The knife arrived safe and sound. Dwalker always does a super good job packing.
Edge was still in a pretty good shape when it arrived. However, someone might have been a little overzealous sharpening around the tip. Best picture I can take to show what I'm talking about. There was some residual burr on about a 1/3 of the blade, I touched it up before use. I can definitely fix it before I send it out to the next person, but it depends if JMJones would like me to.
Anywho, I'll go ahead and post a few pictures along with initial impression on the knife.
Handle is well made, smooth to the touch however you can feel the transition from the handle to the ferrule.
The knife definitely have some heft behind it, I wouldn't exactly call this a "workhorse" i.e a heiji or a watanabe. But I wouldn't be scare to use it on a buttersquash if I had to.
Balance point is right where it needs to be. Right where your pinch grip would be.
The spine is fairly consistant until the last two inches from the tip where it gradually tapers off.
The profile is a continuous gentle curve without any real flat spot.
The grind looks like it's a serious performer, can't say much about food release until more use. Super thin behind the edge with really no real shoulders. Gives my sukenari zdp189 and mizuno honyaki dx a run for its money. Definitely laser like.
So far, i've thrown some work at it, or as much as a tuesday lunch can do. Will report back soon to see how well it fairs in a commerical kitchen after dinner service and a weekend.
