot of fun to see how the different knives develop. Mine went through a big transformation (diet) as well.

View attachment 300544
View attachment 300546
View attachment 300549
View attachment 300552

I talked to the nicest maker on this planet @HSC /// Knives who said that he could do the work but if it was his knife, he would send it Murray Carter who would do an amazing job for comparatively little money. Just incredible. So I contacted Murray who agreed to it, sent the knife and today it came back.
Turns out Harbeer didn't promise too much. It turned out pretty much perfect. Only problem is that I'm totally unsure whether I should go on with polishing or if just put a handle on it and use it for some time as it's about as good a cutter as it gets.
Out of curiosity did Murray grind it flat or is there some convexity? Looking good
 
Wow lol so it was basically treated as a blade blank
Yeah. Thats basically what these are.

Whoever ground these literally just removed a bit of decarb, thinned the edge just a bit and kinda polished them.

Grinding these, im almost removing as much material as i do just making a knife.
 
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@EShin

How much did thinning cost (if you wanna share )?
Sure! With international shipping and everything it cost $350. With all the work that goes into it as mentioned by @Blank Blades. and the quality of the grinding, i think it’s a very reasonable price. It would’ve been much cheaper to get it done in Japan but very very complicated and with a standard grind, but then I could’ve just gotten a standard honyaki to begin with.
 
Sure! With international shipping and everything it cost $350. With all the work that goes into it as mentioned by @Blank Blades. and the quality of the grinding, i think it’s a very reasonable price. It would’ve been much cheaper to get it done in Japan but very very complicated and with a standard grind, but then I could’ve just gotten a standard honyaki to begin with.
Isn’t it interesting that what’s considered fair is about twice, maybe even three times as much as togashi got for the blank?
 
Isn’t it interesting that what’s considered fair is about twice, maybe even three times as much as togashi got for the blank?
How do you know what percentage Togashi received? I thought these 'blanks' were ordered direct and most of the cost would have gone directly to him. I'm not sure what his arrangement is with the other makers at this cooperative but there is no retailer middleman like Hitohira. At least that was my understanding of the mini massdrop.
 
How do you know what percentage Togashi received? I thought these 'blanks' were ordered direct and most of the cost would have gone directly to him. I'm not sure what his arrangement is with the other makers at this cooperative but there is no retailer middleman like Hitohira. At least that was my understanding of the mini massdrop.
They were working with Ikkyu, a middleman very similar to hitohira. You are cutting out the retailers in this instance, but the amount the smith/sharpener receives would not change. The only change is that the end user should receive a better price.
 
While ikkyu does some wholesale business they’re mostly a retailer and I’m pretty sure it was suishin that placed the order. They payed togashi and yamaguchi and probably also got the kiri boxes. Then they sold the knives to ikkyu at a good profit who then sold them to you, again at a good profit.

Now none of this is out of the ordinary and margins in many businesses are way higher than those in the Sakai knife business but that does not mean that margins are low.
 
I imagine they must be buying some kind of bulk steel, and other stuff, and working fairly fast.
 
Yes, Suisin is the one that placed the order with Togashi and had it “shaped/sharpened”.

There is no whole sale pricing for honyaki, the savings are in the work. The more refined and finished the work the higher the price.

For instance she has a basic finished Togashi honyaki on eBay for around $1,900 with no handle, need to check the dimensions and steel type for comparison.

The boxes were made for me, however I had Yasuko share them with everyone that participated. I had her send the boxes to Togashi and set up the stamping and calligraphy for everyone.
 
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