Advice needed: new dragging knife

[mushroom]

Hi,
please give me your advice.
I had started my nakiri experience with a You Kurosaki Fujin, AS, sharpened it, used it and grew very fond of nakiris in general. But for some tasks, like cutting cabbage, I thought that a longer blade would be nice.
The new knife in 1.2419 steel (not disclosing maker yet) arrived yesterday. Very well, today's menu includes cabbage. But so far I am disappointed. Where my old knife moves swiftly through the cabbage, the new one almost gets stuck. They both cut paper fine, but what should I do, I now ask myself, with this dragging new one?
I could return it.
I like the design and the feeling, but if it's not performing, that's useless.
What would you do? Can it be "cured"?
Greetings,
mushroom

 

[JayS20]

Sounds like a problem with geometry and finish

 

[mengwong]

 

[mengwong]

Photos please, including choil shots if possible

 

[Bensbites]

When you cut paper you are testing the edge, the APEX. Like piercing the skin of a tomato. When you cut food. The thickness and geometry behind the edge are more important.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Sounds like a problem with geometry and finish

It could be either or both of these things. You should disclose the maker and if a custom-type knife, show pictures. This isn't disparaging the maker. It may be common to that maker or it may be a workhorse type grind. It doesn't necessarily mean it was made poorly.

 

[Benuser]

Even a simple burr may cause what seems to be a dramatic geometry problem.

 

[mushroom]

Photos please, including choil shots if possible

 

[stringer]

View attachment 282908

That is plenty thin for cabbage

 

[stringer]

It might be the surface finish introducing extra drag. A finish that is too rough or too mirror can promote stickage. The bevels could be too flat.

But you might also need to adjust your technique a bit compared to the nakiri. Nakiri is more of a pure push cutter or tap chopper straight up and down. For a longer gyuto you might need to incorporate a little more lateral slicing motion in your stroke. The tip of the knife enters the cabbage gliding forward and down. When it hits the board you follow through with the rest of the knife being driven downward and slightly forward through the product. Sometimes this is called "guillotine and glide." The difference is subtle but important.

 

[mushroom]

Even a simple burr may cause what seems to be a dramatic geometry problem.

Thank you, I will have a closer look at that possibility.

 

[mushroom]

It could be either or both of these things. You should disclose the maker and if a custom-type knife, show pictures. This isn't disparaging the maker. It may be common to that maker or it may be a workhorse type grind. It doesn't necessarily mean it was made poorly.

As you have already mentioned the maker: Do you think contacting him directly before discussing his possible shortcomings in public a good idea?

 

[refcast]

Sometimes the choil shot is thinner than the rest of the blade. I had 2 Ashi nakiri, and the one with the thinner choil was thicker through the rest of the blade. You can try cutting only with the heel area to see if that part is dramatically thinner than the rest of the blade too. Or use calipers or feel the cross sectional geometry with your fingers

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

As you have already mentioned the maker: Do you think contacting him directly before discussing his possible shortcomings in public a good idea?

I think I'm misunderstanding something. I didn't mention the maker. I don't know who it is. If you prefer t contact whoever it is, by all means do so. I was just pointing out that just because a knife doesn't perform well at cutting cabbage does not automatically mean the maker produced a bad product.

How's it perform on everything else?

What kind of finish does the blade have?

 

[Delat]

Choil looks great, you might be experiencing some stiction. What’s the finish like?

Also be aware your Kurosaki is a thin grind with low heel height and thin spine, basically a laser combined with a concave grind that reduces both friction and stiction at the cost of food release, grip comfort, weight, height, and robustness. You’ll undoubtedly come across many more knives that don’t cut as easily through dense or tall foods than ones that cut better.

But different knives suit different purposes and others that don’t cut as well through specific foods aren’t objectively worse, just possibly better suited for other tasks with different trade offs.

For a knife from a Western maker in Europe that has a similar cutting experience to the Kurosaki but with a more robust feel in hand, take a look at Bjorn Birgersson.

 

[McMan]

I'm not sure this is a contact the maker situation... unless you explicitly asked for a knife that excelled at cabbage cutting. I see this more as a "different grinds have different strengths and weaknesses" type of situation (like @Delat mentions). The knife might excel at other stuff, just not cabbage.

If there's any issue with finish, this is something that could be addressed perhaps, but we haven't seen a picture of that. From the choil shot (which doesn't always tell the whole story) the grind looks more than adequately thin behind the edge. The grind looks relatively flat ground, perhaps slightly concave. If it is flat ground, this is not going to excel with cabbage (or potatoes), since essentially most of the surface area of the blade face would be in contact with the cabbage, hence drag or stiction. Then again, people use cleavers to cut cabbage just fine. So, I think @stringer gives good advice--to try experimenting with different techniques. In other words, to make adjustments that suit the blade, not to ask the blade to suit your technique.

 

[mengwong]

Re wedging