Forgot to post in this thread, but finally remembering now.
I placed my order with Heiji-san on 7/23/21, asking for a 230mm KU Gyuto in his carbon steel and a 180mm KU K-Tip Petty in his semi-stainless. For the petty, he said he would have to forge out a 210 and cut it, would be extra. It was like $10-$20 dollars extra, so nothing big.
My order shipped out on 12/1/21 and I received them on 12/10/21. Here’s what I got:
243x55 (video says 56, but it’s actually 55), 254g
View attachment 156278
View attachment 156276
185x35, 138g
View attachment 156279
View attachment 156277
My thoughts? Heiji-san was a pleasure to work with, and the work was delivered on time. The knives, though, are ROUGH. I was expecting bad fit and finish, but these babies need a lot of work. Some of the things I noticed that need to be done right off the bat:
1) Spine and choils need to be rounded on both.
2) Bevels seemed to have been left on like a 500 grit level, so they’ll need a working polish….okay, I guess they don’t
need a polish, but they definitely deserve one.
3) Gyuto needs minor thinning, maybe just a blending of the bevels. The petty needs a complete overhaul, though. Right now, it’s so thick BTE, it can only function as an off-the-board slicer. Deep cuts into root veg steer to the right. Trying to figure out how to do this while maintaining the most KU I can. Here’s a quick video I shot to show the problem:
View attachment 156281
4) Petty is installed slightly tilted into the handle, as seen from the choil shot.
5) I would like to expose a bit more of the tang, so that my finger can fit into the choil.
Overall, I like the steel he works with, and yes, the price for both of these knives was on the cheaper side, but is it worth it? I’m still going to have to send these to a professional to work on since I don’t have the time plus I don’t have the tools to do this kind of heavy work, and that’ll cost a pretty penny. I have been debating just to say “f- it” and sell the knives as is, but I really do like how tall the gyuto is and the profile and weight on the petty. Decisions decisions...