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This is a question(s) for those folks who have ordered directly from makers like Shibata, Watanabe, or others in Japan. What was the communication process like How did you hear about ordering direct Did you receive any type or price reduction compared to ordering from a middle man How long...

Personally I've been eyeing a Hado blue 1 dammy gyuto in 240mm as I have quite large mitts and love how tall it is. But they are sold out everywhere. Any advice for similar performing knives at that price range? Preferably fully carbon and rustic looking!

Good day I am looking for a new Western Handle Gyuto in 240mm. I already have a Takamura R2 210mm . I can’t really find many knives with the J shape western handles that I like, without it being extremely expensive. My budget max is $250. I have been eyeing out these two contenders, the...

I've been seeing sakimaru shapes alot lately (tall like a gyuto and long like a yanagi) and I'm just wondering what the purpose of the shape is. The sudden upsweep at the tip with the drastic angle in the edge profile looks like it would be a p.i.t.a to sharpen on top of dulling easily. Is this...

so everytime i search for "differences between japanese steels" its just an article that talks about how each steel has a different amount of tungsten than the other, or another chemical difference. It does not say "this steel is hardest to sharpen" or "this steel can hold its edge the longest"...