first knife recommendation.

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

thermophile

Active Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
34
Reaction score
21
Location
NY
LOCATION
What country are you in?
USA


KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in (e.g., chef’s knife, slicer, boning knife, utility knife, bread knife, paring knife, cleaver)?
Kiritsuke or Bunka


Are you right or left handed?
Right
Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle?
Western
What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
8-9 inch
Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)
yes?
What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
300$ but i would prefer to spend under 200$


KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment?
at home
What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)? (Please identify as many tasks as you would like.) slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, trimming meats typical home kitchen all round uses.

What knife, if any, are you replacing?
old roommate had a Wustof Classic set. and i no longer live with them. lol
Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for the common types of grips.) not really?

What cutting motions do you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for types of cutting motions and identify the two or three most common cutting motions, in order of most used to least used.) chopping/rocking/push cutting.

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)

Better aesthetics (e.g., a certain type of finish; layered/Damascus or other pattern of steel; different handle color/pattern/shape/wood; better scratch resistance; better stain resistance)? I LOVE Damascus, but a standard polished finish would be fine if the price general aesthetics are amazing.

Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance)? im mostly not too picky with these things, ive never had a specific knife of my own that was a "good" knife.

Ease of Use (e.g., ability to use the knife right out of the box; smoother rock chopping, push cutting, or slicing motion; less wedging; better food release; less reactivity with food; easier to sharpen)?

Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)? as long as possible? i would prefer not to have to learn to sharpen myself.



KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)
maple and rubberwood boards.
Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.) not yet.

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.) i would prefer not to have to learn, but if its really suggested i would.

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)



SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS
I work with PC gear which ive been following my whole life and I've learned the more buzz words a company uses the worse they tend to be. I see a lot of these kinds of buzz words with knives when searching, so ive come for help.

ive seen the shun classic 8inch Kiritsuke which i like, i just dont know id they're all talk and not really good.

thanks all!
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
the first link didnt work, and the second link didnt have any kiritsuke or bunka knives. alsoI understand that knives will need to be sharpened, but having to do it myself is what im questioning having to do. if its really suggested to do so, i could learn, but its not something ive been really looking into at this time.
 
First knife I’d go for bang for the buck performance models under $200:

Youshikane, Wakui & Anryu. Shun is not bad, but these are better.
 
First knife I’d go for bang for the buck performance models under $200:

Youshikane, Wakui & Anryu. Shun is not bad, but these are better.
im not finding any knives by those makers with the profile im looking for...
 
Sounds like these might fit the description...
https://www.**************.com/kavgsugy21.html
https://japanesechefsknife.com/collections/shiki

There is no magic secret to sharpness, though; eventually, at some point you will either be sharpening them yourself or else paying a sharpening specialist to do it for you.

EDIT: Sorry, missed the part about bunkas.
https://japanesechefsknife.com/coll...ds-series-bc-2-bunka-kiritsuke-190mm-7-4-inch
thank you, that looks amazing!
 
Welcome thermophile,

A lot of us have had a shun in our lives. They are an upgrade from a lot of mass produced cutlery out there. That particular knife has an unusual amount of belly for a K tip blade. I am sure it would serve you well as a general purpose knife. For pure bang for your buck, I usually recommend the victorinox fibrous 8 in chefs knife. I think you will find most Kiritsuki to have a very flat profile. Those cater to a certain type of cutting (push, draw). They are not usually recommended as a first all around knife.

Most here prefer the forged blades and those that have a lot of handwork involved. Most prefer craftsman knives. Knives that have some character or "soul". You might consider a 210mm knife from Shigeki Tanaka https://knivesandstones.us/collecti...tanaka-ginsan-silver-3-銀三-nashiji-gyuto-240mm .

No matter what you choose, you will need to maintain its sharpness. Learning to sharpen is really not that difficult.
 
Welcome thermophile,

A lot of us have had a shun in our lives. They are an upgrade from a lot of mass produced cutlery out there. That particular knife has an unusual amount of belly for a K tip blade. I am sure it would serve you well as a general purpose knife. For pure bang for your buck, I usually recommend the victorinox fibrous 8 in chefs knife. I think you will find most Kiritsuki to have a very flat profile. Those cater to a certain type of cutting (push, draw). They are not usually recommended as a first all around knife.

Most here prefer the forged blades and those that have a lot of handwork involved. Most prefer craftsman knives. Knives that have some character or "soul". You might consider a 210mm knife from Shigeki Tanaka https://knivesandstones.us/collecti...tanaka-ginsan-silver-3-銀三-nashiji-gyuto-240mm .

No matter what you choose, you will need to maintain its sharpness. Learning to sharpen is really not that difficult.
Thanks for the reply, but that's not the handle type/blade profile I'm looking for. :/
 
Thanks for the reply, but that's not the handle type/blade profile I'm looking for. :/
Western handles in those shapes are few and far between. Even fewer in stainless. Finding a bunka 8"+ is also another challenge. I found literally one that was 7" on a site this place doesn't generally link to for QC reasons.

The only western handled kiritsuke I know off the top are by Takeshi Saji and out of budget.

https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=99829&bc=no&bc=no

This is the closest I can find matching what you want. $25 over, 1/2" shorter. But it's a one of a kind, hand-made custom with AEB-L stainless at 63 hrc (the sweet spot imo) and is ground real thin. Honestly, a damn steal.

Edit: I guess I didn't look at any vg10 options...but never have never will :)
 
There is something that fits the criteria of western-handle bunka with a blade longer than 8" (in this case, it's 8.8") and having damascus cladding, but it's over the OP's budget. No idea how it compares vis-a-vis Takeshi Saji's one though.

https://www.korin.com/HSU-SP-42
 
Western handles in those shapes are few and far between. Even fewer in stainless. Finding a bunka 8"+ is also another challenge. I found literally one that was 7" on a site this place doesn't generally link to for QC reasons.

The only western handled kiritsuke I know off the top are by Takeshi Saji and out of budget.

https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=99829&bc=no&bc=no

This is the closest I can find matching what you want. $25 over, 1/2" shorter. But it's a one of a kind, hand-made custom with AEB-L stainless at 63 hrc (the sweet spot imo) and is ground real thin. Honestly, a damn steal.

Edit: I guess I didn't look at any vg10 options...but never have never will :)
What would your issue be with VG 10? anything inherently bad about it?
 
What would your issue be with VG 10? anything inherently bad about it?
Not specifically actually. With a good heat treat it doesn't deserve quite the reputation it has. Really just online snobbery.

Out of the box Shuns and other factory edges tend to come chippy as part of the manufacturing process. An initial sharpening gets rid of this problem. It's not a vg10 thing exclusively.

My kitchen gets 40-60% off Shun and most of my coworkers use their classic or premier chef knives. I guess one benefit to them is that their honing steel has an angle guide for the guys who can't sharpen and I can't get to.
 
Not specifically actually. With a good heat treat it doesn't deserve quite the reputation it has. Really just online snobbery.

Out of the box Shuns and other factory edges tend to come chippy as part of the manufacturing process. An initial sharpening gets rid of this problem. It's not a vg10 thing exclusively.

My kitchen gets 40-60% off Shun and most of my coworkers use their classic or premier chef knives. I guess one benefit to them is that their honing steel has an angle guide for the guys who can't sharpen and I can't get to.
would i notice this kind of chipping as an armature home cook?
 
Last edited:
Finally, this site has many options in price rang. Good service too. Bunka tend to be shorter just as a style. Finding one 8-9" is tougher, and finding one Damascus in your price range is harder still. But let us know if anything looks interesting and we can tell you if it looks solid or not.

https://japanesechefsknife.com/pages/search-results-page?q=bunka
 
Finally, this site has many options in price rang. Good service too. Bunka tend to be shorter just as a style. Finding one 8-9" is tougher, and finding one Damascus in your price range is harder still. But let us know if anything looks interesting and we can tell you if it looks solid or not.

https://japanesechefsknife.com/pages/search-results-page?q=bunka

Yes, which is why I'm primarily searching for a Kiritsuke and a bunka secondarily if it meets my other criteria.
 
Welcome @thermophile! Is there something specific that causes you to prefer a k-tip? Taking that out of the equation would really open up your options.
Yes, it love the way it looks and I only cook a few times a week, so it's for show as much as cooking.
 
So, to clarify you are looking for a "recommendation" on a knife you will use sometimes and also appeals to your personal aesthetic. But it appears you are not interested in recommendations but rather you need help shopping the internet.

Perhaps you might tell us what about the shun you would like to improve. Honestly for the price of the shun, it is not a bad knife and would likely serve you well until you have a better idea of what serves you needs. If the shun is cared for it can last years. I still have a few that I have not given away and they are quite serviceable. Shun will be one of the few K-tip knives that you can rock chop since the traditional form is a very flat profile.

Best of luck in your search.
 
Sorry midsummer, I have some social disabilities that make communication difficult. I'm asking for brand recommendations, potential specific knife recommendations based off the above details, and also asked if shun was all it was all it's cracked up to be outside of the very dedicated knife community. Several recommendations weren't even similar to what I had detailed above.
 
Last edited:
thank you for every ones responses, gave me some real solid thinking to do before i purchase, i plan on making the call on what i get this week. sorry about the misunderstanding.
 
thank you for every ones responses, gave me some real solid thinking to do before i purchase, i plan on making the call on what i get this week. sorry about the misunderstanding.
No worries, just show us what you end up getting.
 
That's a pretty uncommon brand, but they seem to be reputable according to forumites here.
the one theyre talking about is vg-10 this says its "spg2" which i cant seem to find online anywhere or on these forums via search. :/
 
the one theyre talking about is vg-10 this says its "spg2" which i cant seem to find online anywhere or on these forums via search. :/

I'd guess it's R2 or SG2, which is a powder-metallurgy steel. If you want to be absolutely certain about it, perhaps you can contact the vendors and/or makers.
 
Back
Top