Horror knife stories

[kayman67]

I know some Kai Shun horror stories I restored lots of knifes but ~95% chipped and broken knives are from Kai. It brings me to the conclusion, that Kai has poor quality.
Another cool Kai feature is the rattle handle. Anybody here has the same Problem too? Two of the last 15 Knives were with this problem.
The washer rattles because it was not tightened enough.
Anybody know a method to remove the Handle endcap without damaging the knife?

This became almost a myth, so much so, that I've tested it for myself during many months in a controlled environment.
I wanted to test only the first tiers from Shun (with VG10 or Max), until it got out of hand and ended up with almost all of them, but that's another story. Next to Miyabi, Yoshihiro, Yaxell and even Dalstrong. As a note, at that time Miyabi and Dalstrong had VG10 as all of them. I considered these to be first choices for most when getting into Japanese knives, based on what I've talked about with different people.
From the lot, first and second tier Shuns had the most aggressive edges. Very thin, really aggressive approach from their part. That's big gambling and with any, you can always lose. When someone moves from "German" knives, there is a big difference in handling and care that most people don't even imagine. The multitool they were used to, turns into a (soft) cutter and nothing else.
As a counter part, I saw Yoshihiro being more conservative and having more durable edges out of the box. They would chip, but with less damage. Now, with the same edge, as much as possible, they would all get damaged in the same way. And with a different edge, Shuns would be as resilient as any. This doesn't change things much though. No one would modify the edge of a new knife at that level. Most, if not all, have no idea about maintenance and sharpening anyway.
And since Shuns sell in very large quantities, even more would pop with edge damage, making them pretty much all the knives with edge damage I've been reading about.
I would say not poor quality, but not the best choices either.

(LE. missed one word)

 

[playero]

It all depends. In some places there’s WSonoma or STable they have a lot of Shun in stock. I have seen families go for the Shuns instead of the cheaper Kai. Sometimes it makes you cry since you know the knife is going to get hammered. I have seen women using Global on marble counter and Shuns. I have to bite my tongue so as to not say anything. In my experience you can not teach an old dog new tricks. Now this from extensive experience.

 

[WildBoar]

A shun was my intro to Japanese knives. Actually I bought it for my then girlfriend (now my wife). My experience mirrors mich's observations -- the edge was very chippy. I brought it to a sharpening class at Dave Martell's, and it was almost impossible to get a wire edge. Dave M wound up telling me to practice on another knife I had with me, and he sharpened the Shun on a machine (he tried it a bit on the stones as well and gave up)

 

[Michi]

My experience mirrors mich's observations -- the edge was very chippy.

What I don’t understand here is why Shun’s SG-2 or VG-10 would be that different from everyone else’s. Yes, I understand that heat treatment can be bad. But, if that were the case, I’d find it hard to believe that Shun would persist with bad HT year after year after year.

Shun make uninspiring knives. But I’m fairly confident that the people who run the company aren’t idiots.

 

[kayman67]

I really hope he was trying to get a burr and not a working wire edge.
Never had a problem with making a burr or deburr any VG10 or Shun in particular.

 

[Benuser]

A shun was my intro to Japanese knives. Actually I bought it for my then girlfriend (now my wife). My experience mirrors mich's observations -- the edge was very chippy. I brought it to a sharpening class at Dave Martell's, and it was almost impossible to get a wire edge. Dave M wound up telling me to practice on another knife I had with me, and he sharpened the Shun on a machine (he tried it a bit on the stones as well and gave up)

The only knives I had problems in raising a burr on were Globals. Certainly not with VG-10. Getting rid of it may be a different story.

 

[ian]

A shun was my intro to Japanese knives. Actually I bought it for my then girlfriend (now my wife). My experience mirrors mich's observations -- the edge was very chippy. I brought it to a sharpening class at Dave Martell's, and it was almost impossible to get a wire edge. Dave M wound up telling me to practice on another knife I had with me, and he sharpened the Shun on a machine (he tried it a bit on the stones as well and gave up)

That seems weird... wonder what was up with that knife.

To me, Shuns have never seemed any more difficult to sharpen than other stainless.

 

[inferno]

screwdrivers?? what about hammers? why have hammers when you can have a deba?

 

[Keith Sinclair]

Since the culinary school sells heavy discounted Shuns, have a lot of experience with them. One of the chefs that teach at the school was telling me how he did not like the shun knives. That's when MM was selling Tanaka Ginsan nashiji 240mm with a D ho wood handle with horn for 120.00. Got him one liked it so much bought another one for home use.

Agree that most all of the damage done to Shuns is from misuse.

 

[WildBoar]

I really hope he was trying to get a burr and not a working wire edge.
Never had a problem with making a burr or deburr any VG10 or Shun in particular.

D'oh -- yes, I meant a burr. That's what I get for writing a post while on a call I could not get one to form, so the Pro took over and tried.

 

[DisconnectedAG]

That seems weird... wonder what was up with that knife.

To me, Shuns have never seemed any more difficult to sharpen than other stainless.

Never had a problem with globals. The steel is fairly soft. What they do have however is a very aggressive convex microbevel OOB. You can sharpen over it (I have for years before I got into sharpening properly or you can thin it out a bit and then you get a good bevel going that takes a burr really easily.

 

[bm11]

I’m not a commercial sharpener but I’m the most proficient inside my circle of influence (I crutch a Wicked Edge,) and I’ve repaired two Shun knives, and can definitely say they are from misuse.

The first was a Chinese cleaver that my friends son tried to open a coconut with. I don’t recall if he used a hammer or not.

The second was a chefs knife that a different friend used to cut a watermelon with. How do you damage an edge cutting a watermelon? Get drunk, place watermelon on granite countertop, karate chop. Chipped both the granite and the edge. The edge chip was a big one, about the size of the head of an eraser. THAT was a lot of material to remove. I got it good and sharp, and left it nice and thick.

 

[Noodle Soup]

Being in the business I used to be in I had a full set of Shuns for review. When I was finished I gave them to a coworker. I told her I would be happy to resharpen them any time she needed. Eventually she sent them back and they looked like her and her husband spent their time prying dandelions out of concrete sidewalks or something. I was capable of fixing that but how long would it last? She never sent them back again but a couple of months ago she asked my opinion on new knives? I assume that means she had totally destroyed the Shuns.

 

[playero]

On a recent trip I went to a store that sells kitchen and cooking things. A good friend of mine was recently appointed as GM. Looking thru stuff I saw a couple of knives chipped. I asked and he explained we sell a lot of these knives, we have cooking classes and other classes weekly and people buy a lot. This store is considered a temple for knives. When he showed me the knives sales I was shocked. They really sell a lot. People go to the most expensive instead of the 14-25 dollars ones. In my mind that number really doesn’t makes sense. I asked for damaged product and he showed two boxes full. Lifetime warranty and every time they come to the store they buy something. Wow. You know the brand that outsold others. That would be by like 4 to 1.

 

[3200+++]

this one is from a steeling pro. the dragon doesn't spit flames anymore XD

 

[Dhoff]

this one is from one of a steeling pro. the dragon doesn't spit flames anymore XDView attachment 62005

auch. That makes my mind weep softly.

 

[3200+++]

the thing is i might redo it for him, i guess we can make some kind of ktip 50/50 fuguhiki out of grinding it. However, the guy has used the knife everyday in a pro kitchen (fish mostly) for 15 years and he's very happy with it.

I asked him if he would buy another one, he said yes

 

[Keith Sinclair]

Not unusual for gyuto to lose a lot of steel with everyday use esp. after 15 years.
Cooks get attached to knives. Also more taken by off in the middle of knife comes from heel neglect some kñives with a lot of distal taper. Just look at really old nogent Sabs. You just get used to looking at knives with little use.

 

[kayman67]

15 years is more than reasonable in such environment.
I've seen some not far just after a few months of daily steeling.

 

[Keith Sinclair]

Sure that blade lost geometry & steel from years of questionable technique on a stone. I have seen this screw up a knife under a year just wailing away on a stone because handle in the way on low bevels middle part of blade gets most of sharpening. Also seen cooks try to sharpen on diamond steels because they lack freehand skills. After a while their knives will not even cut.

 

[3200+++]

Sure that blade lost geometry & steel from years of questionable technique on a stone. I have seen this screw up a knife under a year just wailing away on a stone because handle in the way on low bevels middle part of blade gets most of sharpening. Also seen cooks try to sharpen on diamond steels because they lack freehand skills. After a while their knives will not even cut.

yes, he ceramic steeled it to this point...

 

[stringer]

I don't even know what they did to this poor little guy.

I fixed it, kind of. I didn't really feel like taking that big one all of the way out.

 

[M1k3]

 

[Carl Kotte]

I fixed it, kind of. I didn't really feel like taking that big one all of the way out.

View attachment 63775

Looks nice, and I see why you didn’t take the big one out: sometimes you just need one sweet Rambo serration for cutting wires when you’re out on a mission.

 

[CiderBear]

That's... ouchy.

Also, I'm an idiot. I broke a tiny bit off of the heel of my Morihei Hisamoto the other day while sharpening it (don't ask). Should I try to fix it, or will it go away over time?

 

[Carl Kotte]

That's... ouchy.

Also, I'm an idiot. I broke a tiny bit off of the heel of my Morihei Hisamoto the other day while sharpening it (don't ask). Should I try to fix it, or will it go away over time?

I wouldn’t fix it. Whether you should depends on you. Does it bother you, fix it; if it doesn’t just smile! [emoji41][emoji16]

 

[LucasFur]

this one is from a steeling pro. the dragon doesn't spit flames anymore XDView attachment 62005

I love seeing these after so many years of use.

 

[Koakuma]

That's... ouchy.

Also, I'm an idiot. I broke a tiny bit off of the heel of my Morihei Hisamoto the other day while sharpening it (don't ask). Should I try to fix it, or will it go away over time?

Any pics? If it’s all the way on the end of the heel and you don’t use it, then I see no reason trying to fix it unless it bothers you.

 

[jaeysehn]

This was a long long time ago but I had a new Miyabi birchwood (which at the time I thought was the best knife ever) and I took it to a baguette. Well sure enough I had to take about 2-3mm height off it to fix a massive chip on the profile. Learned my lesson the hard way.