Masakage Discussion - leading into the Feb Sale

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foody518 said:
More likely than not I'll use this discount as a chance to pick up a Shimo, just trying to figure out which one.
Mizu is the most budget line, KU iron clad Blue 2
Hikari I think is discontinued?
Kiri and Kumo are VG10 damascus patterned
Kujira has various scrap metal folded and pattern welded to form the cladding, Blue 2 core steel
Zero is a bling line, western handle desert ironwood, stainless clad AS, some kind of tsuchime

@preizzo nice! I guess you were concerned about it selling out day 1? I look forward to reading what you think of it!
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Super helpful, thanks a lot! I'm eyeing them now..

Ps: Pardon my ignorance, but why would one choose an iron cladded knife over a stainless cladded one, giving an identical core steel? Ease of thinning? Anything else?

I'm thinking of the Kujira. It seems cool to have the wrought iron from historical sources, but then there's the reactivity. Maybe I'm missing something?
 
I have a Yuki Suji 300mm. On a suji, the shoulder ae no problem. Perfect for processing meat. But Thinner may be better for fish. Edge retention is OK, but not exceptional, but for a suji that rarely see the board: who cares. As a home cook, I am plenty satisfied with it.
 
Would the Koishi line be overkill for a beginner? I ask because I've read that it's very thin behind the edge not very forgiving of poor technique...anyone have any input?
 
No, not overkill as long as it is in your budget. Buy one and enjoy! I am a fan of my Koishi Bunka. Very easy to use for a variety of foods. Not a high maintenance knife. AS core gets very sharp, but I don't give my gear quite the same workout the pros around here do.
 
guari said:
Super helpful, thanks a lot! I'm eyeing them now..

Ps: Pardon my ignorance, but why would one choose an iron cladded knife over a stainless cladded one, giving an identical core steel? Ease of thinning? Anything else?

I'm thinking of the Kujira. It seems cool to have the wrought iron from historical sources, but then there's the reactivity. Maybe I'm missing something?
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I'm not the best person to answer this. A few thoughts - I'd imagine some of it goes back to the way things are done on the manufacturing side of things (stainless steel for cutlery being a fairly recent thing). Cost? Ease or feel when sharpening and thinning. Maybe a somewhat different look when used with the same stones (I'll let ya know what happens when I start thinning my wide bevel stainless clad knives). Lots of knives aren't being made stainless clad.
reactivity - Patina life?

@zetieum thanks for the input. I've got a 270mm Yuki gyuto that's fairly easy to use (I just cook at home). The top of the wide bevel is high enough to not make it a problem for most things. If I had to just do melons and root vegetables and large onions nonstop then I would choose another knife though.
Wanted to try one of the other lines this year. Maybe a Kujira next time around...
@trvn what do you already have?
 
The koishi is pretty bad ass looking. The exchange rate makes it even more tempting
 
preizzo said:
I bought one kujira today. Spoke with the guy at knifewear and seem that they don't have to many of them so pulled the trigger. Found one that suits me so I didn't care so much about the lower price.. Will post next week when I gonna get it. [emoji28]
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Very expensive at 600$, hope it will turn out to be very special.
Bravo to your genuine curiosity and testing spirit!
 
supersayan3 said:
Very expensive at 600$, hope it will turn out to be very special.
Bravo to your genuine curiosity and testing spirit!
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closer to 400 usd after 15% off and its kindof Damascus(B#2) clad in a Damascus made from various scrap metal, creates a really really cool patina and the blade has some definite size to it. I played with one and liked it.
 
Kujira is the only one of interest for me but not interested in spending money at this time. Maybe I'll just wait until one of y'all puts a Kujira on the BST? :)

I have a Sakura, and it's as pretty as the web pics. Thin, undersized, and a bit whippy but I bought it for its looks.
 
If I ever understand why the Shibata R2 are NOT marketed as part of the Masakage lineup...
 
milkbaby said:
I have a Sakura, and it's as pretty as the web pics. Thin, undersized, and a bit whippy but I bought it for its looks.
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Me too, but Sakura is Konosuke and not Masakage...

Cheers,
Blair
 
LifeByA1000Cuts said:
If I ever understand why the Shibata R2 are NOT marketed as part of the Masakage lineup...
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I genuinely wonder what their answer would be to this if you asked them. Probably that it's just the ones under the name Masakage. They probably just straight up don't want them on sale. Knifewear doesn't necessarily rely on people knowledgable about knife-makers as their main customer base, to be blunt.

Not to re-stir the debate in this thread, but my Yuki is quite thick behind the edge it wedges on anything with significant height. I know the remedy is thinning, but I don't even have a stone to do it with let alone never having done it before. The spine/choil are also quite square, at least I can fix that up by rounding them out and see how it feels afterward. The most frustrating is that the edge retention so far wasn't great.

I'm not sure what to think of it as I don't have experience with many J-knives, and can't form an opinion on Masakage (like the others) from my limited experience. Maybe there's lots of variance in the finish of the lower-lines? Always helps to check out the finish in person before you buy, even though most of us are buying online.
 
Choil on my Yuki was very rounded, as opposed to simply being eased
All other vendors of the Shibata Kotetsu knives don't list them as Masakage either. If there's an element of Shibata-san wanting to do some personal branding I don't blame the guy either. With a 15% discount the 240 mm gyuto is absolutely the knife I'd be snatching up this time around
Also, listening into Knifewear's recent livestream video of Kevin Kent talking about the upcoming sale, it seems like he or some of the other guys had some input into the lines that became Masakage knives. And not necessarily all the lines produced by these guys have that same affiliation
 
I have a 240 and a petty Kujira. Had them for a few months - did not know they were going to go on sale.

I love the Kujira - stiff, tall at the heel, great edge retention and a fantastic cutter. Now its developed a cool looking patina from all the funky material cladding.

Also, got used to the rounded handle and quite like it. My go to knife.
 
I have one and it is my favorite among many very good knives including Koishi Nakiri, 210 & 240 gyuto. The slight curve of the edge is perfect for my needs.

Think of it as offering the compact utility of a santoku but slimmer top to bottom so much more agile.

Chicagohawkie said:
I'm gonna give a koishi 180 gyuto a shot. Not expecting much for 180 bucks but looking for a small chopper. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
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Guys on the Koishi if you feel the knife displays a tendency to stick don't be afraid to take a fine scotchbrite to it to remove that microcrystalline etched surface.

You can apply a great deal of muscle and will just burnish the black area but the surface will stay dark. I applied a lot of muscle on a 1 x 30 scotchbrite belt on low speed and still the color is dark. Mine are much better cutters for having received this treatment.
 
Koishi are very nicely ground. Really surprised me when i took one for a spin. Cuts like a dream
 
sergeysus said:
I have a 240 and a petty Kujira. Had them for a few months - did not know they were going to go on sale.

I love the Kujira - stiff, tall at the heel, great edge retention and a fantastic cutter. Now its developed a cool looking patina from all the funky material cladding.

Also, got used to the rounded handle and quite like it. My go to knife.
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Nice input!
Would you happen to have recent photos of it? Curious to see how it looks over time
 
"All other vendors of the Shibata Kotetsu knives don't list them as Masakage either. If there's an element of Shibata-san wanting to do some personal branding I don't blame the guy either."

Not blaming anyone, not Shibata-san and not Knifewear! BTW, some french sellers strangely do sell them as Masakage. I'm just curious to understand - is it about Shibata-san acting as a knifemaker not smith and/or the smith (which has been named on this forum) preferring not to be associated with the Masakage brand?
 
That's my bad. Shouldn't have said all other without checking further. I see that Knifewear, CKTG, cuttingedgeknives UK, and Chubo list them as Kotetsu/Shibata Kotetsu

Also, is this a different situation than for example Anryu-san or Kurosaki-san having different lines that aren't affiliated with Masakage?
 
foody518 said:
Nice input!
Would you happen to have recent photos of it? Curious to see how it looks over time
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the photos on knife are on a black background and its tough to show what the knife looks like in real life. On knifewear it has a bronze/purple tint to them and once I got the knife - washed it with soap and it took that color off. Then I started using them and they began showing a much better patina. Now I reach for 240 most of the time... even my Takedas have taken the backseat.

kujiro.jpg

kujiro2.jpg
 
sergeysus said:
the photos on knife are on a black background and its tough to show what the knife looks like in real life. On knifewear it has a bronze/purple tint to them and once I got the knife - washed it with soap and it took that color off. Then I started using them and they began showing a much better patina. Now I reach for 240 most of the time... even my Takedas have taken the backseat.

kujiro.jpg

kujiro2.jpg
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Wow! those are some intense colors. On any other knife I'd be panicking about rust...but I guess that's just how this one is?
 
foody518 said:
Wow! those are some intense colors. On any other knife I'd be panicking about rust...but I guess that's just how this one is?
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the photos make it look more intense. It looks like rust, but its patina forming from a case or so of red beats while the blue is from meat. This guy is holding a great edge and once I put it on a strop or stones will be just fine. No need to worry.
 
Got the knife today and it s a total mess.
The knife has several overgrind along the blade.
The heel it s chipped, the blade is twisted and has a huge Lamination going from the left side in too the spine for like 5mm.
The knife also it s been used before because there are a lot of scratches and rust spots.

Only positive thing is the cladding which is really beautiful.
At this price point I am really disappointed, I allready sent an email to the knifewear team. Let see what they say.....

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