Ever get mildly disappointed by a knife?

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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The passaround Kato felt great in-hand, but was underwhelming overall.

Didn't vibe with the Takeda nakiri I tried either. Maybe I'd like one of his more substantial knives?
 
dafox said:
My biggest disappointments have been the knives that I haven't been able to keep because of my chemical sensitivities, ku finishes, Chinese steel, epoxy and hot glue handle glues, and some handle materials and wood finishes. :(
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that's interesting, do you use ceramic blades?
 
rickbern said:
EXACTLY the same experience with my Uraku. It was my first knife, mine was stainless. I had to go through a major reworking of the blade with remedial thinning to make it usable. I can't dislike the knife though, because I learned so much about knife maintenance from it that it was worth it's weight in gold to me.

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/thinning-a-gesshin-uraku-the-process.22599/
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I think we got them around the same time. I remember reading your post sometime after as I was messing around with it!
 
Was very underwhelmed by a matsubara gyuto. Had to completely redo the grind on both sides from spine down.

An early Mazaki that needed a lot of thinning to cut properly, with heat treatment that I can only describe as "off". (Will never sell this knife as I think it's a rather poor example, it's kept at work now for staff to use).

Although some of my absolute favorite overall knives - I'm sometimes disappointed in what I perceive to be slightly sloppy work from Heiji. I have five, with another on the way, and all have at least one section of cladding that basically touches the edge. It hasn't been an issue on any of them, even after heavy use and thinning - but I do worry that at some point one of my knives will have a section of the blade where the core steel doesn't make it to the cutting edge.
 
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TF maboroshi, end up return the knife & brought the Yoshimi Kato gyuto.

TF Overgrind issue ****ed me up.

Edit: Spine & choil not smooth enough, quite sharp if holding pinch grip for long time. I brought Wa handle version, handle is not good, little bit gap between bolster and wood.

Another knife is my first gyuto from echef, Yoshihiro VG10 Damascus. I asked kanji engraving but it was the dumbest engraving I ever saw, looks like baby playing with chisel engraving, knife is thick, OOTB edge disappoints me, handle start cracking after around one years.
 
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Kurosaki Shiziku R2 165 Bunka. Ever so slightly twisted blade and constant micro chips. Right after sharpening this thing is a dream at slaying onions. When I go to put it away I see tiny glints on the blade from micro chipping. The only thing I can think of is a higher sharpening angle but then I lose the performance.
I am thinking maybe a bad heat treat?
 
Carlo said:
Shibata R2 Kashima 240. I used it to dice one onion and realized it was way too thin and light; it wasn’t a bad knife but it sure wasn’t for me.
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This really needs to be two threads, a bad workmanship or PIA to deal with and a "just not my style" thread.
I tend to like lighter (not necessarily laser-ish just not heavy weight) knives. I have the R2 Kashima in the roughly 220 length and really like it but I can totally understand someone else hating it. Not only is it extremely light but it has an odd feel - insubstantial? inert? dead? I don't know quite how to characterize it, but for lateral cuts on onions or slicing it is, for me, absolutely great. Horses for courses.
 
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I guess.....of my knives, I still enjoy using them a ton. They're great knives.

Just very minor niggles that most non-knife nuts would never notice.
 
Runner_up said:
An early Mazaki that needed a lot of thinning to cut properly, with heat treatment that I can only describe as "off". (Will never sell this knife as I think it's a rather poor example, it's kept at work now for staff to use).
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Would it be rude to ask you to try and describe it better/more informatively? What would you consider as good/off? I just see people throw around "heat treatment" all the time and I really wonder how one would actually notice this/how would it impact usage.
 
DonnerJack said:
Would it be rude to ask you to try and describe it better/more informatively? What would you consider as good/off? I just see people throw around "heat treatment" all the time and I really wonder how one would actually notice this/how would it impact usage.
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Characteristics of a "good" heat treatment would include:
- Ease of sharpening
- The ability to hold an edge for a long time
- Stable edge (should be able to be thin, without excessive chipping)

The characteristics of a "bad" heat treatment would include:
- Well, the opposite.

Once you start to sharpen many knives, by many blacksmiths, in many different steels you will begin to also notice more subtle things such as steel feedback on whetstones, and ease of de-burring.

So if a blade isn't easy/ feel good to sharpen, is excessively difficult to de-burr, won't take a keen edge, or hold it - then you have a blade with poor heat treatment. (or problems in your sharpening technique)

This is, of course, in reference to simple carbon steels that we see in most Japanese knives. There are PM steels that are definitely more difficult to sharpen and de-burr, and don't feel as nice or give as good feedback on whetstones. But they certainly will hold an edge for a very long time.
 
I know that you make knives (nice work on your blog btw).

If *I* ever get serious into knife making, you'll be the third influence on that. My others include a gum surgeon friend (makes hunting knives) and a hairdresser patient (makes swords and HEMA gear).
 
KU Mazaki 240mm gyuto from k&s earlier this year. I loved the weight, height, length, profile, taper, and especially the thick spine because of comfort in a pinch grip.... but man was that thing chippy even with a microbevel put on it. Also really didn’t like the k&s ebony handle... I prefer blade forward balance and this one did not have that. Also wasn’t that excellent to sharpen. I replaced that for my tsubaya branded Y Tanaka and the Tanaka is easier to sharpen, has much better retention, and honestly has way better toughness as well. Plus the handle that came on my Tanaka puts the balance forward. I dig the Mazaki for a lot of reasons and maybe will pick up one from another batch but my example was not that great.
 
spaceconvoy said:
"First gate" literally, meaning the outer gate of a castle. It's not the meaning that bugs me, but the impression it was chosen by a westerner just because it looks cool. Like I said, it's pretentious of me to care. For whatever reason I'd rather get a nearly(?)identical knife branded with a random surname like Kashima.
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Its also the name of an area in Sanjo near where the knives come from... right near higashisanjo
 
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