Hey lefty’s, which Honyaki?

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labor of love

labor of love

Cowboys from Hell
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I’d like to hear from some left handed guys here about which Honyakis they’ve found to be suitable for them. I’ve seen some scary asymmetrical choil shots...I’m getting close to purchasing a honyaki and would love to hear what others have used with success.
Also, yes I do plan on talking directly with vendors about this but some feedback in the meanwhile wouldn’t hurt anything.
Thanks.
 
Does my 240mm Toyama look scary to you? Its almost flat on one side and convexed on the other, never had any performance issues with it though and I enjoy it throughly even if I will never get the food release on the left side.
If you're going to talk to vendors, maybe ask them to select the one which is least lefty biased, or one which is at least convexed on the left side.
Njts0UQ.jpg
 
Yeah I'm left handed, so I've sorta accepted the fact most of the knives I own will never have any food release because of their asymmetrical nature.
 
I’ve bought cheap stuff (sub $200) that’s had flat sides like this example. But at a honyaki price point I’d like to find something with similar convexing on both sides of the blade. I mean, I understand the nature of things in Japan, I’ll settle for 60/40ish stuff.
 
lemeneid said:
Yeah I'm left handed, so I've sorta accepted the fact most of the knives I own will never have any food release because of their asymmetrical nature.
Click to expand...
I think I am about at that point too. I want some more sexy knives , so I'll just deal.
 
I'm righty so no help other than to ask about a choil shot of a Mizuno.
 
Haha!
Mizuno is what I want. Pandas Miz was wayyyyy to righty for me. I am talking to jck about it to see what’s possible. In the meantime I’m hoping ittetsu or ikeda might be better suited for me.
 
labor of love said:
Haha!
Mizuno is what I want. Pandas Miz was wayyyyy to righty for me. I am talking to jck about it to see what’s possible. In the meantime I’m hoping ittetsu or ikeda might be better suited for me.
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If you’re looking for a Miz, just get it from them direct. They’re more than happy to help you customize your knife.
 
lemeneid said:
Does my 240mm Toyama look scary to you? Its almost flat on one side and convexed on the other, never had any performance issues with it though and I enjoy it throughly even if I will never get the food release on the left side.
If you're going to talk to vendors, maybe ask them to select the one which is least lefty biased, or one which is at least convexed on the left side.
Njts0UQ.jpg
Click to expand...
A very nice choil shot to illustrate right-biased asymmetry. Find it hard to believe left-handers accepting it with a honyaki. With very common makes like Misono and Masahiro one may get inverted geometries. And here you pay six times the price to have produce sticking like glued to the left face?
 
Benuser said:
A very nice choil shot to illustrate right-biased asymmetry. Find it hard to believe left-handers accepting it with a honyaki. With very common makes like Misono and Masahiro one may get inverted geometries. And here you pay six times the price to have produce sticking like glued to the left face?
Click to expand...
The way I see it, you’re never going to get 100% food release on either side of the blade and you’re going to have to wipe food off the face anyway, so food release isn’t a priority for me. So it really doesn’t matter if the knife is left or right biased, all I care is cutting power and edge retention.

That said, even on the left side, I’ve never had issues with carrots or potatoes sticking to the sides with this knife so meh...
 
lemeneid said:
The way I see it, you’re never going to get 100% food release on either side of the blade and you’re going to have to wipe food off the face anyway, so food release isn’t a priority for me. So it really doesn’t matter if the knife is left or right biased, all I care is cutting power and edge retention.

That said, even on the left side, I’ve never had issues with carrots or potatoes sticking to the sides with this knife so meh...
Click to expand...
I cant say food release factors too much in my choices for knives.
 
Never own a honyaki nor used one but I've seen many choil shots recently as I'm looking for my first one:
Ikeda: still torn some are massively biased, some aren't
Shiraki: your best bet imo
Mizuno: big nono, greatly asymmetric.
Ittetsu: the one I saw was perfectly symmetrical, at least from the pic.
Togashi/tosa: saw one asymmetrical, but the other two were perfect.
 
The JNS Jikko/Shiraki doesn't seem to have an obvious bias. Maybe ask Maksim
 
I’ll see if I can dig up a few shots of my old ittetsu. There was no bias on the one I had at least from I remember.
 
labor of love said:
Any sukenari honyaki owners willing to chime in?
Click to expand...

I had one for a while. It was the most right hand biased knife I’ve used. As a lefty, it was the only knife I actually noticed it being an issue.
 
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