are shigefusas better than other knives?

[inferno]

I see this brand thrown around often as the holy grail. and now i wonder are these better than other knives? I have common hinouras (AS/WH2), kuroskais AS/R2), akifusas (SRS15), yoashikanes (SKD11), masamotos (Blue2) and macs (AUS8) and so on.

And now I wonder if I'm actually a bad person for not having shigefusas instead.

So whats special about shigefusas?

I mean to be honest I dont see much performance differences in thickness/grinds and profiles of all my santokus for example. I'ts more how i grind the knives that will determine that imo. thin out. and such.

I completely understand that zero edges cut better and such but i cant actually use that myself. I put a zero on my hinoura Wh2 240mm with a 12k superstone, felt sharp as hell. scary sharp.

taped the edge up to show a guy at work. Turned out the tape left residue i had to remove with brake clean at work so, i rubbed it off with brake clean and a clean white rag. took me maybe 2 minutes. and when this was done the knife would not even cut paper. seriously. and before that if would slide through paper like butter hell its was even easier than that.

So i'm not much for zeros. and even before that i wasnt either.

and the profile on all edges can be manipulated quite easily on the stones right. and the thickness can too.

so whats so special about shigefusas?? I cant even buy one, every place that stock them are out of stock.

 

[panda]

the steel is one of the sexiest feeling on stones and is the absolute easiest to sharpen. the fit & finish is incredible with everything smooth, even the stock handle is awesome. but thats where things end for me, i dont care for the profile or the grind or the horribly super reactive cladding. and the hyped up going rate as well. so not worth it.

 

[Midsummer]

Just another high end knife maker. Cladding on the kasumi was way reactive like Panda said. More laser than workhorse, though mid weigh gyuto on the two kasumi I have. The 180 KU santoku blade is not nearly as reactive and is more robust than the gyuto. Fit and finish top drawer; very traditional interpretation of the double bevel.

 

[bahamaroot]

Odds are you would like some of the knives you already have as much as you would the Shig.

 

[thebradleycrew]

I would echo what Midsummer and Panda said. The fit and finish is generally very nice. Rounded spine and choil, great kasumi finish. I'd call the ones I've owned mid-weights that probably cut closer to a laser than a mid weight. Very slight s-grind on one of mine, I think. Overall, I don't think the performance given the price matches a Toyama or Watanabe and from a geometry perspective I don't like how narrow they are at the heel or the reactivity. I know there are folks on the forum who love them, collect them, cherish them. They are beautiful knives, but I personally prefer others over them.

 

[inferno]

So in actual performance compared to the stuff i already have I'm not really missing out on things? Can i interpret it like that?
I have sand papers and all knives i own either get the full spa treatment or at the very least fixing the handle to its highest potential finish and fit.

 

[thebradleycrew]

Yes, I would interpret it like that, in my view. "Common" Hinoura's are amazing knives, with a great heat treat and are fabulous on the stones. Grinds are different between Shigs and Hinouras from the ones I've owned, but they are amazing knives. Ditto Kurosaki knives.

 

[valgard]

The Shigs are ground more even than any other Japanese knife I have worked with so far on the stones. Fit and finish and steel are really good. I have had (and used for a reasonable amount of time) 4 gyutos in 240 and 270, three of them had grinds that didn't quite cut to my preference (but were super sexy even), I kept the 270 kitaeji that cuts really well, basically same grind shape but thinner at top of the bevel (~1cm from edge).
They aren't my favourite knives but they can be really nice.

See how even the grind is, this is on bench stones
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwWEaiGhTRg/

 

[inferno]

i flattened the blade road of my 240 hinoura and it was by far the flattest i have worked on so far. I have done this to maybe 10 knives. Most knives seems to be done on a big wheel but this one seemed to be done on a flat surface, possibly one of those rotation flat stones that are watercooled.

 

[panda]

i flattened the blade road of my 240 hinoura and it was by far the flattest i have worked on so far. I have done this to maybe 10 knives. Most knives seems to be done on a big wheel but this one seemed to be done on a flat surface, possibly one of those rotation flat stones that are watercooled.

i can attest to hinoura being the most flat. but in fairness it is a wide bevel which are supposed to be flat, lol. i wasnt thrilled with hinoura heat treat, it was glassy on stones, but did have excellent retention.

 

[inferno]

I basically spent about 30 minutes on this one and i started on the 1k stones. (this was the one i did in the 1k stone shootout).

Usually i have to start at diamond then 220, then 500 then 1k. so thats saying a lot.

 

[inferno]

i can attest to hinoura being the most flat. but in fairness it is a wide bevel which are supposed to be flat, lol. i wasnt thrilled with hinoura heat treat, it was glassy on stones, but did have excellent retention.

i also feel its glassy and hard on the stones, not in anyway soft of smeary. i kinda like it. takes one hell of a polish very fast too i might add. like 10x faster than hard SS.

 

[F-Flash]

No

 

[inferno]

No

can you elaborate on this?

 

[F-Flash]

Cuts aswell as any other sharp knife, has cladding that is way too reacting. Is way too expensive for performance.

Dont have experience on single bevels.

 

[zizirex]

it's kinda like air-cooled Porsche 911, it's overhyped... is it a good car? it's good enough... but is it worth the hype price? maybe for 'whale'.
for that amount of money, you can get something better...