Shigefusa 240 Passaround

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Chifunda said:
Thought I had already indicated my desire to be included, but apparently my post is lost somewhere in cyber space. Many thanks for the opportunity! :wow:

PM sent yesterday.
Click to expand...
No worries, it's coming to you
 
Chifunda said:
Yeah...last night I could hear my check book whimpering in the dark. It has strange and mysterious powers that allow it to predict future expenditures.
Click to expand...

I'm planning on a rent-a-Shig business after this
 
I order my shig just right after used one of my friend's!!:bigeek:
 
I'm on the same line of cutty sharp....i'd really like to tray it
 
After a week delay selling off lesser knives, here's the starting lineup for the great Shigefusa Passaround:

AndrewH
WildBoar
chinacats
Chifunda
jgraeff
Crothcipt
kalaeb
JohnyChai
SpikeC
Brainsausage
JMJones

Back home

Cutty Sark
ecchef
 
I'm really excited for this one. Is it in the air?
 
If you hear of a produce truck being hijacked in coastal South Carolina, you'll know why. :happymug:
 
Last man to board the plane (there's always SOMEONE)


AndrewH
WildBoar
chinacats
Chifunda
jgraeff
Crothcipt
kalaeb
JohnyChai
SpikeC
GlassEye
Brainsausage
JMJones

Back home

Cutty Sark
ecchef
 
:chin:Hmmm, I think this may hit me at the same time as the Cut Brooklyn. I hope not, wont be a good review for Brooklyn.:2thumbsup:

Ty again for hosting (would that be the right word for it?) all these passarounds. It has been bringing a ton of light to some great knives.
 
Sorry, left wenus off the list accidentally. Probably should get sent to him immediately before or after JohnyChai. He will be contacting you about this
 
The eagle has landed.
 
I've had the chance to play around with pitonboy's 240 Shigefusa Kasumi gyuto for about a week now and I'm finally ready to post my thoughts on the knife. Like every review, this is based on my opinion and nothing else. I'm going to try and compare the knife to three other knives that maybe some people know. It was pitted against a 240mm Yoshikane gyuto (SKD), 240mm Gengetsu gyuto (White #1) and a 270mm Rottman custom (SB1 / Niolox).

Core Steel and Cladding
As I'm sure all of you know Shigefusa uses a carbon core for his knives. What it is, exactly, is proprietary. It's a nice steel that sharpens well and quickly. It's not noticeably different from really any other simple carbon steel in terms of performance. I can't really judge edge retention after just one week of home use but I would say it is slightly better than the Gengetsu and Yoshikane and slightly worse than the Niolox.
I was much more interested in how reactive the cladding would be. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! The knife did give off an odor when dicing tomatoes, but it did not impart any off flavors to the food and the cladding was not ultra-reactive. I thought I was going to see onion browning type stuff going on and that was not the case.

I'm going to give this section an 8/10.

Grind
This is a difficult section because it is so subjective. There is no one perfect grind and we all have different preferences. For my tastes, the knife plays too much towards to food release side of the balance. You do find some slight wedging in large potatoes, onions, etc. The Gengetsu and Rottman both went through these items with less effort than the Shig. The grind is well done, no high or low spots that I could see, and is clearly well thought out. If you really value food release (which the Shig was very good at), you could see this as a fantastic grind.

9/10. I'll take off a point for personal preference, I can't gripe about inconsistencies or anything of that nature.

Profile
As long as a profile is usable it's very hard to "rate." The shigefusa has a nice profile that can be used for rock chopping or push / pull cutting. The tip might not be pointy enough for the Masamoto KS crowd, but it is very serviceable.

0/0. Undefined.

F&F
The Shigefusa takes the cake here. I'm hesitant to use the word perfect, but it's pretty darn close. The spine is rounded all the way to the tip and the choil is also entirely rounded. The handle is beautifully constructed and well attached. The finish on the knife (under the patina) is nice and even. The kasumi was hard to see (patina and a few errant thinning scratches) but I'm sure OOTB it was great. The F&F is better than the Gengetsu (by far), Yoshikane, and is equal to, if not better than, my Rottman.

10/10.

Overall Performance
The Shigefusa performed extremely well. It has a nice heft (227g) that helps the knife move through product efficiently. The balance is good, the grind is very good (if a bit "wedgy" at times) and the steel can take a great edge. I would say it's performance was roughly on par with the Gengetsu and Rottman and above the Yoshikane.

8.5/10



The one question left is: Would I buy one? The answer is I'm not sure. I don't think that the knife is any better than a Gengetsu that costs significantly less, but there's something about the Shig that I really like. I don't know if it's the balance, the aesthetic, the F&F, the really cool electric blue patina it can take, or if it isn't any of those things. I just really like it.

Thanks again, Ben, for doing this passaround. This puppy will be on to the next lucky recipient tomorrow.
 
Nice review. Being an owner of a shig 240 kitaeji I agree there is something about that speaks to the all around craftsmanship that you just have to admire.
 
Cant believe I missed this passaround offer. Hate when work gets too busy. Nice review Andrew.
 
Just an update: The knife will finally leave my possession tomorrow. Two snafus with the post office and midterms week; sorry to those anxiously waiting.
 
Went out to Chinacats today. Will post my thoughts in another day or so. tkerns got half a day with it while it was in the DC area, but not sure he was able to form much of an opinion in that limited time.

In a nutshell there were a lot of things to like. The one thing that I was not fond of was the balance point -- it was a bit farther forward then I am used to and led to minor wrist discomfort. The 'fix' was to choke up on the blade a bit more, but that reduced the effective cutting length. A rehandle with a metal spacer or two might pull it back a little to where it suits me better. But all-in-all it had great F&F and cut well. Definitely different then the thin petty I got from Maxim earlier in the year, but cut from the same cloth as the kitaeji nakiri I got from Marko about 2 years ago.
 
I enjoyed using it for the limited time I had it. For a large knife its surprisingly nimble. I agree that it needs a bit of counter balance in the handle. Overall though just a solid, well made, excellent example of a knife that can perform.

and kern, David. No "s"
 
Knife has shipped to Chifunda who should hopefully receive it Monday. This knife completely exceeded my expectations, a cutting beast. As WildBoar and Tkern both stated the balance point is well forward, this suited me perfectly though as I use the knife at home and don't have to use it for hours at the time, it reminded me very much of my old Kochi in this respect. The geometry is awesome, no stiction with anything I cut and seemed to slide through most every type of vegetable. I also really liked the profile as there was no point on the blade that I couldn't get good clean cuts--the tip was also very usable for me. Overall, I now really want a Shigefusa gyuto though I may choose a 270 just for personal preference. Many thanks to Ben for making this happen!

Cheers,
Jim
 
Some comparo pics for blade profiles/ geometry.

DT ITK 240
Shigi
Fowler
DT
Konosuke 270

P1000170.JPGP1000171.JPG

I have a sheet of paper with the knife weights and heel-to-tip lengths, but it has been temporarily misplaced :O

The Shigi was taller at the heel then all the other knives but the Fowler, and maintained that height most of the way towards the tip. Kinda shaped like a killer whale. For as heavy as it felt, it turned out to be no heavier then the Fowler or DT; all three with ~225 grams, give or take 10 grams (the 270 Konosuke was a LOT lighter -- somewhere around 170 grams, if I remember correctly).
 
Thanks David, love the profile picture. Just wondering, does anybody have a pic of a 240 Shigefusa and a Watanabe next to each other? I keep thinking that theirs are my favorite profiles, but don't think I have ever seen a direct comparison.

Stefan
 
Just got it the other day, this knife is a monster very thick spine, but super thin edge. It cuts very well i mean one of the best cutters that i have had, id say overall my Marko knife cut a little better as the Shig will wedge on harder things, however it cuts almost anything without hassle. I love the extra weight and the larger handle actually is pretty comfortable. I used this as my thanksgiving prep knife at work and man it did a great job just tore through everything like it was a part of my hand. The edge retention is quite good i didnt see what steel it is but better than most carbons ive had, started to lose that popping sharp edge now but i touched it up on the strop for today was going to keep it til wednesday but i think i will try to send it out monday instead i have had my good share of use with this great knife.

Thanks again for letting me try it, now i just gotta find some money to buy one.... hmm what can i sell haha :)
 
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