Japanese Naturals???

[BHolcombe]

Thank you, glad to hear I'm on the right path. It was probably a bit goofy of me to renovate the bevel upon receiving the knife because as you say the finish was pretty nice looking right from Heiji, but there were a few minor dips and such that I wanted to work out. I also had to straighten the blade, no big deal aside from it being a hair unnerving.

 

[Asteger]

Thank you, glad to hear I'm on the right path. It was probably a bit goofy of me to renovate the bevel upon receiving the knife because as you say the finish was pretty nice looking right from Heiji, but there were a few minor dips and such that I wanted to work out. I also had to straighten the blade, no big deal aside from it being a hair unnerving.

The wide bevel on mine was pretty even except, of course, for the *%@!@!! heel. (Please show me a knife one day that isn't at least a little overground at the heel. Do they exist?) This one isn't too overground, though.

The nat-stone finish was fine, but not 'showcase' in the sense that KKFers would be oohing and ahhing over, because it was also a bit inconsistent and scratchy, which did give the knife a home-done look. I think uneven finishes on wide bevels on deba, for eg, can look quite good if done right. Mine is a gyuto, though. But because Heiji gyuto resemble big mioroshi deba, it sort of also works looks fine and of course has no bearing on performance.

The edge, on the other hand, lasted only a few seconds when I tried it out. Instant crumbling, but easily fixed and after one or two rounds on the stones and a micro, the knife's working great. Oh, and I installed a larger handle too.

 

[BHolcombe]

Same thing on this one, and you can still see some evidence of the heel being over ground. This one had an incredibly shallow edge on it, which met the cutting board and turned into a burr even with a very light touch. I microbeveled this one also and to the same effect now the knife is sturdy and scary sharp.